Welcome to your Spring

Class!
Although we won’t be directly experiencing the
wonders of the outdoors together, we still have lots
of fun and informative activities planned for the
following weeks that should inspire and motivate
you to become engaged with the natural world!
Materials for today!
Take 1-2 minutes to go gather these supplies, if you
have them
● Pencil
● Paper or a notebook
Meet the
Team!
Introductions

● Name
● What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?
● Anything else you want us to know?
Land Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge and
honor the indigenous communities
found throughout Oregon, specifically
the Kalapuya Tribe which is now a part
of the Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde.

Eugene is built upon the traditional

homelands of the Kalapuya and we http://www.native-languages.org/oregon.htm

recognize their role as past, present,

and future caretakers of the land.
Zoom Netiquette
Some guidelines for our online learning environment:

● Please mute your microphone unless you are talking.

● Let everyone speak by avoiding speaking over them.
● If you need to get up (bathroom, drink of water, etc.) no need to ask!
● Respect others: Show patience and kindness for each other. We value
differences and communicate disagreements with respect.
● Keep chats appropriate and relevant to the content. Reminder that all
messages in the public chat and private chats are uploaded to the host at the
end of class.
Intro to Zoom
● How to “raise hand”
Majestic Trees
> Click ‘participants’
Student (me)

> Click ‘raise hand’

 Today’s topic is rather slimy…

With a raised hand, can anyone tell me the

difference between a salamander and a newt?
 All newts are salamanders, but not all salamanders are newts.
Salamanders:
-long tails
-soft, moist skin
-can live both on the ground and in the
water
-mostly terrestrial

Newts:
-dry, rough skin
-external gills
-semi-aquatic
 Newts live a semi-aquatic to aquatic life, while adult
salamanders live a mostly terrestrial life except for when they're
breeding and laying eggs.

Most newts have webbed feet and a paddle-like tail, which make
it easier to live in the water.

Salamanders typically have longer and more rounded tails with

well-developed toes for digging in soil.
Northwestern salamander:
These large-bodied salamanders have
solid brown skin that is smooth and
moist. Adults can grow to almost 10
inches in total length.

Although they’re incredibly common in

oregon, they are hard to find.
Write down 3
guesses where you
think these creatures
live.
 Northwestern salamanders
live in moist forests or partly
wooded areas! They’re very
common in Oregon, but adult
salamanders are rarely seen
because they live
underground.
Rough-skinned newt

In the ‘chat’ feature, type out what you

already know about rough-skinned
newts.

Where have you encountered them?

What were they like?

Did they have a personality?

Do you have any interesting
facts?
Rough-skinned newt
Named for their bumpy
texture, these newts also
have a bright orange
belly and brown body.
They can grow up to 8
inches long.
Rough-skinned newts have a powerful neurological poison in
their skin and eggs to protect them from predators. A milky
white substance is released from glands when disturbed,
which is why we avoid hand-to-mouth contact after handling.
They find protection inside or
under soft logs. For their size,
these newts travel long distances
between their breeding and non-
breeding habitat and may be seen
crossing roads during spring and
fall as they migrate.
 What’s happening next week?
—We’ll be learning more about…
— Remember to bring a writing utensil and
something you can keep to write in this entire
semester