Biology students get out of the classroom and into the field

JORDAN DAWSON / Bigfork Eagle

Many teachers spend the last month of school giving their students tests and having them write lengthy lecture papers, but Hans Bodenhamer prefers to give his sophomore biology students a more hands-on project. He has them conduct a herp survey to count reptiles and amphibians.

Bodenhamer has led his class in this annual project since he started teaching at BHS three years ago. The survey mimics those conducted by the United States Forest Service, but is conducted earlier in the season. The forest service conducts their survey during the breeding season, which is a more opportune time but falls during summer vacation.

"Biology is the study of life and this is a good opportunity to study life and to see how it all fits into the ecosystem," Bodenhamer said.

The students captured, identified and counted amphibians and reptiles in a few designated local areas including Eagle Bend Golf Course and parts of forest service land. After they were counted the students released them back where they were captured.

Herps, especially amphibians, are good indicators of a healthy environment. They are very sensitive to environmental changes because they breath through their skin. Also, due to their position in the food web they help keep the insect population down. So if there are fewer amphibians there will be a greater number of insects.

"It really puts a real world application on what we are doing in the classroom," Bodenhamer said. "You can really see the kids come alive out there. It just really helps the whole thing make more sense."

This year over the course of three days about 80 students captured and released 144 Columbian Spotted Frogs, 33 Terrestrial Garter Snakes, and one Long Toed Salamander. The counts have remained about the same over the last three years.

"I think it's good to take trips like this because we're in a classroom all day so it is good to get outside and see the habitat that they live in," student Lael Richmond said. "I thought it was really cool to see all the different types of wildlife. I didn't realize there were so many kinds just right here in the Bigfork area."

Bodenhamer gave the students information about frogs before taking them out in the field so when they caught the frogs they were able to identify their anatomy.

"It was good to have someone like Mr. Bodenhamer there so it wasn't just us out there catching frogs," said Richmond. "We had him there to share his knowledge about frogs with us."

Both Richmond and his classmate Donna Vanderveer said that the trip was the most fun they had all school year.

"The most exciting part was when we first started catching frogs and no one was finding any, and then all of a sudden we all started catching a bunch," Vanderveer said.

In addition to studying frogs and snakes prior to the trip, students also learned about different types of plants and conducted a forestry survey while they were in the field.

"It was really helpful to get to do hands-on learning," Vanderveer said. "It is really good to get to see what I'm learning. It is a lot better than just learning from a textbook. If I could, I'd do it every day."