Sample slide from my show on natural communities. Primary, post-glacial successional series for
Áak’w Táak (M-word Valley)
Powerpoint & script for Discovery Nature Studies
One of my educational mentors, a charismatic high school teacher, when hearing of my attempts to explain habitats and succession to elementary students, told me I was jumping the gun, developmentally speaking. These were higher-level meta-subjects, and I should begin with their components, such as species and behaviors. Probably I should also incorporate more role-playing in my 3-through-5 programs.
That took some wind out of my sails; I was a recovering hermit, definitely not a thespian. I’d spent most of my Alaskan sojourn as caretaker of Asx‘ee, twisted tree (Eagle River delta) studying replacement of natural communities on progressively older surfaces, driven by glacial rebound. I regretfully related these recommendations to my other mentors, the women at Harborview Elementary who’d been taking children outside since I was a teenager in suburban Rochester, New York.
They snorted. If succession excites you, it’ll excite 3rd-graders.
Phew! Should’ve asked them first! Here’s the results of our early collaborations, teaching advanced ecology to very young minds:
● a 19 MB powerpoint with embedded presenters’ notes 
● a script for the above, with slide thumbnails, titled forest wetland & coastal habitats 2 MB pdf 
