Woolly Bears

Finding woolly bears is always a favorite October activity, but this year the kids hit the woolly bear jackpot. The kids returned from a walk with a gardening glove filled with fuzzy, reddish-brown and black balls. Once set down, the glove came to life as the caterpillars unfurled and moved surprising quickly across the ground. Thirty or so of the creatures became the temporary school pets, feasting on generous helpings of fresh picked dandelion greens.

Students interacted with the larval insects according to their own comfort levels. A few of them enjoyed getting up close and personal. 

The woolly bears have now been released. Many were last seen crawling up the side of the school. We may catch a glimpse of the short lived Isabella Tiger Moth in the spring, but mostly the children are just hoping for herds of baby woolly bears.

Lewis and Clark- Fort Clatsop

Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacagwea and the rest of the Corps of Discovery spent a wet winter at Fort Clatsop (near present day Astoria) 213 years ago. We had a wonderful tour of the museum and replica fort. Each student got to try his or her hand at starting a fire with flint and steel and writing with a quill pen and authentic oak gall ink. Everyone agreed that the bedrooms in the fort were much too small for the number of people, but putting up a fort in three weeks with no power tools is impressive nonetheless.

After the tour we spent a lovely fall afternoon playing on the beach and we were grateful to return home by car on a paved road. No canoes necessary.

Salmon Studies

 Salmon Field Trip at Bonneville Dam  

Guest author: Double Creek Student, E.

This September, after studying salmon, Double Creek School took a trip to Bonneville Dam and Hatchery to meet native fish face-to-face. At the hatchery, there were large ponds where we could see fish. We saw 10-13 foot long sturgeon fish in an underground viewing area. Next, we went to a trail that led us to a pond with 18 to 24 inch trout. We shared a bag of small cylindrical fish pellets that we bought from a nearby vending machine. It was fun to see the fish fight for the food we gave them. We walked over to the salmon spawning area. We had a lot of fish to see because it was the salmon season. There, hatchery salmon jumped up, splashing water all over us! We watched as they struggled to go up these ladders. No matter how hard the current was, these fish never gave up. They went on and on, looking for an opening in the waters. There was also a tour guide who led us to a building, called the First Power House. In there, we saw turbines. Our guide explained how Bonneville Dam started out. The Bonneville Dam started at 1938, a dam which helped repopulate the salmon. The people who work there is willing to spend the money and time to help this fish. fish. - Student of Double Creek School, E. October 15, 2018

We kicked off our Oregon history unit by studying salmon. After learning about the natural and human threats faced by salmon during different stages of their life cycle, the children made a board game following salmon migration.  The goal of the game is to make it past predators, dams and other hazards to spawn back where you were born, not such as easy feat!

At the Bonneville Fish Hatchery the students saw ponds of young fish being reared for release in the river. Though hatcheries have been in use for over 100 years in this area, we know that the success of hatchery fish, relative to wild fish, is limited by a number of factors including reduced genetic variation and the greater susceptibility to predators that comes with learning to feed at the surface in captivity.

We spent some time at the fish counting window. All fish passing the dam are funneled into a narrow channel and they are counted to monitor populations. The fish below are hatchery fish. You can tell by the clipped adipose fin (top fin near tail).

Touring the Bonneville Dam gave students a chance to see the positive side of dams: clean hydro-electric power. We also learned about the major efforts being made to make the dams more salmon friendly both for young fish and those returning to spawn. Go salmon!

Welcome to Double Creek School!

Double Creek School is a community of curious young learners, grades K-5, and their wonderful families. We opened in the fall of 2017 in a historical Portland building nestled in the forest of the Garden Home Community. We are centrally located between Beaverton and SW Portland, but still have our own bit of nature to explore.

Please look around and see what we have been up to at the school. Perhaps you will want to join us for school or a week long summer camp!