You’ve seen the storm drains around Lodi, but did you know that anything that flows into them goes directly to the Mokelumne River? Recently, students a Joe Serna Jr. Charter School created “storm racers,” floating objects made from recycled materials, to see just how quickly items dropped in the storm drains can reach the river. Click to read the full post.
Author: kcathey
Let’s look at bats!
Last week, Lodi Unified School District teacher Nikki Parks and her students learned about bats in the Mokelumne River Watershed and how they are affected by humans. Here’s what she had to say: In the “Geography of Where We Live” EEI unit, student learn about the human impact on their local region. During the lessons Click to read the full post.
What exactly is a Pineapple Express?
Have you ever heard of a Pineapple Express? Also known as atmospheric rivers, they carry huge amounts of water vapor up in the atmosphere from the tropical region (hence the “pineapple” in the name) to the West Coast, where it then falls as massive amounts of rain. Atmospheric rivers are the source of much of Click to read the full post.
Meet Your Watershed: Lodi Lake Nature Trail
Take a virtual walk through the Lodi Lake Nature Area with Kathy Grant, City of Lodi watershed program coordinator, and science educator Jay Bell. Video filmed by WGR Southwest, Inc.
Floodplains and crawdads
Here are two great resources for learning about the local watershed and the salmon and crawdads who live here, from the California Department of Water Resources and the California WaterBlog. First up, a question-and-answer with Hailey Wright, a CDWR environmental scientist, who discusses why floodplains are so ivital for California’s salmon population: Can you explain Click to read the full post.
Salmon to the Sea
This 8-minute video highlights the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery truck as it makes the salmon run to the sea.
Marine Science Institute goes virtual
With distance learning in place at most California schools, the Marine Science Institute is offering online programs to help teachers bolster their science and watershed education. Offerings include the following Online Inland Voyages. SF Bay Fish: Students explore and learn all about the incredible fish species in the San Francisco Estuary habitat. SF Bay Invertebrates: Click to read the full post.
The 2020 Mokelumne Current is online!
Lodi’s Watershed Program Adapts to COVID-19 Sheltering in Place Lodi Unified School District’s spring quarter, 2020, is almost in the books as students and teachers anticipate summer break — and maybe a less restrictive homebound lifestyle. But before the bells rings and school is dismissed till fall, please take the time now to enjoy the Click to read the full post.
An interview with mushroom expert Bob Stahmer
Editor’s note: We’ve had another successful year at the Mokelumne Current! The students have put together a wonderful newspaper. As usual, there was some excellent work that simply didn’t fit into the print edition, and we’ll be sharing it all here. First up is an interview with Lodi mushroom expert Bob Stahmer, who regularly leads Click to read the full post.
Second-graders share facts about plants and animals
Among our student journalists this year are second-grade students from Mrs. Jenna Pal-Freeman at Lockeford Elementary School. Here are some of their pictures and sentences sharing facts about the plants and animals that live in the Mokelumne River Watershed.