The Development of a Mountie Tree and Wildflower Walk Leanne Cardoso-Bastos (l_cst2@student.mtaloy.edu) Merrilee Anderson (manderson@mtaloy.edu)
Educational purpose
Introduction The purpose of this project is to guide visitors through our beautiful college by identifying and describing the common local trees and wildflowers. This wildflower and tree walk was designed to give students and locals a fun, educational and interactive experience on our campus that they can visit whenever they want. This project was conducted as an independent research course in which 35 local trees and wildflowers were identified. Several previous students (Tyler Mangus, Cruz Rivera, Nathan Smith, Justin Wigfield, Ian Koenig) identified trees and gathered information that served as a starting point. Funding for this project was provided by a service learning grant.
QR codes were generated for each webpage entry to provide a digital scanning method. This allows the information to be accessible by anyone with a smart phone. QR codes and an image of the plant were printed and laminated and mounted on metal sign stands. (Figure 2) Signs were distributed around campus. (Figure 3) The overall cost of the project was $154.00. Figure 2. Metal sign stands were purchased from Forestry Suppliers. Each stand is 11 X 7 X 18 inches.
The purpose of this project is to educate campus visitors about local wildflowers and trees. The website includes a picture of the tree or wildflower, a short description, where the wildflower or tree is distributed and the uses of the wildflower and tree. For more information, scan the code in Figure 4. This can be viewed by anyone who visits our campus. Recently, President Mills initiated a focus on outdoor activities and this project supports that goal. Figure 4. QR code home page
Materials and Methods The initial step of the project was to identify 35 plants on campus. Information about these plants was used to generate webpage entries. (Figure 1)
Summary
Figure 1. An example of a webpage entry. Figure 3. Map of trail on Mount Aloysius College Campus
The trail highlights 13 wildflowers and 22 trees for a total of 35 species. Future students could add more trees and wildflowers to the trail.
Acknowledgements AnaLu MacVean, Service Learning Committee References Kershner, Bruce. Field Guide to Trees of North America. Sterling Publ. Co., 2008. Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide: an Ingenious New Key System for Quick, Positive Field Identification of the Wildflowers, Flowering Shrubs and Vines of Northeastern and North-Central North America. Little, Brown, 2011.