Manzo Elementary

Manzo Elementary is one of the school that always participates in our Citizen Science program each year. Their students are a joy to work with, and it’s always fun to see them put the scientific concepts we are working on into play. This school is the heart and soul of Barrio Hollywood. The students are the heart of the school, and that makes it worth all the efforts to save it.

“Manzo has over 85% Hispanic students, and over 92% of its students are on free or reduced lunch. It’s on the school closure list because it’s under-enrolled and its test scores, especially in math, are low. The staff, however, is working hard to bring up the math scores, and the fifth grade reading and writing scores are high, a very encouraging sign. The ecological project is young — it began about 4 years ago — and it’s already attracting students from outside the neighborhood“.

“Manzo Elementary mixes traditional classroom learning and desert-friendly ecological education, along with the opportunity to build the number of staff members who are committed to its innovative model.“

This is a great article on Manzo Elementary: worth seeing, worth saving by David Safier.

For anyone interested in writing in support of Manzo, governing board member email addresses can be found here:
http://tusd1.org/contents/govboard/govboard.html

 

Walk Sentinel Peak

Walk “A” Mountain in Sentinel Peak Park – Tumamoc’s sister peak!
First Fridays of every month, 6 a.m.

Do you love walking Tumamoc? Would you like to find a place near Tumamoc to walk when Tumamoc is closed to walkers? – Tumamoc is closed for University of Arizona research between the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday but open on weekends.

Diana Rhoades of City Councilor Regina Romero’s office will lead a walk every first Friday at 6 a.m. Round trip distance is approximately 3.5 miles (Tumamoc is 3 miles) with approximately 600 foot elevation gain on trails and roads (Tumamoc is approximately 800 foot elevation gain). Please wear sturdy shoes because although the trails are good, they are rocky. It’s partially on the road and partially on trails. It takes between 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on speed.

Parking:
Park at Corrales Menlo on W. Grande – the horse stables about ½ mile south of W. Congress on the West side of Grande in a dirt lot (this is not a public lot). We’ll walk to the top of the A and back down alternating between roads and trails.

Directions:
We’ll walk from the dirt lot west on a horse trail between houses and the gravel pit – heading toward Sentinel Peak Park Road. Head Left on this road (also called Cuesta) and walk up the road just past the first, lower parking lot. When you see the big sign that says Sentinel Peak Park, walk toward it and onto a trail behind it that heads toward Tumamoc Hill (Sentinel Ridge Trail). This ½ mile trail winds around and ends at Sentinel Peak Park road again where the loop road intersects.

Walk against the down traffic (there won’t be any traffic because the road is closed until 8 a.m.) to the top parking lot. At the southeast corner of the parking lot road there is a sandy entrance to another trail (a new trail created by Ward 1 and Southwest Conservation Corps volunteers). Head east on the trail that winds to the “A”. Head up the “A” to the top of Sentinel Peak. Head down the mountain on a new trail that winds around to the other side of the “A” (where the cars park). Take Sentinel Peak Road against traffic back to where the loop road intersects again. Now look east to a trail near the garbage can. You will walk on this dirt trail back to the gravel pit and the Corrales Menlo (horses).

Walk Sentinel Peak

Walk “A” Mountain in Sentinel Peak Park – Tumamoc’s sister peak!
First Fridays of every month, 6 a.m.

Do you love walking Tumamoc? Would you like to find a place near Tumamoc to walk when Tumamoc is closed to walkers? – Tumamoc is closed for University of Arizona research between the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday but open on weekends.

Diana Rhoades of City Councilor Regina Romero’s office will lead a walk every first Friday at 6 a.m. Round trip distance is approximately 3.5 miles (Tumamoc is 3 miles) with approximately 600 foot elevation gain on trails and roads (Tumamoc is approximately 800 foot elevation gain). Please wear sturdy shoes because although the trails are good, they are rocky. It’s partially on the road and partially on trails. It takes between 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on speed.

Parking:
Park at Corrales Menlo on W. Grande – the horse stables about ½ mile south of W. Congress on the West side of Grande in a dirt lot (this is not a public lot). We’ll walk to the top of the A and back down alternating between roads and trails.

Directions:
We’ll walk from the dirt lot west on a horse trail between houses and the gravel pit – heading toward Sentinel Peak Park Road. Head Left on this road (also called Cuesta) and walk up the road just past the first, lower parking lot. When you see the big sign that says Sentinel Peak Park, walk toward it and onto a trail behind it that heads toward Tumamoc Hill (Sentinel Ridge Trail). This ½ mile trail winds around and ends at Sentinel Peak Park road again where the loop road intersects.

Walk against the down traffic (there won’t be any traffic because the road is closed until 8 a.m.) to the top parking lot. At the southeast corner of the parking lot road there is a sandy entrance to another trail (a new trail created by Ward 1 and Southwest Conservation Corps volunteers). Head east on the trail that winds to the “A”. Head up the “A” to the top of Sentinel Peak. Head down the mountain on a new trail that winds around to the other side of the “A” (where the cars park). Take Sentinel Peak Road against traffic back to where the loop road intersects again. Now look east to a trail near the garbage can. You will walk on this dirt trail back to the gravel pit and the Corrales Menlo (horses).

A Universe of Discovery In Tucson

In case you missed the special insert in the Arizona Daily Star last Sunday, you can read all of the stories online! Click this link.

 

 

The Great Paper Airplane Fly-Off!

Walk Sentinel Peak

Walk “A” Mountain in Sentinel Peak Park – Tumamoc’s sister peak!
First Fridays of every month, 6 a.m.

Do you love walking Tumamoc? Would you like to find a place near Tumamoc to walk when Tumamoc is closed to walkers? – Tumamoc is closed for University of Arizona research between the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday but open on weekends.

Diana Rhoades of City Councilor Regina Romero’s office will lead a walk every first Friday at 6 a.m. Round trip distance is approximately 3.5 miles (Tumamoc is 3 miles) with approximately 600 foot elevation gain on trails and roads (Tumamoc is approximately 800 foot elevation gain). Please wear sturdy shoes because although the trails are good, they are rocky. It’s partially on the road and partially on trails. It takes between 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on speed.

Parking:
Park at Corrales Menlo on W. Grande – the horse stables about ½ mile south of W. Congress on the West side of Grande in a dirt lot (this is not a public lot). We’ll walk to the top of the A and back down alternating between roads and trails.

Directions:
We’ll walk from the dirt lot west on a horse trail between houses and the gravel pit – heading toward Sentinel Peak Park Road. Head Left on this road (also called Cuesta) and walk up the road just past the first, lower parking lot. When you see the big sign that says Sentinel Peak Park, walk toward it and onto a trail behind it that heads toward Tumamoc Hill (Sentinel Ridge Trail). This ½ mile trail winds around and ends at Sentinel Peak Park road again where the loop road intersects.

Walk against the down traffic (there won’t be any traffic because the road is closed until 8 a.m.) to the top parking lot. At the southeast corner of the parking lot road there is a sandy entrance to another trail (a new trail created by Ward 1 and Southwest Conservation Corps volunteers). Head east on the trail that winds to the “A”. Head up the “A” to the top of Sentinel Peak. Head down the mountain on a new trail that winds around to the other side of the “A” (where the cars park). Take Sentinel Peak Road against traffic back to where the loop road intersects again. Now look east to a trail near the garbage can. You will walk on this dirt trail back to the gravel pit and the Corrales Menlo (horses).

Citizen Science

Here’s a great article about University of Arizona professor Betsy Arnold of the School of Plant Sciences, who collaborated with Tucson High Magnet School science teacher Margaret Wilch to create an endophyte discovery workshop last spring.

From the article:

“Arnold gave each class an introductory lecture, and students spent a day doing fieldwork in the national park. Students collected plant material and brought it to labs at the UA.

They waited for fungi to grow inside the plants, isolated the fungi and extracted DNA. Genome sequencing allowed students to identify the fungi – and some students found new species.

The workshop provided many students with their first lab experiences out of the classroom, said Holly Bentkowski, a senior at Tucson High Magnet School who took the course last semester.

Bentkowski said the experience made her consider scientific research as a possibility in college and beyond. She is now a student in Wilch’s research methods class.

Involvement in a long-term project sparked students’ interest in science more than the one- or two-day labs typically found in high school science classes, Wilch said.

“I think once students get a taste of the process of science, it’s very different than being taught the facts,” she said. “It’s a really rich experience for everyone involved.”