Brightwater

In the past few weeks a handful of current IslandWood graduate students have traveled over to northern Seattle to  shadow former IslandWood instructors working for King County's Brightwater Center.

Brightwater is a wastewater treatment system created to accommodate the growing King County. The plant began to operate in September 2011 and serves portions of King and Snohomish counties. Concurrent with operations beginning, IslandWood initiated a program that focused on the educational material a center like Brightwater could share share with the surrounding area. Currently, Brightwater offers educational programs that range from the water cycle to ecosystems to macroinvertebrates.

On the day that I visited I was fortunate enough to shadow Brian, a former IslandWood graduate. The focus for the day was the water cycle. Before heading out, Brian had the children brainstorm the various materials or compounds that could be extracted from the every day home. This was then broken down into four main stages that coincide with the Brightwater system.

1. Trash Removal
2. Organic Matter Removal
3. Bacteria Removal
4. Chemical Removal

He then went on to have each student complete a paper illustrating the Puget Sound Watershed.

A student work detailing the water cycle and how it ties in to the Puget Sound Watershed.

The tour following this illustration took participants through every stage of the water treatment process. Clad in hard hats, we dove in deep.

  

Brian explaining one of the four stages of removal.

 

This is the final drop as water leaves Brightwater center. From this pour over, the water travels 13 miles and drains into the Puget Sound.

I learned a lot about water and a lot about what happens every time we turn on a sink, flush a toilet, or run the garbage disposal.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Brightwater, do it.

Riley

Clay Animation!

IslandWood has been so very fortunate to host Artist In Residence Lukas Allenbaugh this week for our School Overnight Program. Lukas is the Inventor and Director of the Clay Animation Network. What exactly does this mean? Simply put, this week Lukas is playing host to four lucky groups of students who will create short clay animation films detailing some the IslandWood currciulum. Those films are still in the process of being completed. Let the suspense build.

However, last night Lukas did a Professional Development Seminar for the graduate students and it was... AMAZING! Using the 12th generation of Lukas' film station creations, we dove in head first. He has fine-tuned his craft throughout the years and has engineered an incredibly simple yet sophisticated arrangement that combines iPads, Legos, and a few other assorted materials into transportable filming stations. We all embraced such a wonderful opportunity and totally went for it.

Don't believe me, take a look for yourself!

Love Explosion


Hungry Birds


Paging Dr. Seaworthy


Riley and Megan Play Catch
Clay animation is unbelievably addicting. Should you ever have the opportunity, seize it!

Riley

Boggin'

Ecosystems, Ecosystems, Ecosystems! IslandWood is chockafulla' ecosystems. We have the pond. We have the forest. We have the marsh. We have canopies. We have the ravine. We have the haarbah (harbor). And, we have the bog.

Thursday brought about a highlight of my IslandWood experience as we donned rubber boots and went in to explore the bog for our Natural History & Ecology course. Delicately traveling upon the Sphagnum Moss, we pushed onward while exploring the resilient plants only found in this often times "nutrient-lacking" environment.

Rather than spoil such a Narnic environment, I am hoping that the word Sphagnum has already whetted your appetite for some future boggin'. If not, you might be interested to know that the verdict is still out on whether IslandWood's bog is actually a bog or whether it is in fact a fen.

Either way, it is way more fun to say boggin' than is is to say fenin'.

Chockafulla', over and out.

Riley

P.S. Tread lightly... There are some boot breachin' sink holes out there.