What knowledge can you share?

[Andrew]

Carey. Calling Carey. OK I know it's always easier to volunteer somebodey else ... Soooo I'll volunteer to be Carey's assistant for a snorkel outing/class if she's game.

Andrew

______________________________
DiveHilo Dive Club Website:
http://www.divehilo.com/

[StillHope]

quote:

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Originally posted by Andrew
Twist Carey's arm...

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I don't know ,Andrew...
She has Jimbo.Never met him,but sure sounds like Rambo..

[Andrew]

Hi Still:

Both Jim and Carey are people I consider to be my friends. Besides I wouldn't want either one of them twisting my arm. By the way Jim maybe you and I both could be professor Carey's teaching assistants for a snorkel outing/class? What say Jim?

There I go volunteering people again.

Andrew

______________________________
DiveHilo Dive Club Website:
http://www.divehilo.com/

[StillHope]

Andrew,JK..

[Andrew]

Carey:

Look at post number 11 where Carol says ". These are fun and high energy kids, especially when I get them out of the classroom and into natural environments. I am also looking for an open water certified lifeguard so we can crack out the snorkeling equipment at Kapoho this year."

Anyway, I still think you would be great.

OK I'll quit now.

Andrew

______________________________
DiveHilo Dive Club Website:
http://www.divehilo.com/

[csgray]

Carey and Andrew,
Maybe I need to finally make to a Scuba Sunday at Richardson's this Sunday and we could see what we can figure out. We need to get to Maku'u in the morning, and then I will probably follow shady patches around until mid afternoon though. If I don't watch it I FRY in the sun in Hawaii in the summer! Are you guys going to be there?

Carol

[JWFITZ]

Maybe a deep breath or two should be taken. . .what is trying to be achieved here?

I'd like to meet all of you for sure, as we have things to share. But my experience so far among Hawaiian kids is that they so far know damn near every fish in the sea. This much hasn't been lost. I came out of the water as the mad haole a couple of weeks back with a near 20 pound Kala and every kid on the beach from 3 up knew exactly what it was, what it tasted like, and what it was worth. Unfortunately, the culture of seafaring is lost. Surfing is here, and the kids are fearless. What they've lost is canoes and sails, and for offshore work rely on big trucks, big imported outboards, foreign built boats, etc. I think MOST of that is due to the fact that the Polynesian Voyaging Society or whatever they've called themselves have done such a botch job of the whole thing, including killing one of the best surfers that ever lived. We need to remedy that. As well, we don't need to duplicate the "canoes of the kings." No one gives a damn about that, or that tradition, unless you want to go hack sandalwood for nothing. What we need to duplicate is the working boats of normal Hawaiians. This has been utterly lost, and no one has bothered to even try to resurrect it.

The current state of affair makes going catching ahi at a dollar a pound a rich man's play time sport, period. You need a 30000 dollar boat with 20000 dollars worth of outboards on a 10000 dollar trailer with a 40000 dollar pickup to catch 500 bucks worth of fish. With a proper canoe, with a sailing rig, you'll make 7/10 of the speed of a power boat, and catch more fish. This is something the kids will understand. I'm desperately trying to build a jig that I can turn such a boat out, sail away, for under 2000 bucks. It could be lugged in a hatchback Honda. We'll see, it's touch and go, but honestly it's close.

Jay

[Greg]

Quote:

" I think MOST of that is due to the fact that the Polynesian Voyaging Society or whatever they've called themselves have done such a botch job of the whole thing, including killing one of the best surfers that ever lived."
____________________________________________________________________

I guess the popular bumper sticker should read "They made Eddie go".

[csgray]

Actually most of my students live mauka, way, way, mauka in fact; some of them spend so little time in the water that I had kids (born and raised on this island) in my ocean studies class last year who did not know how to swim! The first class I took to Kapoho, not a single student had ever been there. Most of my students have only been there with my classes. My students' knowledge of the ocean and what lives in it is all over the place, with most of their knowledge based on the fishes they catch and eat, if they and their families fish; many don't. Generally their understanding of the natural environment as an interactive ecosystem is really limited. The local kids who have grandparents who lived on the land and harvested the gifts of the sea and land tend to have more in depth knowledge of the relationships between the different plants and animals than do the more urbanized kids, but they still have big gaps in their understanding.

The other thing is not all kids in Hawaii's schools are Hawaiian, part Hawaiian or even "local" so students have a wide range of knowledge and ignorance about the plants and animals of Hawaii, which is why I am teaching this class called "Plants and Animals of Hawaii." It is not a "Hawaiian seafaring" class or "Hawaiian boat building" or even Hawaii's marine ecosystems, it is Plants and Animals of Hawaii, which includes the fishes, marine mammals and reptiles, seaweeds, algae, and sea birds. It also includes the land plants and animals from the ocean shores and intertidal zones to the highest peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, along with everything in between. This island is a bio geographers dream, with diverse ecosystems and micro climates in close proximity to each other. At the same time it is a naturalist's worst nightmare, with species going extinct right and left, and a recent tradition of large scale mono crop agriculture.

My goal is for these kids to grasp 3 main things:
Which were the indigenous plants and animals, how did they get here, and how they changed and adapted after they got here.
Which plants and animals were brought by the Polynesians and how did they use them.
Finally, why does Hawaii have more non-native invasive species and more endangered species than anywhere else on the planet, and what does that mean for the ecosystems of Hawaii.

Along the way we will learn to identify a bunch of Hawaii's Plants and Animals, spend time in different ecosystems and climate zones observing plants and animals, and get kids out of the classroom and into the natural world as much as I can manage. Each environment is different and I hope to find guest contributors to help us learn about each one. I've only been here for two and a half years, I've been learning as much as I can, but this is a huge subject and I am hoping for some outside "experts" to fill in my gaps. I am good on the big picture and ecosystem dynamics, but I still need help on more specific knowledge of the plants and animals, which is why I turned to puna web for help.

Mahalo to all who have stepped forward, and I am still wondering if Carey and Andrew will be at scuba Sunday this weekend.
Aloha

p.s. We went out to End of the Road tonight and watched Pele's fireworks, awesome in the truest meaning of the word. I am so lucky to get to teach natural science here!!!!

Carol

[Andrew]

CArol:

I have sent an email to your email that is listed with Punaweb.

Andrew

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