Fragrant labrador tea in Camosun bog

minibog for learning during a pandemic

CBRG lent out the minibog to Gladstone Secondary Learning Commons (library) so that students who come for in-class learning can experience Camosun bog.  Gerry and I assembled the little minibog that included arctic starflower, labrador tea, kalmia, false lily of the valley, bunchberry, a little sphagnum moss and sundew! A few students have enjoyed experiencing these plants so far.

Cascara in Camosun bog

The cascara tree, Rhamnus pursianahas, has bark that can be used for medicine. The anthraquinones in the bark can be used for its laxative properties.

Sundew, Lipstick lichen and arctic starflower in the bog today

The sundews are unfurling their tendrils in the bog and arctic starflower blooms like a constellation.  The fragrance of labrador tea is in the air, a welcome respite from a pandemic

sundew

arctic starflower

lipstick lichen

arctic starflower

labrador tea

Labrador tea and Arctic starflower is blooming

Labrador tea has traditional uses as medicine for respiratory infections. It is blooming now. And arctic starflower is a rare treasure

Labrador Tea

Arctic Starflower

The bog is a treasure during the Covid 19 Pandemic

The BC Government has asked teachers to go back to face to face teaching.  What if this can be done without forcing highly social students to sit at desks with the smell of bleach and hand sanitizer in the air.  What if the only rule to enforce was "keep your distance". 

What if classes were held outdoors,  the way education has been done for a thousand years, in the territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil -waututh, and Squamish people. English class at the beach, Biology class in the rainforest: Socially distanced learning would not be so oppressive outside.  It would be engaging and memorable and relaxed.

Here's a class in xʷməm̓qʷe:m, Camosun bog. They smell fragrant Labrador tea.  They hear birds and treefrogs. Sundews glisten below, sticky with their catch of mosquitos and they are learning bog ecology from high school students who are leading a bog tour.

Covid 19 is changing the way we do alot of things. We can reimagine education too.

water monitoring in Camosun Bog

Hans and Sarah and water monitoring team.  photo Issaku

Bog Presentation by Issaku and Gerry