BURIEN, Washington—With its 81 acres of woodland and meadow, Westcrest Park is a popular urban retreat, offering panoramic views of the downtown Seattle skyline and an off-leash area where dogs can run free. But heavy use from humans and pets poses a threat to the other species that make their home in the forest habitats and open spaces. That's where students from Highline High School enter the picture, armed with the tools of technology and the desire to make a difference.

For the past four years, Alonda Droege, an award-winning science teacher, has been bringing her students to Westcrest Park to collect data so that the city parks department can make informed decisions about park trails and open spaces. Droege introduces students to the science of phenology, which involves "observations of events in a particular place at a particular time. The purpose of the study is for students to make observations, collect data, analyze the data, and make predictions about periodic biological phenomena at a particular place and time," she explains. The information that students collect establishes a database for the park. Park planners can rely on the data as they balance the goals of preserving native species and allowing people to enjoy recreational activities at the park.

In the classroom, Droege teaches her tenth- and eleventh-graders how to make observations and how to collect and compare data. Then it's off to the field site, which they get to via city bus. At the park, students use a variety of low-tech and high-tech tools to gather data. Temperature probes, digital cameras, and global positioning satellite (GPS) locators come in handy, but so do more old-fashioned gear like magnifying glasses, maps, and field journals. Notes are first recorded in field notebooks, then transferred to a computer database.

After several field trips, analysis of the data begins. Droege explains: "Students are looking for patterns and comparing their findings with the database and other online connections. From this, they write their reflections, submit data to the parks, and network with other groups."

Students hone many skills during the project, the teacher says, including "observing, predicting, contrasting, classifying, inferring, and finding cause and effect." They're assessed on the basis of work included in their field notebooks, analysis and reflection essays, and photo journals.

Technology enables students to work efficiently. "We're trying to collect data, manage large quantities of data, analyze results, and make predictions that would be very tedious without access to technology," the teacher observes. In addition to portable gear that goes along on field trips, the school has two computer labs, a bank of computers in the school library, and an additional set of computers in the science area for student use.

King County has a large immigrant population, reflected by the diverse student body at Highline High and large number of students for whom English is a second language. "Students are mostly middle class, but very diverse," Droege says, including Hispanic, Eastern European, Somalian and other East African immigrants, and many others are from Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Pacific Islands. "The county libraries and community centers have made efforts to have computers for students to use. Parents of immigrant students also seem to feel this is an important tool for their students."

Droege seems to be a perfect fit for teaching this diverse population. "My passion is for working with minority students to help them acquire the skills to be competitive in the science/math and technology fields," she says. A science teacher for 21 years, she has been named Washington State Science Teacher of the Year, Pacific Science Secondary Teacher of the Year, and has been a Presidential Award winner for excellence in teaching science. She's also a believer in getting students involved in their community, and giving community members opportunities to see teens "as productive members of the community."

Anyone observing her students on a recent field trip to Westcrest Park would have seen students engaging with their community in an active way. Two students described their activities as they worked in teams to map habitat of the major species of three distinct forest habitats at the park. First they spotted a woodpecker, which they identified (with the help of their teacher and a field guide) as a pileated woodpecker. Later they observed a small blue land snail making its way across the forest floor; they later identified it as Allonga townsendiana. Also in their field notes: an entry describing a brown creeper, a bird that "climbs trees vertically looking for insects and things to eat."

Reflecting later in their journals, they noted, "The phrase 'you learn something new every day' really hit home with us. We're glad to be helping out the community to help wildlife stay safe."