Insight from the outside.

Byline: GREG BOLT The Register-Guard

HIKING ABOVE a verdant stretch of Willamette River bottomlands in the slanting afternoon sun, Julie Polhemus stops her small troop of middle schoolers and asks if anyone knows why the fields below are so rolling.

"Because there was a river there?" asks 11-year-old Sarah DeBrick.

"You're right," Polhemus says.

On a sunny afternoon when these four Jefferson Middle School students could be out goofing around or playing sports, they're wandering around Mount Pisgah answering questions about ecosystems, native plants and restoration efforts. And they're having fun doing it.

Jefferson is one of three Eugene middle schools taking part in the Exploration Odyssey program offered by the University of Oregon Museum of Natural History. The after-school program is designed around three things: getting outside, learning a little bit of science and natural history, and enjoying the experience.

Polhemus, who recently completed a master's degree in environmental studies, is the group leader and teacher. She helped Patti Krier, the museum's program director, expand the program after Krier developed it as a way to give her own daughter and some classmates at Spencer Butte Middle School a way to connect with the museum.

Middle school students are at a crossroads in their attitudes toward science, Polhemus said, and Exploration Odyssey is a way to point them in the right direction.

"Middle school is when they start to love science or hate it," she said. "And I didn't want them to hate it."

Working on the premise that most kids like being outdoors, Exploration Odyssey is field-trip based. The weekly trips take them to locations around the area to wander in the woods, explore a farm or check out wildlife.

This fall's program included trips to Elliot Hill, an undeveloped spot owned by the Eugene Water & Electric Board in south Eugene, as well as to the Willow Creek wetlands in west Eugene and Dorris Ranch and Mount Pisgah south of Springfield. Topics included tree identification, human interaction with the environment and habitat restoration.

Polhemus likes to start each trip with a little game, to loosen the kids up and remind them that they can have fun even when they're learning. Then it's off on a short hike or exploration, during which she weaves in lessons about natural history and environmental science.

During last week's trip to Mount Pisgah, for example, some outcrops of Scot's broom and blackberry bushes were an opportunity to discuss native and non-native plants. And the transition from oak savanna to Douglas fir forests prompted a talk about ecosystems and the role of fire.

The group of four, which included Maddy Miller, Jacob Hileman and Radhika Stein in addition to Sarah, seemed to enjoy themselves so much they sometimes missed some obvious hints Polhemus dropped concerning the four "review" questions given at the start of the hike.

Each picked up a fallen leaf during the short walk and Polhemus asked them to write a short poem on it before boarding the van for the drive back to school.

Scott Pattison, a UO undergrad studying environmental science who stopped by to help, said he's surprised at the range of kids who turn out for the program. Some come because they like science and are good at it, while others simply want to do something outdoors.

The trick, he said, is getting them to see that learning and fun can come in the same package.

"Most kids, especially if they realize it's OK to be interested, really start to enjoy themselves," he said. "Ecology and restoration are tough subjects to understand, but a lot of them get it."

The students from Jefferson - Monroe and Spencer Butte are the other two middle schools in the program - seemed to have little problem with the subject matter or with mixing education and fun.

"I just like getting out and doing stuff," Jacob said on the ride back. "I like getting out in nature and learning about it."

Maddy's only complaint is that there isn't enough of it. "I want them to make it longer, because five weeks isn't enough," she said.

Those who wish can continue in the museum's junior docent program, which allows them to put their knowledge to use helping with tours and special events at the museum.

Eventually, Krier wants to be able to send the students back to their own schools to teach their classmates what they've learned, something that's already had a successful trial at Spencer Butte.

This is the final week of the fall program. It usually picks up again in spring - winter afternoons are too dark and the weather too poor - but Krier said funding is an issue.

Exploration Odyssey expanded with help from a $15,000 grant from the Elizabeth Holden Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, money that also supported some nature sketching classes for middle schoolers.

That funding has run out, though, and Krier said she's determined to find a way to continue the program.

"I'm not going to let it drop now," she said.

CAPTION(S):

Julie Polhemus helps a student identify a plant. The Museum of Natural History program mixes education and fun.