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Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy
Grade 7, 40 students
65-1692 Kohala Mtn. Rd.
Kamuela, Hawai‘i 96743
Teacher: Laura Jim

Class Projects: Species Abundance, Native and Non-Native Percentages, Percent of Categories, Vertical Height, Insect Diversity, Insect Study Project, Insects Found on the Ground Versus Found on the Trees, Layer Depth in Different Areas of a Watershed, Soil Structures
Students worked on nine separate projects, focusing on three main sites in the Kohala watershed: Waiakamali Gulch, Koai‘a Reserve and Pu‘u o Umi Reserve. They looked at a number of different elements in the watershed, including:

• How the number of plant species varied along the three sites
• What the percents of native versus non-native plants were in each site
• Whether elevation affected plant diversity
• How geographic elevation affected the height of the trees
• Which site had the greatest insect diversity
• Whether leaf groundcover or grass supported a higher insect population
• How soil thickness changed amongst sites
• How cattle affected the soils composition, layers, and texture

Click here to see the PowerPoint presentation or read the full Conference Proceedings