Yesterday, 4th graders from SME and WES braved the coldest day of the year so far since last winter and hiked from the Parker Rd trailhead in West Fairlee to Patterson Mountain in Vershire. This was the first 4th Grade Teambuilding field trip, and the students participated in a variety of games and activities in which they all had to work together to achieve a goal. SME P.E. teacher Ryan LaBella joined us and provided some fun and active teambuilding games to keep us moving and staying warm! Below is a group poem they wrote together at the end of the trip. We had a great time despite the chilly weather. Pictures coming soon!

4^th Grade Adventure: Fun in the Snow

Middle cold teamwork 

layers challenging extraordinary cold

Rough terrain;

Contagious new friends

Snowing, tiring fun

Interesting cold and amazing

Active freezing, freezing trees

Cold snow

Teambuilding, not-falling adventure

Teamwork seeing my best friends

Meeting new people

Awesome!

Good!

Field trips on the Trails...

Fall is a busy time for elementary school students on the Rivendell Trail! Here are some images from some of our fall field trips on the trail, including the annual All School Hikes and grade level science and nature field trips.

Winter Weather on Sunday Mountain

In January, 5^th graders began their weather and forecasting unit with a trip to Sunday Mountain, a gradual 2-mile climb on the Rivendell Trail. The students received a short power point presentation that introduced basic weather concepts such as barometric pressure, temperature and wind speed, and learned about some of the strategies and tools meteorologists use to predict weather. The students then spent some time exploring weather websites and determining the most favorable day for a winter hike the following week. They forecasted that the best day would be Friday, January 22^nd, and on that morning, students were bused to Sunday Mountain with the appropriate layers of winter clothing, handheld weather instruments, water and a snack. In groups, they took readings with barometers, anemometers and thermometers at the base and again near the summit. The students were very excited about being able to forecast their own field trip date, and were all excellent hikers and enthusiastic meteorologists.

Kindergarten Winter 5 Senses

On Friday, January 8th, Westshire kindergarteners used their 5 senses to explore the winter environment. We saw snow, ice crystals on plants and lots of animal tracks: all things that are hard to find outside at other times of the year. We made snow angels and used our senses to feel the snow on our backs and the sensation of movement, hear the swishing and scraping of our arms in the crunchy snow, and see the patterns we created. We listened for winter sounds like crunching snow, birds that are still here in winter, the wind and the river flowing nearby. We also heard silence! The snow muffles a lot of sounds so winter is quieter than other times of year. We used our senses of touch to feel rough bare tree branches, cold snow, soft mittens and warm sun on our faces. Finally, we made sugar on snow with maple syrup and tasted a sweet treat to end our hike. See below for the recipe!

 Students using their senses of hearing and touch as they make snow angels in the crusty snow.

 A student examines mouse tracks up close. We also saw tracks of fox, raven and wild turkey.

Sugar on snow is a sweet end to our walk.Yum!

Recipe for Sugar on Snow

You will need: 

Real maple syrup (about a tablespoon per person)

Tray or bowl of powdery snow you collect outside ahead of time

A candy thermometer

A small pot

Plastic forks or popsicle sticks (1 per person)

Directions:

In a small pot, heat the desired amount of syrup (about a tablespoon per person)

Using the candy thermometer (a meat thermometer will work too) heat the syrup to 233 degrees

Once it reaches 233 degrees, remove from heat and wait for bubbles to stop

Pour the hot syrup onto the powdery snow in the tray. It should make a chewy taffy.

Use the forks or popsicle sticks to twirl the taffy up like spaghetti

Enjoy!

NOTE: If you don't heat the syrup enough or don't heat it at all, it will make a snow "slushy." If you heat it too much, it will make a hard candy instead of taffy. Both of these are still delicious, so you can't go wrong!