We went on an awesome field trip today. We learned a lot about trees, animals and leaves. We went to Elmhurst Outdoors on the Kingston Peninsula. We went on a bumpy bus ride and we went across a ferry. When we got to Elmhurst, we got off the bus and met Gig our tour guide. We learned so much about how the forest changes. Here are some of the things we learned.
- Trees go to sleep in the winter. They go dormant. This means they lose their leaves and drop seeds to the ground so that in the spring new trees will grow. Trees do not grow through the winter when they are dormant.
- We learned how to see how many years old a tree is. We counted the rings in the tree cookies which are slices of the tree. Gig also used a borer which he screwed into the tree and pulled out a cutting to see how old it was.
- Some of us saw a squirrel.
- We saw a porcupine's house at the bottom of a hollowed out tree. There was poop around the house.
- We learned about an animal named a Fisher that kills a porcupine by flipping it over and killing it by its belly. It does this to avoid the quills. There are not many fishers in New Brunswick so the porcupines are allowed to eat the bark off trees and that kills the trees. If there were more fishers there would be a better balance of nature.
Written by: The Whole Class
The students had to leave for today but if you check back later we will have even more information to share. It was a really great field trip and I encourage anyone who like cross country skiing or snowshoeing to go enjoy Elmhurst. They have rental equipment for all sizes and it is so enjoyable out there. They also do maple syrup tours in the spring. You can check out their website at http://www.elmhurstoutdoors.ca/Elmhurst_Outdoors/Elmhurst_Outdoors.html
Thanks to all the parents who came along!
- Trees go to sleep in the winter. They go dormant. This means they lose their leaves and drop seeds to the ground so that in the spring new trees will grow. Trees do not grow through the winter when they are dormant.
- We learned how to see how many years old a tree is. We counted the rings in the tree cookies which are slices of the tree. Gig also used a borer which he screwed into the tree and pulled out a cutting to see how old it was.
- Some of us saw a squirrel.
- We saw a porcupine's house at the bottom of a hollowed out tree. There was poop around the house.
- We learned about an animal named a Fisher that kills a porcupine by flipping it over and killing it by its belly. It does this to avoid the quills. There are not many fishers in New Brunswick so the porcupines are allowed to eat the bark off trees and that kills the trees. If there were more fishers there would be a better balance of nature.
Written by: The Whole Class
The students had to leave for today but if you check back later we will have even more information to share. It was a really great field trip and I encourage anyone who like cross country skiing or snowshoeing to go enjoy Elmhurst. They have rental equipment for all sizes and it is so enjoyable out there. They also do maple syrup tours in the spring. You can check out their website at http://www.elmhurstoutdoors.ca/Elmhurst_Outdoors/Elmhurst_Outdoors.html
Thanks to all the parents who came along!