It was a GREAT WEEK!

Thank you to the NC teachers and FITZ!

Thank you to Chef Tom and the kitchen staff!

Thank you to everyone that kept our bags,pillows, sleeping bags, ETC

from getting drenched while it waited to be loaded onto the busses!

Our last day here :( - October 14, 2011

Last night's Science Fair activity was a big hit. Children moved around to learn scientific principles behind lots of different experiments, so be sure to ask your favorite fifth grader what his/her favorite one was. The "floating tea bag" or "tea bag rockets" taught about how "excited molecules" move around when energy is provided by heat (or FIRE!) and"Oobleck" demonstrated that cornstarch-in-water is a "suspension", not actually a solid, liquid, or gas. They also found out how they can "see" if a penny is pre-1982 (totally made of copper) or if it's more current (made with zinc and copper): Hint- put it in a flame!

After being accompanied by six NC teachers' guitars (and the one ukele!) for "quiet sing", everyone headed back to their cabins for the daunting task of packing most of their belongings for departure back to FRCS. Some bunks did better than others getting "lights out" at a reaonable time, but everyone managed to finish the task this morning and (somewhat reluctantly) hauled all luggage to the central location for pre-noon loading onto the busses. A giant blue tarp covered the mountain as everyone headed up to the dining hall for our last NC breakfast (waffle sticks and bacon, several homemade breads, fruit).

All morning the kids have been with their field group leaders, first filling out questionnaires about their NC experience and then thoroughly cleaning out their living spaces from the week.

I hear everyone walking to the dining hall right now, so it's already 11:oo and time for our last meal together here. (I got a sneak preview of the fresh pizza dough being prepared a little while ago.)

It's been a wonderful week. Thank you for making it possible for your children to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. See you in a few hours!

Day #3 continued...

So now everyone is off at their afternoon classes, some indoors and some outdoors in the soggy weather, but all having lots of fun. They are participating in one of the following: weather, Rube Goldberg machines, water rockets, build-a-civilization, We're Revolting (American Revolution re-enactment), shark dissection (very popular!), recycled art, Burma bridge (build a rope bridge), and animal camouflage stalking. And now, I'm off with my camera to see what they're up to!

Day #3 - October 13, 2011

"You and me and rain on the roof..." The lulling sound of the overnight-into-morning rain, combined with the energy used during yesterday's beach time and Night Hike led to everyone opening both eyes a little later than yesterday morning. (Spontaneous wake-ups yesterday ranged from 5:30 a.m. in one boys' bunk to 6:25 in a girls' cabin!) Donning every color of poncho and raingear, everyone made it to the dining hall on time for our 8 a.m. breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and fresh fruit, with coffee cake, bagels, or dry cereal also available. Oh yes, and hot chocolate, too!

After a short transition time back at or cabins, everyone gathered in the Leoj (big building) for an intro activity to the gigantic hour-long Predator-Prey game of tag which would take everyone all over camp. "Audience participants" helped teach about the food chain and food web concepts, by wearing props that represented the sun, producer, plants, fish, seals, and sharks.

Everyone came in out of the rain after the game to talk about what they had learned, and then it was time for another short transition in the cabins before returning to the dining hall for lunch: AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS lasagna, according to our fifth graders. Oh, yes, and we ARE eating our veggies!

The Boys' Bunks

Pictures from the Beach

Day #2 - October 12, 2011> Chapin Beach, Dennis, MA

The skies may have been gray, but we sure had a super time at the beach this afternoon!

Skate cases, periwinkles, crabs, crabs, crabs, snails, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, shells, several kinds of seaweed, horse shoe crab shells, AND a dead molamola (an oceanic sunfish!!!!) which (according to Fitz) is rare to see on a bayside beach. This massive, white creature is a jellyfish eater, usually lives in deep water, and is the heaviest, bony fish on the planet. They can weigh up to 5000 pounds, although this one probably was about 500 lbs. Their bodies are known to be incredibly dense.

The beach pictures in the next post will speak volumes about how much fun we had...and how wet we got!

We Love Gaga!

Day #2 - Octobe12, 2011

The day dawned sweatshirt-cool, but great for being outdoors on this beautiful campus.

Everyone enjoyed the French toast-and-sausage breakfast, with the additional choices of fresh-cut fruit and Chef Tom's yummy homemade coffee cake.

The breakfast ORT report was a disappointment, as a considerable amount of liquid waste and uneaten plated sausages added up to more than 30 pounds, so the group set a goal of lowering it considerably at lunchtime. (And they succeeded, by the way, with only 14 pounds of lunch ORT!)

The GaGa pit was a flurry of activity during the morning transition time. (See next blog post of Gaga game photos). then it was time for everyone to spend two hours with their respective field group leaders for a variety of hiking, exploring, team-building, and discovering activities. (See pictures included in this blog.)

Lunch was a huge hit, featuring fresh-baked, warm cornbread, scrumprious "Rice Krispie " baked chicken, and, of course, the delicious salad bar.

Right now the kids are in a variety of one-hour classes for which they signed up during this morning's field groups:projectiles (physics and things that move),sculpt the Earth (forces of nature), one-sided-magical-strip-of-Awesome, Yoga, pumpkin dissection, critter battle (survival in one's habitat), volcanoes, roller coasters, and tree identification (make a book to take home).

Then there will be a half-hour transition to prepare for our two hour trip to the Beach, 3:00-5:00. More later!!!!!

Day #1 Post Script!

Last night's QUEST program was a great success as the children participated in a variety of activities that required them to work together and to S-T-O-P : Stop - Think - Organize - Procede.

They also learned that IALAC is a "value" here at NC. The letters convey the spirit of positive interactions with the anachronym that stands for "I am loving and caring". On a big poster board in the dining room, children are able to record their positive encounters with others during the week, such as "Terry lent me a day pack for the hike."

All teachers and chaperones began the week here yesterday wearing an "IALAC bead" on a piece of yarn. As each adult has observed a good deed being done, we've each passed our IALAC bead necklace onto a child. Last night the kids all learned that they are to enjoy the honor of wearing the IALAC necklace for about an hour and then should try to notice someone else who deserves to wear the IALAC bead, giving it away.

A "quiet sing" song session, accompanied by five NC teachers playing guitars and ukelele, a light Goldfish cracker snack, and it was time to end our big first day.

It was a busy, exciting, tiring day, and the full Harvest Moon was shining brightly as everyone began to settle down and sleep took over in our cabins.

Day #1 comes to a close...

Day #1 Activities

This is just a "snapshot" of all the activity that the children participated in on their first day at Nature's Classroom!