Mountain Kid Messenger
S'more Outdoor Core - 2023-2024
Spring 2024
Happy Spring!
This Spring Edition of the Mountain Kid Messenger will cover the remaining days and weeks of the school year. It was nice to start April with Spring Break. It rolled like all early Aprils seem to, warming and blooming followed by some chilly return and burying of daffodils and tulips... at least in Meadow Valley. We all have different experiences at our varying elevations. But Spring is inevitably growing on us and I believe we are all ready.
These snow heavy peaks of early April will keep our creeks and rivers bank-full into the Summer! BTW we are 121% of average for the northern Sierra and southern Cascade snowpack this year. The cause and effect of that I often share as Sierra Nevada snow becomes the Feather River flow, that fills the "O" (Oroville), and helps the crops to grow. It is a wonderful cause and effect that supports our mountain lives, from filling favorite lakes to filling our bellies.
And of course we are far beyond just a marvel of water. Spring is the beginning of so many cycles. As our daylight length grows from 13 hours to 15 hours in the remaining weeks of school ahead, we will see the return of species to begin new life cycles in nests and burrows and beds, and the budding and blooming of our deciduous and forb friends. Planted daffodils, tulips and crocus are already being joined by native, wildflowers. Every day is a chance to catch nature in the act of living. This is the heart and soul of Outdoor Core and one of the great joys of living and learning where we are in Plumas County. Enjoy!
And April is National Gardening Month. While that fits fully and completely with our Kindergarten Year of the Garden, our school gardens touch many grades and lives. This is a time for preparation of beds, starting seeds.
A few notable Outdoor Core dates for the month of April
- April 1-5 Spring Break
- April 2 - National Geologist Day (Mountain Kids love rocks!)
- April 7 - International Beaver Day
- April 7 - National Beer Day (Just for Teachers)
- April 8 - Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
- April 8 - Solar Eclipse (10:30am-12:30pm)
- April 13 - International Plant Appreciation Day
- April 14 - Look up at the Sky Day
- April 17 - International Bat Appreciation Day
- April 22 - Earth Day!
- April 26 - National Arbor Day
- April 27 - National Tell a Story Day
And a few more notable Outdoor Core dates for the month of May
- National Bike Month (Bike to School)
- National Wildfire Awareness Month
- National Water Safety Month
- National Wildflower Week (First Week)
- National Amphibian Week (First Week)
- May 4 - Bird Day
- May 8 - National Iris Day
- May 9 - Mothers Day
- May 10 - Stay up all night Night
- May 15 - Chocolate Chip Day
- May 16 - Love a Tree Day
- May 23 - World Turtle Day
- May 25 - National Wine Day (Saturday)
- May 29 - Learn about Composting Day
- May 30 - Water a Flower Day
This Mountain Kid Messenger Spring 2024 Edition is intended to be a fresh and timely breakdown of the observable phenomena occurring locally that tie to each of your grade levels, highlight and celebrate local learning and fun from the field, and share timely resources.
Time for S'more Outdoor Core!
Final Full Moons of Spring : April 15, May 23 & a Partial Solar Eclipse
Pink Moon is named for one of the early April native blooms of Spring, Phlox.
A Partial Solar Eclipse: 35-38% of the sun will be eclipsed by our Moon on Monday April 8th from 10:30-12:30
Flower Moon covers the rest of the blooms to come in May.
Outdoor Core 4 Season Habits: Bring a little more in 2024!
Your Outdoor Core Day of the Week
Be faithful to that day of the week as your official Outdoor Core time. It communicates value for where we live and the authentic science and history of our place. It is a little tougher to motivate in Winter but the science phenomena are always out there waiting.
Morning Mountain Moment
5 Outside
LEARNING LANDSCAPES
Feather River Land Trust (FRLT) is the sponsor of Learning Landscapes. The idea that proximity (nearby) would support frequency (more often) led to the conservation of outdoor sites adjacent to your school that you can walk to with your class. Just 10-15 minutes away means regular field trips all year long. No big budgets or buses required. Supporting each school with a quality outdoor place every day of the school year along with field kits and other resources has made a great difference, and Learning Landscapes set the foundation for Outdoor Core. We acknowledge FRLT and the support they provide year after year, in perpetuity, with no strings attached. There are many resources on their website highlighting our region and your Learning Landscape.
Please look for and complete the end of year survey before the end of the year. All classroom teachers and 4-6 grade students. It is our way of helping FRLT to continue to improve the program and properties in Perpetuity.
John Muir Laws has created 40 short videos for kids that he calls the Nature Journal Connection. Go to this resource for a 10-15 minute "Jack Attack" any week of the year. He purposefully made 40 videos to cover every week of the school year. Almost every topic you could want is there. A quick click and you can watch a quick flick.
Mystery Science Support
Kindergarten - The Garden Year
Your core Outdoor Core resources are in your PUSD Google Drive's Kindergarten Outdoor Core Shared Drive. These are your digital curriculum resources. Additionally, you have Outdoor Core Video Resources. These can be found on the PUSD Website and PUSD's YouTube Channel. Follow the link to get to the main page and then select your grade level.
Your School Garden
Your school garden is used by many but I hope that you and your Littles feel full ownership as it is your Outdoor Core stomping ground! You also have that wonderful garden coordinator that makes the school garden easier to access and more meaningful. We are so fortunate to have a garden coordinator at each site. They will guide your weekly forays until the end of the school year and then keep the gardens growing through the heavy growth of summer until we return.
Spring Weather Watch
While we may still get a few jolts of Winter temperatures and even snow, the thaw has happened and the ground and air are feeling the longer daylight hours and the warming trend. The last freeze is an important date to notice. Fun graphing the upward trend of temps. Kindergarten is a weather study year so every day this is time well spent, and it doesn't take much time.Keep it simple. Hot, warm, cool, cold, and freezing. Windy. Cloudy. Wet. Rain, hail, sleet, graupel, and snow. And farmers always pay close attention to the daily weather and the seasonal climate.
Starts with a Seed
You may have done cup-starts and been playing with seeds for a while but Spring is our time for planting and germinating seeds. It is slow going at first but the green will appear and grow and grow. What a magical experience! Please share one of my favorite little tunes by one of my favorite artists, Willie Tea Tayor - Itty Bitty Seed
Harvest
School ends before Summer officially begins and so the Summer harvest may not be large part of your Spring activities. Early edible greens are likely. The gift of the garden will be the harvest for your new Littles next year. Make sure the kids know that when they return to become 1st grade entomologists, this will still be their garden.
Garden Action Project
One of the things we want Mountain Kids to believe, is that they can grow their minds to know anything, and they can take actions and use that knowledge to do great things in the world around them. Planting and growing a garden is an obvious activity but perhaps there is something more that can be their idea. Pose the question, "What can we do outdoors at our school to use our Mountain Kid brains and muscle to make the school a more beautiful and healthy place for kids!" I helped Quincy Pioneer do a very simple wildflower and grass project. Yes, simple is best, but what a final great lesson from their first year of school!
First Grade - Year of the Invertebrate
Your Outdoor Core resources are in your PUSD Google Drive's First Grade Outdoor Core Shared Drive. These are your digital curriculum resources. Additionally you have Outdoor Core Video Resources. These can be found on the PUSD Website and PUSD's YouTube Channel. Follow the link to get to the main page and then select your grade level.
The Bugs are Back
In Spring the bugs come back... as well as all of the other invertebrates. Before Spring Break we had some early butterflies, native yellow-faced bumblebees, and early hatches of many of our little fliers and crawlers. This will continue through the Spring. It is excellent science to track their return. Where did we see each invertebrate and when was it? Truly celebrate the return of each to our daily lives. Art the return. Write the return. Math the return. Some of the best science education is to observe and record the return of our invertebrates. Our field journaling is perfect for that. Your kids simply record who they saw, wherethey were, and when they observed it. Keep is simple. Please do share these with me and your First Grade PUSD colleagues.
Larva Coming Soon!
While nature will do this without our involvement, I have ordered butterfly and ladybug larva for every school to help your kids learn about the life start and cycle of some of our favorite insects. The order was placed for delivery right after Spring Break. As soon as they arrive we will deliver them to you! Stay tuned for more information.
Astronomy Too
As you likely noted above, both Full Moons of our Spring are flower themed. Moons are essentially months and help us track the passing of time. Pink Moon is about the early blooming of Phlox. Find some phlox and have a pink parity. Yes, long before Barbie, pink was named and claimed. And the May moon is more generally a celebration of all kinds of flowers. Celebrate this blooms as they come as they are the perfect pollinating compliment to your invertebrates. Can't have one without the other.
And everyday the sun and moon rise and set to our eyes but change just a little every night. The shape and length of time and shadow. From one week to the next it is more dramatic. The Mystery Science Spinning Sky Unit also has new lessons to support Sun & Shadows and Moon & Stars.
Sun & Moon Shadows
I share this a lot, but it is one of the easiest, natural science phenomenon and activities for you and your kids. The changing sun and moon angles are one of my favorite observable phenomena in astronomy. This month the moon will travel lower and lower, and sun will arc a little higher every night. The easiest way to explore this scientific phenomenon is using common, nearby shadows. In the winter, shadows are long, reaching far to the north. Use the tetherball pole, the basketball post, or just the roofline on the north side of a building. Use chalk and mark where the shadow stops at a certain time of the day, and then do it again and again each week. It is amazing and easily missed. Another fun way to explore this is to go outside at a specific time closer to the middle of the day, and measure each Mountain Kid's shadow. Combining that with their own height makes it personal. This is a fun and personal way to use measuring and math skills. This could be done through the year each month to measure changes. They can track the change of their own height and growth, and track the change of the sun and the shadows they make.
Insect Action Project
One final consideration as we glide toward the final weeks of the year is to do something to demonstrate their care for insects, through the energy and knowledge that your Mountain Kids have grown this year. This invites problem solving skills, and is in fact engineering - the opportunity to design, create and change something in nature for insects and any invertebrate.
Another activity is to do something to help change attitudes and behaviors or grow knowledge and care about invertebrates in the larger community. This could be a specific species or all pollinators or some other misunderstood group of invertebrates (worms and cockroaches come to mind).
Your action project does not need to be a huge undertaking. In fact simple is often better. Planting a single native plant on the campus to support pollinators is making the habitat better. Make an informational poster about our little pollinators. Invertebrates are small and need a voice and our Mountain Kids can be that voice.
Second Grade - Year of the Herp
Your Outdoor Core resources are in your PUSD Google Drive's Second Grade Outdoor Core Shared Drive. These are your digital curriculum resources. Additionally you have Outdoor Core Video Resources. These can be found on the PUSD Website and PUSD's YouTube Channel. Follow the link to get to the main page and then select your grade level.
They're Back!
The Western Fence Lizards and Sierran Tree Frogs are out and singing loud and proud throughout the region! Well, at least the frogs are. Sometimes it is hard to find the time and place for an authentic encounter during the school day but trust your Mountain Kids to find and catch our local herps after school and during the weekend too. Having them share their out of school discoveries helps to populate the coming weeks with many wiggles and hops.
Keep a Record
Your Mountain Kids can be a part of this important phenomena as they see their first of the year. For each sighting they would record - Who they saw. When they saw it (date and time), and Where they saw it. Please share those with me and your 2nd grade colleagues around the region.
Herp Zoom
There is a built in lesson about our reptiles and amphibians in the Zoom Recording from a 2021 2nd Grade Outdoor Core Zoom in late March. The Zoom was more about the Spring return of the Herps, so March is perhaps the better fit, but there is a good section on Brumation.
Earth Science
Where the water is as the snow melts and the rain continues is the essential noticing of the season. This is not just frog smarts for habitat needs, but also your Earth Science focus in California for 2nd grade. These are called Vernal (Spring) pools and ponds. They include everything from a puddle in the school campus to larger filled expressions that fill for the season. They cannot support year-round life but they help life cycles to start and are precious places on the surrounding landscape. Hunting for and tracking how long they are filled is good science observing. Making maps and measuring how big they are and how deep they are, and how they slowly shrink is a wonderful activity and very educational activity.
Herp Action Project
Be a Herp-Hero! Sticks and stones may break our bones but they also make a great Herp Habitat!
One final consideration as we glide toward the final weeks of the year is to do something to demonstrate care for our herps, through the energy and knowledge that your Mountain Kids have grown this year. This invites problem solving skills. This is in fact engineering - the opportunity to design, create, or change something in nature for amphibians and reptiles. They can also help change attitudes and behaviors or grow knowledge toward a specific herp species, in the larger community. It could be their families or other kids at school.
This does not need to be a huge undertaking. In fact simple is often better. To create a herp habitat is as simple as an approved place on campus where you can construct a pile that can hold moisture and shelter. Make something that might be good for amphibians on the inside but reptiles on the outside. Kids are natural at such things, and found materials are best. Another direction would be to make informational posters about a sensitive herp with one thing people can do to be a herp hero. Plan this in April, Do it in May. Remember that I have HerpHero stickers for the kids who look out for their important, undersized friends!
Third Grade - Year of the Mammal
Your core Outdoor Core resources are in your PUSD Google Drive's Third Grade Outdoor Core Shared Drive. These are your digital curriculum resources. Additionally you have Outdoor Core Video Resources. These can be found on the PUSD Website and PUSD's YouTube Channel. Follow the link to get to the main page and then select your grade level.
Mammals toward Spring
As the light time lengthens and the temps rise, our mammals adjust their behavior and even their bodies to meet the conditions. Most Mountain Kids know this due to the shedding of winter coats by their pet cats and dogs. This is a timely discussion and you will begin to discover signs outside. Of course mammals don't want to jump too quickly as Winter is still playing with us. Those thick coats are still needed for now. This combines perfectly with your weather studies. How warm does it need to get before the furry ones thin their coats?
Tracking in Snow & Mud
My single favorite activity for Winter science is tracking. You will start Marc h with this opportunity everywhere. Fresh tracks are always better than old. They hold many more details to observe.
Following tracks lets you explore and discover every single mammal species that is out and about on your campus and Learning Landscape. Who left the track? Was the mammal walking or running. Where was your mammal coming from and going to? Along the trails there are comedies and dramas that unfold and all you need is curiosity, layers, and boots.
And as the snow melts, the ground is moist and will catch a track and also hold it wonderfully. So the shift to Spring conditions is a time to keep tracking. You can also preserve a good track in mud by using plaster of Paris. Reach out if you are interested.
Weather Watch
Weather is a daily and even minute by minute phenomenon and an important part of the 3rd grade year. Weather is always happening in it's various ways and so you can study it anytime and anywhere. Just to remind some of the easiest and valuable weather phenomena
- Temperatures (High & Low)
- Wind (Direction & Speed)
- Precipitation (Amount& Type)
- Humidity (The relationship between temperature and humidity)
There are more but these are the quick ones. And remember when you look up the weather forecast, those meteorologists are faraway forecasters. We need to "ground truth" their predictions with real data and evidence.
You may have seen this in a share from 2023 in the news. Came from a National Park Service Ranger Tweet - " If you comeacrsoss a bear, never push a slower friend down...even if you feel the friendship has run its course." - More valuable is this Bear Aware information that is worth sharing with your Mountain Kids. We do not live in Grizzly Country but even our Black Bears, especially with cubs, are nothing to fuss with.
Mammal Action Project
One final consideration as we glide toward the final weeks of the year is to do something to demonstrate care for your furry friends. Through the energy and knowledge that your Mountain Kids have grown this year they can make our local place better for mammals.This invites problem solving skills. This is in fact engineering - the opportunity to design, create, or change something in nature for mammals. You could also to help change attitudes and behaviors or grow knowledge about mammals in the larger community.
This does not need to be a huge undertaking. In fact simple is often better. Plant a single native plant on the campus to improve mammal habitat. Make informational posters about a threatened mammal or just a species they want to look out for.
Fourth Grade - Year of the Trout
Your Outdoor Core resources are in your PUSD Google Drive's Fourth Grade Outdoor Core Shared Drive. These are your digital curriculum resources. Additionally you have Outdoor Core Video Resources. These can be found on the PUSD Website and PUSD's YouTube Channel. Follow the link to get to the main page and then select your grade level.
Feather River Trout Unlimited
The amazing volunteers of FR Trout Unlimited are here for you. This partnership is a wonderful part of your year as your kids get to learn from real local scientists and experienced anglers in the region. They also bring our local Mountain Maidu into your year. Most of you know Cindy Noble, Mike Kossow and the other volunteers from FRTU well. The name-link will take you to her email address. They will connect you to other local fish folks as needed.
Trout in the Classroom
Congrats on our earliest Trout in the Classroom program. Normally this is a post Spring Break activity. We would like to know how you felt about the timing this year. We want it to work well for you and your Mountain Kids. Please be sure to thank your FRTU friends. A kid card is one of the most powerful forms of gratitude. Our fish friends need to be thanked!
Tracking Changes Along the River
We can't exactly experience the changes that our submerged Trout friends go through, but the changes we can observe along the riparian area ripple above and below the water's surface. We know how important cold water is for trout, but sometimes too cold can be complicated. That is the magic of riparian deciduous trees and shrubs. These trees and shrubs lost their leaves in the fall to provide more sunlight to the creeks and rivers through Winter. And now that the warming is happening, they are starting to bud-swell everywhere. The leaves are emerging and filling in these long-barren plants, providing essential shade for the creeks. In the summer those leafed species shad the creeks and keep the temps low. Catch the changes as we weekly move toward Spring and Summer.
Fishing Days with Amber Mouser are all booked and your bus transportation is set. This is an always fun highlight of the 4th grade year. Please be sure to build in gratitude in word and card to Amber and her California Department of Fish and Wildlife Department support.
- CES - May 28th - Lake Almanor @ Canyon Dam (Trip 02788)
- CRC - May 29th - Lake Davis @ Honker Cover (Trip 02796)
- GES - June 4th - Round Valley Reservoir (Trip 02832)
- QES - June 5th - Spanish Creek Campground (Trip 02795)
Trout Action Project
One final consideration as we glide toward the final weeks of the year is to do something to demonstrate their care for trout. Through the energy and knowledge that your Mountain Kids have grown this year they are ready to make a difference. This invites problem solving skills. This is in fact engineering - the opportunity to design, create, or change something in nature for trout. Another way is to help change attitudes and behaviors or grow knowledge about trout in the larger community.
This does not need to be a huge undertaking. In fact simple is often better. Because we know the 3 Cs (Clean, Clear, Cold) one of the most straight forward action is is to plant willows along our riparian corridors. These willows stabilize the creek banks, reducing erosion and the turbidity (cloudiness) while also providing shade that keeps the temperatures cooler. The two biggest pollutants in mountain creeks are turbidity and temperature. We don't always think of them that way, but scientists do. Planting or "staking" a few willows on a bare bank makes a difference.
Lastly, an informational posters about trout or a sensitive aquatic species allows kids to use their new knowledge to educate others and possibly change local conditions.
For several years California Sate Parks are offering the Adventure Pass for FREE to every California 4th grader. While Plumas Eureka is our only local state park (and one of my favorite) within a day are many more. Click on the link and share with every student and their family. The process is simple. A parent or guardian goes to www.ReserveCalifornia.com or they can call (800) 444-7275. The third option is to go to the nearest state park with a sales office. The closest to us is in Truckee at the Donner Visitor Center.
Fifth Grade - Year of the Bird
Your Outdoor Core resources are in your PUSD Google Drive's Fifth Grade Outdoor Core Shared Drive. These are your digital curriculum resources. Additionally you have Outdoor Core Video Resources. These can be found on the PUSD Website and PUSD's YouTube Channel. Follow the link to get to the main page and then select your grade level.
Nest Mapping
While the buds on our deciduous trees were starting to take the warming bait, they are still a month from leafing. This is an amazing time to hunt for nests. You can look for different types and designs, where they are located in the canopy, and explore which bird built which nest. Especially because our Winter has not been too snow-significant, many nests are still where they originally were located and in decent shape. This phenomenon is a worthy exploration. Map the nest locations and sketch the different kinds and tree locations. Great for field journaling / nature notebooking. Remember to record the who, what, where, and when.
Spring Birds Returning
Some of the best science of the Spring is when and where the birds are returning. Many have returned and are staying. Many are just passing through and are just here for a day or two. These are all moments to note and celebrate. Real scientists will use your observations if you enter them into eBird (see below). The day to day and at least weekly birding is an essential part of your year.
Do not forget about these amazing resource. They are the best citizen science tools I use. In January I decided to bird every day no matter where I was. Sometimes I found only a few species. Often I saw and heard the same again and again. But an amazing thing happened along the way. Day by day, I grew my collection of characters. Last year I found over 190 different species in Plumas County and this year I am already at 104 birds. You will get better only by birding. It is within your reach, and best of all... it is free!
Exploring Bird Anatomy
I have had this up for several months just because I think it is an amazing digital resource.
Build Your Bird is a great Cornell tool to explore bird anatomy and attributes. From feathers to skeleton this is a very cool tool and I guarantee your Mountain Kids will flock to it once they know it is there.
PAS adds a lot of value to what you do as a 5th grade teacher. The PAS link above will lead you to the PEEP Curriculum, a core resources for our Outdoor Core year. PAS and their coordinator rock star Liz Ramsey, are waiting to hear from you. Reach out to Liz or use the following scheduling link to get on her calendar.
In 5th grade we look up a lot. While much of that is in search and study of birds, beyond them and in the darker hours is the amazing science of Astronomy. We are moving into the Spring sky. Because we are traveling around the sun at 67,000 miles per second (think about that) as we take a daily spin through day and night, we will see the universe a little differently. You gotta go out and look up. As mentioned above we start after Spring Break with 13 hours of daylight and we end the school year with 15. We love those two hours, but they grow by just a minute or two every day. Notice those changes, as well as the regular changes to the moon phases. Simple observations but they build scientific literacy.
The most interesting phenomenon for 5th grade is how migrating birds use stars to navigate to their Spring and Summer territory. Scientists do not exactly know how this works but that it does. For some birds the migration route is thousands of miles and many nights. It is worth noting that the Winter dominant constellations of Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades now begin the night to the extreme West and quickly "set" from view. Directly overhead we now have the constellation Leo. The only star that "behaves" from the point of view of our spinning planet is of course Polaris, the North Star. How the birds use the stars to navigate is a good topic of exploration and discussion among your Mountain Kids.
Solar Eclipse
This thing is on Monday, April 8th, and is during the school day. We are not in the path of totality but a partial eclipse (35-40%) is still a scientific phenomenon that can and should be observed. Just be careful if you engage the kids with the sun. Looking directly at the sun is never part of the curriculum. See this Map to track it.
The Big Day Cometh
Plumas Audubon and I are tag teaming this culminating experience for your year. Your Big Day dates are below. Liz Ramsey and I will be in touch about more the details, but essential will be the kid's good science habits and bird identification prowess. This has hopefully been growing through the year and will be a point of pride for them as they get to reap what they have sown!
- QES Big Day - May 22nd (Trip 02842)
- CRC5 Big Day - May 23rd (Trip02936)
- CES Big Day - May 29th (Trip 02789)
- GES Big Day - May 30 (Trip 02790)
Avian Action Project
One final consideration as we glide toward the final weeks of the year is to do something to demonstrate care for birds through the energy and knowledge that your Mountain Kids have grown this year. This invites problem solving skills. This is in fact engineering - the opportunity to design, create, or change something in nature for birds. Another approach is to do something to help change attitudes and behaviors or grow knowledge about birds in the larger community.
This does not need to be a huge undertaking. In fact simple is often better. Plant a single native plant on the campus to improve bird habitat. Install a bird nesting box or two on Campus or your Learning Landscape (I have boxes). Make informational posters about a threatened bird or just a species they want to look out for.
Sixth Grade - Watershed Year
Your Outdoor Core resources are in your PUSD Google Drive's Sixth Grade Outdoor Core Shared Drive. These are your digital curriculum resources. Additionally you have Outdoor Core Video Resources. These can be found on the PUSD Website and PUSD's YouTube Channel. Follow the link to get to the main page and then select your grade level.
Winter is History!
We are starting April on the other side of the Equinox which means the snowpack prediction contest is officially over! The Pilot Peak station at 6,800' reached it's maximum of 50.7" And that means... that Greenville is out winner for 2024! Congratulations to Greenville's 5 girls! To the victors go the pizzas! Below were our predictions:
- Quincy 23.3"
- CRC 23.6"
- Counselors 24.1968"
- Chester 27.57"
- Rob 31.7"
- Greenville 52.4"
Snow - Flow - O
Tracking these winter storms and weather events is a natural, and weekly, if not daily, opportunity. Please take the timer to do this with the bead stacking, at least until Whitewater Rafting!
Remember... "The Weather Blow brings Mountain Snow that becomes River Flow and the precious H20 that fills the Great O (Oroville) and helps Ag Crops to Grow." Links to the inches of snowpack, the CFS of local rivers, and the acre feet filling Lake Oroville are linked below:
Astronomy
In 6th grade we look up a lot. Astronomy is vast and amazing. It is why we dedicate a night at FREd to exploring it a bit. We are moving into the Spring sky. Because we are traveling around the sun at 67,000 miles per second (think about that) as we take a daily spin through day and night, we will see the universe a little differently. You gotta go out and look up. As mentioned above we start after Spring Break with 13 hours of daylight and we end the school year with 15. We love those two hours, but they grow by just a minute or two every day. Notice those changes, as well as the regular changes to the moon phases. Simple observations but they build scientific literacy that our 6th grade Mountain Kids need this year and beyond!
Solar Eclipse
This thing is on Monday, April 8th, and is during the school day. We are not in the path of totality but a partial eclipse (35-40%) is still a scientific phenomenon that can and should be observed. Just be careful if you engage the kids with the sun. Looking directly at the sun is never part of the curriculum. See this Map to track it.
Field Trips
I will see you on the monthly but please make sure you are getting kids out on the weekly. The watershed year requires reps, like all good workouts. CRC still needs to makeup their SnowSchool but the rest will move on with the next trip in the plan.
Rafting
- April 16 - Greenville & Chester
- April 17 - C Roy Carmichael
- April 18 - Quincy
Plumas to Pacific
- May 20-23 - Quincy
- May 28-31 - C Roy Carmichael
- June 4-7 - Greenville & Chester
Weather
We have been playing with this all year but this is where the kids can really use their skills to be prepared for the trip. Please track the forecast so that kids can see what the weather will be all 4 days and nights. This means they aren't just looking at Plumas County. They should look at the locations we will visit throughout our trip.
- Day/Night 1 - Kayaking and camping in Oroville
- Day 2 - Sacramento
- Night 2 - Rio Vista
- Day 3 - San Francisco
- Night 3 - Olema
- Day 4 - Point Reyes
Plumas to Pacific & Final Reflections
This EPIC rite of passage draws to a fantastic finish with this memorable trip. Great thanks for your hard work given and to come. It is an honor to work with you. After the completion of the trip I do encourage a fun product assessment of their learning. My two favorite are:
1) The Water Challenge - I talk through this at the end of the trip but it is valuable for the kids to take the challenge of dividing water between cities, farmers, and wildlife. Sharing their solutions to California's water limitations provides a hopeful path forward.
2) Water Drop Story - Now that the kids have travelled from the Plumas Peaks and Summits to the Pacific Ocean they can write a very imaginative, and accurate Water Drop Story. This tory would narrate the many places a Feather River water drop might travel from the mountain headwaters to the ocean breakwaters.
Gratitude
Lastly, I am a firm believer in the value of gratitude felt and expressed. If you can, please spend some time having the kids write thank you cards for the many people and partners that made the year possible. And thank you for your support of this very involved Watershed Year. I cannot do it without your full commitment and support. Your collaboration makes it better and better. Thanks.
Outdoor Core Mountain Kid
Email: rwade@pcoe.k12.ca.us
Website: https://www.pcoe.k12.ca.us/apps/pages/OutdoorCore
Location: Upper Feather River Region
Phone: 530 283-6500 - (5257)