Tag: field trip

The month of June has become a time to welcome students from Wellfleet Elementary School to trails sponsored by the Wellfleet Open Space Committee and the Wellfleet Conservation Trust.

The two organizations have collaborated for many years on programs for schoolchildren. One of their most important functions is to help young people appreciate the value of nature and open space.

This year Peggy Sagan from the Open Space Committee led a program for grades 3, 4, and 5, involving activities in class related to nature, conservation, and map reading, plus field trips.

The classes included Melanie Griswold’s grade 3, Kristin Connolly and Tessa Wood’s grade 4, and Brendan Pursel’s grade 5. For grade 4 there was a field trip to the Fox Island / Pilgrim Springs area and for grade 5 a trip to the Herring River Overlook. Others helping Ms. Sagan at various times included John Grieb from the Open Space Committee, and Bill Iacuessa, Denny O’Connell, and Chip Bruce from the WCT.

Grade 4 explores the Fox Island Marsh and Pilgrim Spring Woodlands

At the start of our hike, we asked two students to read the text on the Robert Hankey plaque. They were stars, prompting a discussion about what a trust is and why we need to conserve open space and habitats.

At the end of the hike, students recalled their best experience. Two said that they liked the fiddler crabs the most. But one said she liked the dead ones, because you could hold them more easily and look closely. Another said she liked the live ones.

One student liked sea shells along the salt marsh; another liked seeing the berries. Yet another liked hearing about how we construct trails.

In notes after the field trip, students wrote things like this:

My favorite was seeing all the crabs and sea pickles. Thank you for the amazing field trip. I had the best time ever.

Thank you for teaching us a lot of nature facts that I didn’t know.

Thanks for letting us go on that really inspiring field trip!

Grade 5 explores the Herring River Overlook

Grade 5 students at the Herring River Overlook trail were asked to observe. Within 10 seconds of starting out they had found a box turtle.

They observed many things after that in an all too short adventure. They learned about lichen and moss, bayberry and bearberry, and the glacial history of Cape Cod. They talked about the estuary with its brackish water.

When we came to the last bench on a counter-clockwise circuit, the first one said, “Wow! What a view!”

Another student, already contemplating graduation, asked whether the middle school students would get to do this.

We talked about staying on the trails, both as a safety measure and to protect the fragile ecosystem.

Judging by the smiles, the many questions, and thank you notes, the students in all three grades had a great time and learned a lot.