The petroglyphs were surprisingly fun. New leaders have vamped up the field trip activities! Instead of watching a (semi-boring) video upon arrival, we had a two minute orientation, then went straight out to the rocks to see petroglyphs.
Holy cow was it windy. It was so breezy we couldn't hear our guide if we weren't in the right spot; the wind took his words. We almost blew over a few times too. Most of my kids did not come prepared. A few only had sweatshirts. A couple had light jackets. Two kids (brother and sister) had heavier coats, hats, and gloves. Way to go Mom! They were kind enough to share with their chillier classmates. One lent his hat and his coat to two of the boys, the other lent her jacket to one of the sweatshirt girls. It really warmed my heart.
After that station, we took a long walk around the property and came to some taller rocks that bison used to rub against. You can tell because the rocks are worn smooth. This is the newest change. The archeologist on site spent all winter creating this activity. He had a bunch of clipboards with tasks for the students to break into small groups to do. Some involved analyzing maps, others measured trees, most had to read and answer questions. They all had something to do with the life of a bison in southwest Minnesota. My big takeaway was that bison quit being around this area about 57 years ago. They rub against trees if they're able, but that kills the trees. The trees at the petroglyphs are not very big around, and if you calculate it, they're about 57 years old! (Although, now that I think about it, does that timeline make sense? One of my students calculated that number, but the guide said it was right...maybe it's 157 years ago).
The next station was the same as it's been in past years: atlatl throwing. They updated the throwing apparatus to make it easier to keep the spear on and to throw. The wind really made it tricky to aim, but quite a few of my class improved enough to almost hit the bison!
Our last station was about gardening techniques used by Native Americans in the area. Four sandboxes were set up for groups to hoe mounds of sand together to plant seeds. My kids actually used hoes made of shoulder bones, sticks, and rawhide! And there was enough for each of them. They were beyond thrilled. This group of natives made their mounds in rows. One row would be seven corn seeds planted with one seed in the center and the others on the sides of the mound. The next row would be six bean seeds planted in two clusters, three in each, one cluster on each side of the mound. The squash would be planted on the edges of the field or wherever there was room because it spreads everywhere. They wanted it to cover the most ground to keep weeds from growing. Pretty neat. They got this information from an old lady named Buffalo Bird Woman. Back in the late 1800s, an anthropologist interviewed her and put everything into a book. Guess what. It's still in print today. Add it to my to-read list!
My kids were happy to get out of the wind to eat their lunch. They were less than happy they still had to eat outside, but the picnic shelter is pretty sheltered and it wasn't that cold out.
The farm came next. Of course they had a great time up in the haymow swinging on the rope. There were actually bales up there this year. One of the 6th graders who'd been here last year said, "Oh, now I see what you meant. I tried to picture it with bales last time and I couldn't."
My niece (1.5 years old) came along for the farm tour. My students were impressed with how many words she knows. She was pretty quiet to start with, but a few minutes in (once we saw the cows), she opened up and started talking. I got her to say almost everyone's name! Most of the time she could only kind of pronounce them, but it was super cute.
My kids brought boots along, just in case it was muddy. Overall, the farm was pretty dry. Dad said there was only one place with mud. My kids found it. Even the ones without boots tromped through it. They had to wash their feet off before getting into the cars. Thankfully, I remembered past years and brought plastic grocery bags along.
We also brought along ingredients to make elephant toothpaste. You start with super strong hydrogen peroxide and dish soap. Add a bit of warm water with yeast and... presto! A beaker oozing hot foam. We also added food coloring to make it even more exciting. The student propelling this idea brought most of the supplies. He had read you can try the experiment with potassium iodide. We didn't have any iodide, but we did have iodine. That didn't work as well as the yeast. Well, maybe it did, but it didn't go very fast. We ended up doing it again with yeast. He had brought two kinds of yeast to test. We didn't notice a difference between the two yeasts. Dad brought out gloves for the kids to wear. They ended up playing in the foam (safely of course). Very fun experiment.
After that, we did one more round of bale tag while I cleaned up. Then snacks on the go, then one more round of swinging in the haymow. And then petting a baby calf (which we forgot to do earlier in the tour). And then going to see the fresh baby calf who was just born when we started our science experiment. We left later than I had planned, but we still made it back around the time I had given parents, just the later time I had said. Thankfully we have an app that makes it easy to send updates. Most parents showed up a few minutes after we did, so no one had to wait long.
Overall, a very good 'last' field trip to the farm. Now we're only 13 days 'til school's out. Crunch time!
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