By: Panya Cao, Reed College
It was a cool, cloudy day when we arrived at Calluqueo Glacier. The back of Rojita – one of the Round River trucks – was bursting with supplies that we had spent the previous night reviewing and the early hours of the morning repacking. I was apprehensive, tired, and more than a little worried about our project: two days of environmental education field trips for the fifth grade classes of Cochrane. It had only just hit me that I would be communicating with fifth grade students all day in Spanish, and I was certain that the day was going to devolve into complete and utter chaos.
For the past several weeks, the Environmental Education project group (Katie, Oliver, Owen and I) had slowly worked our way towards a plan for the field trips. We had spent countless hours drawing up a schedule that could include all of our activities in the limited timeframe, and working on lesson plans. We tried to create a field trip that would be fun and interactive, but also educational.
The morning of the project, we drove 1.5 hours south of Cochrane to Calluqueo Glacier. When we arrived, we unloaded the trucks and each of the class leaders scurried off to set up their stations. While groups set up the kitchen and the plant identification and river morphology stations, I hurried around the area, hoping to finish setting up the scavenger hunt before the kids arrived.
Alas, I was unsuccessful. Before long, seventeen fifth graders spilled out of the bus and slowly navigated down the hill to the flat, gravelly area near the river which had become our makeshift kitchen. We made our introductions, played a short game, and the classes began. Half the students went off to river morphology with Owen and Sophie while the other half joined Katie and me at the plant identification station.
During our class, we tried our best to teach the kids to examine plants closely, searching for tiny details and changes in the color, texture, shape, smell, and overall form of the plants. We broke into small groups of two to three students, and worked on our drawing skills, illustrating a variety of flowers, fruits, and leaves before returning to show the group our work. Though we’d planned to focus on one plant per group, we changed our plans according to how each group of kids responded to the lesson. Some loved to draw, and were fascinated by one plant, but in other groups we ended up learning five or six plants. In yet another group, we diverged completely and learned about bugs instead. We usually followed the interests of the group wherever they led. Finally, part way through our lesson, my worries dissipated, and I accepted the uncertainties of the day.
After plant identification, the kids made their way over to the river morphology station, where they learned about the water cycle, fresh water versus salt water supply on Earth, and macroinvertebrates or water bugs. Although I wasn’t present for any of these lessons, they were gleefully recounted to me by many fifth graders as they exclaimed about the insects they had or hadn’t found. I don’t think there was a single kid who didn’t enjoy poking around by the river.
As our first two morning classes finished up, students headed out on the water to see the glacier up close. On the boat they learned about Calluqueo Glacier and its history. The other half of them downed completos (hot dogs with avocado and tomato) with surprising speed. Once they were finished, we headed into the brush and played games until it was time for them to take their turn on the boat.
As our final activity, students participated in a scavenger hunt. They practiced the skills they had learned throughout the day, identifying plants, practicing English with Round River students, and writing down their favorite facts about Calluqueo Glacier. They learned how to use a GPS and a compass, and searched for various points near the glacier where they discovered prizes. Hot, sweaty, and tired, we gathered into a circle, sharing our favorite moments for the entire day. One student said something along the lines of, “The boat activity was my favorite! No, I liked the plants! Wait, I also liked the scavenger hunt! I liked everything!”, which made just about every kid there burst into laughter.
All in all, despite scheduling issues, last minute changes, and discovering that we were missing some essential pieces of gear, I think we did a good job. It was great to see how much fun the kids had, and watch them connect with their environment. Over the course of the day, we watched the kids come out of their shells. One Round River student said, “It was cool to watch the kids gain confidence. Both days I had an extremely shy girl that was maybe not used to being outside a lot, or just nervous being in a new place. But by the end of the day during the scavenger hunt they were running everywhere, totally confident.” Hopefully our field trip has not only instilled confidence, but also planted a seed of curiosity and respect for the environment.
