Sunday, March 30, 2014

Outdoor Ed

Last week, I went to a sleep away camp with all of the fifth grade classes.  The camp was called Outdoor Ed, and we learned about many different plants and animals.  During the five day trip, we saw many animals such as mule deer, red tailed hawks, and many ground squirrels.  We were divided into different trail groups, and we had a naturalist named Catherine that explained to us about the plants and animals that we spotted.  We also had a counselor who was a senior in high school. She took care of us when Catherine wasn't with us, such as at night, and during our meals. On the first day, I dressed in a skirt and a t-shirt with no sweater.  I almost froze that day because as soon as the wind picked up, the temperature dropped.  I learned my lesson to always dress in layers!

In front of the dorms














 
One of my favorite day during camp was when we did the all day, 7 hour hike.  We were the only group that saw a family of mule-deer. We also saw a dead bobcat along the way, which really grossed us out, but we didn't let that ruin our day.


A family of Mule-Deer



Dead bobcat

View from the 7-hr hike


Chumash lesson
On a different day, we had a lesson on the Chumash Indian tribe. During the lesson,  we learned how to make necklaces out of abalone shells, tried to make fire without matches, saw different animal furs, and built a shelter from sticks. I was very surprised at how hard it is to start a fire by spinning a stick. We all tried and tried as a group, but we only got a little bit of smoke.  We also saw animal furs from a coyote, skunk, rabbit and dear.  The coyote skull was really cool, as it was large, and fierce-looking. I thought the best part of the whole Chumash lesson was building the shelters. We had to learn to build a small shelter with materials that we could gather in nature.  I was in charge of gathering the sticks, and everyone else was in charge of building the shelter. When we finished, we made a big tent, that all 4 of us could go into!I had an amazing time at Ourdoor Ed, and I will always remember my experience.


Have you ever been to a sleep away camp? 
Did you enjoy it?

Monday, March 24, 2014

This afternoon, Hannah and I recorded a few pieces that we've wor