Looking for Eagles at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve

Klukwan, Haines, and Juneau

Yesterday we left Gustavus and went to Juneau on the ferry.  When we got there we went to go eat dinner at Subway.  Then, we went swimming at Thunder Mountain pool.  After we went swimming we dried off, went to the the hostel, had a little snack, Mrs. Cervin read us a story, and we went to bed.

In the morning we got all ready to go on the ferry to Haines and Klukwan at 4:30 in the morning.  Then we all got in the van and went to the ferry to go to Haines and Klukwan. 


My favorite part of the trip so far was seeing all of those eagles today and going swimming. ~SB

I liked meeting the Klukwan students. ~US

It was really interesting seeing the Klukwan School because it is all connected--even the gym!  When we got here they sang some traditional songs for us.  It was new to me.  I had never heard anything like it before. ~DW

The best part of my day was when we got to meet the Klukwan students and go on a scavenger hunt to look for eagle sign.  ~SH

So far, the best part of the field trip was meeting students from a school in the same district.  ~JO

My favorite things that have happened on the trip are swimming and hiking.  When we were hiking in Klukwan I thought that was the most bald eagles that I would see in my entire life. ~FW

Jumping into the pool was fun because you couldn't get out of the tornado-thing.  Being on the ferry was fun because the crew members were so nice. ~JP  

Year-long Study Questions

We  came up with our questions for our year-long study:

How many different animals are in each of these plant communities:  marshes/water bodies, deciduous thickets, conifer-dominated forests, and meadows? 

Which plant community has the most animals in it?

What Kind Of Tracks Are These?

2012-2013 4th and 5th Grade Year-Long Scientific Study

Hi!,  This is the 4th-5th grade class introducing our new year- long scientific study. This year we decided on birds and animal sign for our topics. We haven’t decided on our questions yet. Tania came in and gave us a great presentation about animal sign, so we do have our questions narrowed down to four questions

We have already been on four different trips for our scientific study to collect data for our topics. The trips we’ve been on so far to collect data were to the Crane Flats, the beach, the community garden, and the beaver dam on the Nagoonberry Loop Trail.

           

On October 16, 2012, we went on a field trip to the beaver dam on Nagoonberry Loop Trail. While we were there we set up a camera on a middle-sized willow tree hoping to get a picture of the beaver. The camera is motion activated so be careful when around it.

We’ve already seen a lot of birds on our trips! We hope to find many more birds and animal sign throughout our scientific study.  At the beginning of the year we started our bird lists. Bird lists are these lists of birds that we add birds to that we’ve seen. Once we find a certain amount of birds we get a certificate saying we found that many birds. Each time the amount of birds you have to find gets larger. We’ve already seen birds as big as trumpeter swans to the littlest birds like dark-eyed juncos.

On November 13^th-16^th the 4^th and 5^th grade class is going on a trip to Haines and Klukwan. Every year there’s an Eagle Festival in Haines. As you know we’re studying birds so it’s a great chance to learn about eagles and the eagle’s history. Were also going to go on hikes, go swimming, and learn more about Klukwan culture. It’ll be a lot of fun going on the trip!

Our Nature Journals (Gustavus Spruce Trees on Nagoonberry Trail)

Nagoonberry Loop Field Trip (March 29)

The 3^rd-5^th grade class went to the Nagoonberry  Loop Trail on March 29^th. It was windy and cloudy and kind of warm. It was very hard to get a soil sample because of all the roots.  Our soil samples were really interesting because you could really see the layers clearly. There was a little sand and a lot of clay. Desire noticed that at the top of the soil sample it was really soft and wet.  The soil would feel harder and harder as you went down the sample with your finger.  One group noticed that the soil sample had some reddish-brown soil and grey clay in it. 

The trees we recorded in the area were willow, Sitka spruce, jack pine, and cottonwood. We found two really big Sitka spruce trees.  One had a circumference of 251cm and we estimated it to be 55 feet tall. (It had a hunting stand in it.)  Another Sitka spruce had a circumference of 269cm.   

We noticed a lot of moose scat on the ground.  We also saw Carolyn hiking on the trail.

We were quiet for a minute and we heard a lot of geese.  If we keep doing a quiet minute we predict we will hear different kinds of birds migrating through Gustavus. 

When we were nature journaling, Sammy wrote some poetry about her observations:

The blue sky leaves as the dark clouds take over.

The wind is blowing, the trees are shaking, and everything is quiet.