Westward HO!
I bet most of you remember the Oregon Trail game that you played on the computer in school, maybe 4th grade?  Well, I was fortunate to grow up in the state of Oregon and went to an excellent school, with an excellent science program.  I might have mentioned already in my blog how when I was in elementary school, 4th, 5th and 6th grade, our science study consisted of whole units on the regions of the state and we ended the year with a 4 day, overnight trip to these areas.  If you aren't familiar with the state, here is a map that is reminiscent of what you might remember from school.

A common misconception that many people have is that the Cascade Mountains divide the state in half, which is as you can see, is not accurate.  Another misconception is that the whole state is lush and green with fern-filled, fir forests.  Actually, the dense forests are from the Cascade Mountains west to the coast and the eastern part of the state consists of pine forests and high desert.  Also not pictured on this map is the coastal mountain range.  The area between the coastal range and the Cascade Mountains, the Willamette Valley, is rich farm land known for grass seed production, hay, wheat and is excellent for growing grapes.  The Willamette Valley has tons of vineyards!


As we have been talking about in class, the idea of integrated curriculum and making learning "relevant" for kids really isn't a new idea.  This was how I grew up learning science.  These units of study in late elementary school were covered over every subject area.  Our social studies units related to what we were studying in science, our vocabulary and reading were all related to the science units as was math.  A lot of you probably experiences something like this in school as well, but I had the advantage of being able to EXPERIENCE what we were studying, by visiting it, touching it, tasting it, smelling it...DOING it.  In fact, these trips left such an impression on me when I was in elementary school, that I volunteered in high school to go on the trips again as a "camp counselor"...my first experiences as a teacher were when I was a Junior and Senior in high school.  This might explain why I get so excited about hands on learning.  I don't want to read about what kinds of creatures I will find in a pond, I want to be out there with the net fishing them out!  I don't want to read about the lava flows that left casts in an ancient forest, I want to climb through the casts and see the log jam for myself.  I want to hike to the waterfall and smell the forest.  I want to touch the urchins, starfish and crabs in the tide pool with my own hands.  I can't even explain all of the amazing things we did on those trips. Trust me...this stuff leaves impressions on kids.  If you are ever bored visit some of these places...
http://www.highdesertmuseum.org/
http://www.thegreatoutdoorsoregon.com/lava_cast_forest.php
http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/
http://www.craterlakelodges.com/activities/