GORDON TERRACE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 2011 - 2012 SCHOOL YEAR

Welcome to Gordon Terrace Elementary School located in Cranbrook, BC, Canada

The folks here at HWF are looking forward to having you share your outdoor adventures, wildlife experiences and conservation projects with us during this 2011/12 school year.

Please have fun and if you have the time please take a look around our forum, website and live cameras.

We would also love to have your parents join our HWF family with you.

A BIG WELCOME to:

Breanne, Owen, Avery, Keoni, Madison, Maddison, Colt, Hannah, Alec, Liam, Lucas, Kiara, Skyler, Dylan, Issac, Alexis, Jaden,
Mya, Zaya, Dekoda, Jasmine, Connor, Michael, and of course Mr. Wilson !

This year's class had as much fun as previous classes exploring what they could find in the area inside a hoola hoop laid on the playground.

What an interesting exercise! How do you match each group to a hoop? Or do they decide where to put it? I must admit the only time I'd pay that much attention to a small area is at the beach if I finished my book early.

But there is so much happening in every little corner if we only take the time to look.

Hi Judy,

Students were invited to choose their own area of playground somewhere close to the native garden to check out. Interestingly, while most groups examined grassy areas, some explored rocks, as well as tree stumps. One girl was fascinated by the sap on the trunk of a Douglas fir.

We had our first trip to Elizabeth Lake this afternoon. Many of the children were still wearing their disguises from Neck Up Day, the first of our Spirit Days. As we gathered in the middle of the flat grassy area near the wooden hide, we watched as three hawks circled overhead looking for prey.


After a game of "Survivor Camouflage", we walked through tall grasses and vegetation to the Secret Tunnel.


While we lay on the grass with our eyes shut, we listened to the sounds around us. Then we were asked to point to where the wind was making the leaves on the trees rustle. As we felt the warmth of the sun, we could point to where we thought it had broken through the cloud cover overhead.


Later we did the Skunk Walk through the thick underbrush.

Next we crossed the outflow to the storm drain, fighting our way through the tall, thick grasses, bulrushes and cattails growing there.


Then we each took some of the seeds from one cattail plant and threw them high into the air.


Later we found the base and cover of a storm drain outlet, which had been forced off its foundation by the force of the stormwater at some time during the summer.

Next each of us was taken to a quiet spot where we could sit and reflect on something we had experienced on our walk.


Some of us lay on our backs, while others knelt or lay on our sides, as we drew or wrote about our favorite experience.


Two of our parent volunteers took part in this activity and shared their ideas with us when we celebrated our trip at Circle Time.