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The River and Me: The Last Trip of an Era

For seven years, I have kept this blog about our trips down to the banks of the Assabet River. For the students, this was their last trip as a member of the Thoreau School community. And for me, it is my last trip as a faculty member at Thoreau. In August, I will be moving onto becoming the Science/Social Studies Curriculum Specialist in Weston. I look forward to finding about the watershed in Weston and perhaps having this blog continue with a new body of water. Enjoy the writing about how going to the river has been helpful to the students. Thank you to the almost 15,000 people who have read this blog over the years.

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May 21st 2014: Take me to…..the vernal pool

Today, 5-E traveled in a northeast direction further on the flood plain towards a potential vernal pool that had been found by a neighbor/local biologist. We have been evaluating the water in an aquarium in our classroom and we were excited to travel there today to judge the quality of the water. We had four stations: animals, water quality, temperature, and human impact/plants.

For tonight’s post, please blog about your experience today. Make sure you include results that you found as well as observations about the area. This should be a minimum of 250 words.

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November 25th: The Glistening Ice Melts Under the Flyway

November 25th, 2013:

Air Temperature: 32 degrees F
Water Temperature: 34 degrees F

Also, Mrs Erickson thinks this is the earliest she has seen ice on the river. So, the following class numbers need to investigate the following years to see if she is right:

EC1 – 4: November 2007
EC5 – 8: November 2008
EC9 – 12: November 2009
EC13 – 16: November 2010
EC17 – 20: November 2011
EC21 – 24: November 2012

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September 20th: Our First “Official” Trip to the River

Friday, September 20th, 2013: After the “Great Hornet Adventure” of last week, we went back down to the river. The exterminator had been down there and I went and checked it out on Thursday and didn’t see any evidence of the hornets. However, when we went down on Friday, I went and did some “recon” first and found out that the nest was still quite active. So, we went to Plan B. Luckily, there has not been a lot of rain, so the river is quite low. I led the children down the bank right down to the river’s edge. It was a beautiful day to be out there and even more special with this special vantage point. We will have to be creative until there is a hard frost, killing off the hornets for once and for all. Enjoy the children’s first official entries.

The River's Edge

The River’s Edge

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The River Trip: The Last Time Riverside

photo 04Monday, June 17th 2013.  Today was our last trip to the river for the 2012-13 school year.  It was a changed river today as all the rain that we have encountered this month has resulted in the flooding of the Assabet River.  I have not seen it so flooded during the month of June.

The last trip of the river is a time for the students to reflect on their growth during the year as a student as well as how the river has changed throughout the year.  They will also be reflecting on what going to the river has meant to them throughout the year.

Here’s a quick video of today’s fast moving water
Today’s stats:

Air Temperature:  75 degrees F

Water Temperature:  64 degrees F

Soil Temperature:  58 degrees F

 

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June 6th 2013: River STEAM Day

Today, we dedicated the day to looking at the river through a “STEAM” lens.  For this blog post, I want you to write about your observations about the river and what you learned.  This should be a 250 to300 word post.  What types of things did you do?  What were the specific STEAM items.  Make sure you edit carefully before posting.