Science and Our Trip to The Maine Wilderness Park

On Thursday, October 10, all of the first graders at Dike Newell went to Gray to The Maine Wilderness Park.  Thank you, especially, to the five chaperones that helped us:  Donna Johnstone, Jessie Knowlton, Tonia Blake, Molly Delan, and Brittany Tucker.  I couldn't have done it without you all.

The purpose of our trip was tied to the following question which was taken from the science standards that are being explored for implementation in RSU1.  This is the question that all volunteers helped the first graders answer:

How do animals use their external body parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs?  

The new vocabulary that we learned "external body parts" and "survive" helped us understand the question.  Here are some of the answers that the children were able to give today in their own words:

1.  Moose have antlers to fight off other moose.

2.  Foxes are camouflaged so their prey can't find them.

3.  Male peacocks have feathers that are lots of colors so  

the female peacocks can decide which male they choose.

4. Bears are brown and black so they blend in to the forest.

5.  Owls' feathers blend in to the leaves in the woods.

6.  Moose have tails that they can swat bugs with.

7.  Raccoons have hands so they can pick up food and eat it.

And here are some photos of our day.  

Moose have antlers to fight other moose.

Bears are black and brown so they can hide in the woods.

We had lunch!  There were hornets everywhere and they were trying to eat the jelly in our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Our picnic lunch was delicious!

When we came back, we labeled a paper with the names of the animals we saw.