A day in the woods

Classroom goes in the woods for the day

    After reading the novel, “A Week in the Woods,” by Andrew Clements, students in the Gifted and Talented program at the Caribou Middle School went to the National Wildlife Refuge in Limestone to spend a day in the woods. The students studied the habitat in the woods with Maine  Forest Ranger Ryan Fitzpatrick.

    Contributed photos
    Ben Ezzy checks his information book during a recent field trip to the National Wildlife Refuge in Limestone.

    There were some interesting finds including an empty hornets nest, pieces of bark with fresh beaver teeth marks on them, porcupine droppings and moose footprints. We also saw an owl in a Tamarack tree and our Maine State bird, the chickadee, in a White Pine tree.
    We learned many things from Ryan( Ranger Fitzpatrick). He taught us that beavers can only stay underwater for 20-30 seconds, their lodge has an underwater entrance, but inside, there is no water whatsoever. He also said that whenever you are in the woods, be sure to have a compass or a G.P.S.(or Global Positioning System) for safety. “Without one you could get lost,” he said.
    Later in the field trip we divided into teams of four and worked together to build a shelter for each team. Ryan said that it is important to always build a shelter when you are lost in the woods to prevent hypothermia. It must provide a cover for you so that you can stay warm and not get wet.
    The teams were: Team One: Ben Ezzy, Connor Shaw, Mitchell St. Peter and Dustin DeMerchant. Team Two: Elijah Verhoff, Axios Gerakaris, Justin Ouellette and Nathan Wall. Each team was supervised by an adult. Mrs. Beth Alden, the Gifted and Talented director supervised Team Two and Ryan (Ranger Fitzpatrick) supervised Team One.
    Team One used tree sap as glue and finally, they put on the brush, leaves, etc. Then they put on a final layer of bark and glue and put moss on the inside walls and floors. It was then tested with water — it was waterproof!
    Team Two did something completely different. They used pine and spruce boughs to make a wall. They had a similar frame except their shelter was tall instead of long like the first teams’. They had long poles leaned up on the tree and then covered them with the boughs. Instead of sap they used mud for their glue. It made great glue. They then added on some leaves and sticks to make it more solid and climbed inside. It was also a great shelter.
    After the shelters were built, we played a bit of football before exploring the museum at the Refuge. After we went to the museum we had to slowly start to pack up and get ready for the bus to take us back to school.
    It was a great day in  the woods!

    Students from left, Justin Ouellette, Elijah Verhoff, Mitchell St. Peter and Connor get a lesson in mapping skills from Warden Ryan Fitzpatrick during the groups’ fieldtrip to the National Wildlife Refuge in Limestone.

    Caribou Students who participated in a day-long outing to the National Wildlife Refuge were, from left: Mitchell St. Peter, Elijah Verhoff, Justin Ouellette, Ben Ezzy, Axios Gerikaris, Dustin DeMerchant, Connor Shaw, Nathan Wall and Game Warden Ryan Fitzpatrick who was the groups’ guide during the visit.

    From left, Mitchell St. Peter, Connor Shaw, Dustin DeMerchant and Ben Ezzy proudly display the natural shelter they successfully constructed during a day spent in the wilds of the National Wildlife Refuge in Limestone.