Asha, September Editor-In-Chief
This week we did so many fun things! We did natural science, pottery, hiking, going to the Tinsley House at the Museum of the Rockies, harvesting, cooking, and activism! My favorite activity was cooking! I loved making Kale pesto with all my classmates. The pesto was a bit sour and a bit bitter, but overall, it was amazing! The kale pesto included garlic, basil, salt, lemon, parmesan cheese, olive oil and, of course, kale! We also got so many pottery supplies from our wonderful pottery teacher. We got a pack of tools for clay working and we even got 25 lbs of clay!!! The hike was also wonderful, we went up Sypes Canyon for the third time. It was such beautiful that day. We worked on identifying plants and collecting samples to use in the field guide that we are making. Something else we loved doing was going to MOR! We sketched and collected data from the old Tinsley House and we were even told stores about the house from our friend Hari who is a docent there! Back at school we got to use old tools from the 1800’s in the fields of the Ghost Homestead. It was so fun using such different tools. The tools were different compared to the tools we have now to use when farming! Scything, digging furrows, and seeding the fields was hard work. Another thing we started in the classroom was our independent research study for the old ghost homestead across the road from us. Oh! I forgot to mention, we had the BookMobile come to us. this was my first time going into the BookMobile and it was awesome! I got a bunch of different books that I am really excited to read. We each got to pick out 2-4 books, I personally picked out three. The books that I got are so interesting and I am so excited to show them to my class and read them to myself. I picked some historic nonfiction and I picked some other nonfiction book and also a fun fiction book. As you can tell, this week was gnarly!
We had such a good time and we are looking forward to many more fun activities next week!
-Asha
ANTIQUE TOOLS, MATH & TINSLEY HOUSE!
HARISON:
This week we worked with very old tools. Our nature teacher, Gina, taught us a lot about the agriculture of the people that lived here. We also learned how to harvest agriculture with such tools as a scythe, a plow, and a seeder. They're currently sitting down by our wood fire stove. I am looking forward to the next time we get to use them. Working with the tools kind of gave me a flashback. It gave me a taste of what it was like to work hard all day in the old country. The hands-on work was extremely fun.
GRANT:
We got to use vintage tools to plow and farm the Ghost Homestead property. We used a scythe to harvest wheat and barley, and a hand powered cultivator/seeder. The seeder was very fascinating for the era of the tools.
We used our measurements from a few weeks ago to determine the area (or square footage) of the house. Some of us worked on graph paper and some of us recreated the footprint of the house using unit blocks.
We visited the Tinsley House to help us visualize and understand what our Ghost Homestead might have looked like when people lived there and worked the land. We noticed all kinds of things and Hari told us all about the family who used to live there. Wyatt observed that the shape Tinsley House looks almost identical to the Ghost Homestead -- but the buildings materials are different.
CHOKECHERRY PARTY
Hannah brought in some chokecherries that she collected at home and we had a special snack. They were tart, and sweet, and made our tongues feel funny.
AT WORK (and at play) AT SCHOOL
SANFORD:
CERAMICS!
THE BOOKMOBILE
HARISON:
This week the Bookmobile came. It is really fun and quite interesting to find all the books that were there. I am extremely excited for the next time it comes because I want to get lots of new fun books. This week I picked out audiobooks which was really nice. I can't wait until the next time it comes again.
JACKSON:
SYPES CANYON IDENTIFYING & SAMPLING
GRANT:
This week we went to the Sypes Canyon trail to hike and learn about plant species along the trail. We also got to identify our tree, Hubert, who was a Douglas Fir. We also identified many small shrubs and grasses along the way. JJ even found the skull of an unknown animal.
KALE PESTO
GRANT:
We cooked kale pesto, which went very well with some crackers.
HANNAH:
A SOGGY AND WET BUT MAGICAL FRIDAY
GRANT:
Today we went and saw Harison and JJ's farm. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately we had some cold weather roll in. I am excited to see their property in the winter. Later today, we get to participate in the climate march. I am very exited to see other peoples views and opinions. This subject was pretty sensitive in our class. We had many different views throughout the class. Unfortunately some of our students were sick today, but we will manage.
Thank you, Delicious Bakery, for delivering delicious hot chocolate and cookies to warm us up and lift our spirits at the rally!
We are looking forward to next week!