Calendar Items:
UPCOMING EVENTS: Just because it’s nice to know, here is the next month or so I’ve got planned. (All plans are subject to change, of course.)
Mar 7th – Field trip to Brother Becker’s lab at BYU and the BYU tree tour. Right now the forecast is calling for snow on the 7th, so dress warm and wear comfortable shoes.
Mar 14th – In-class field trip to Timpanogos Park. Erik, from Making Tracks, will be teaching us about animal tracking and bird language. TWO REACTION PAPERS AND 2-3 NATURE JOURNAL PAGES DUE
For this field trip you MUST have a waiver signed. I will email you all that information privately.
Mar 21st – Cameron, Elizabeth, Shawn mini lessons – Sister Mock takes second hour
Mar 22nd – FRIDAY – ALL DAY optional field trip to Little Grand Canyon. Details below.
March 28th – in class field trip TBD
Homework items:
READ/REVIEW Botany in a Day (I’ve given the page numbers for each family we’ve talked about. Each family’s entry will be only 1-3 pages, so the list looks long, but it’s not too bad) – Orchid Family pg 202, Milkweed family pg141, Buttercup family pg 55, Cactus family 123, Borage family pg 142, Primrose family pg 130, Heath family pg 133, Mallow family pg 106.
The review families are as follows: Rose family pg 91, Parsley family pg 179, Grass family page 207, Lily family pg 192, Mint family pg 157, Mustard family pg 109, and Pea family pg 79.
REVIEW the slideshows we went over last Thursday in class.
TALK to your parents about the upcoming optional field trip. The itinerary will be as follows: On Friday, March 22nd we will meet at the little Walmart off of Hwy 6 in Spanish Fork (898 S 2550 E, Spanish Fork, UT 84660) at 8:55 am. We’ll drive away at 9:00 am. ETA at the trail is 11:00 am. I anticipate we’ll hike for 2 hours, eat a picnic lunch down there, and start heading back to the Spanish Fork “Small-mart” at 1:00, which will make our arrival time in Spanish about 3:00 pm.
What you need to know: This is a 4 mile out and back hike along the rim of a canyon down south of Price. The trail is mostly flat. There will not be any shade. You will need good walking shoes, water, a hat or sunscreen, and A LUNCH or lots of snacks. Also, bring your nature journal so you can get a page or two done. If you’d like to get more details of the trail itself and see on a map where it is, follow THIS LINK to AllTrails for that sort of info. Follow THIS LINK to the sign up. For those coming from up north, I recommend you carpool down to Spanish Fork, but you don’t have to. I’ll let you (and your parents) work that out.
THIS LINK will take you to the field trip sign up list. Once I’ve heard from all (or most) of you, I’ll open up any empty seats in my van to other ASA kids who’d like to come. If your parents or younger siblings want to come, they are totally welcome, but I’m reserving my van seats for our class so your family may need to provide their own transportation. It’s totally worth it. This is going to be so much fun. I’m craving a little desert time.
Just for Fun…
If you love the desert and are interested in reading more about experience the wildness of Utah’s deserts, the Arches, Canyonlands, and the Glen Canyon areas (the canyon that is now Lake Powell, but used to be a place you could hike) in particular, I recommend reading Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. BEFORE you read this, get permission from your parents. This book contains a few mature audience topics. Also, this author has some pretty unorthodox and extreme cultural and political views that we don’t really usually read. It’s entertaining, but it’s something your parents should be aware of BEFORE you read it, in case they’d like you to wait until you are older. Don’t worry if you need to wait. It will still be there! (It’s on the class book list so you are welcome to write a reaction paper about it, too.)
