5th Grade Field Trip to Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park- Mesa Arch

My sincerest apologies for not being able to post a blog in a long time. The amount of time it takes to upload pictures is borderline ridiculous, and since Danielle left and I am the only CCOE intern, things have been crazy busy with the school field trip season winding down.
Here I have some pictures of me teaching stations where we take the kids on a hike to Canyonlands' famous Mesa Arch and talk about chemical and physical changes in matter that we see along the way. Once we arrive at the arch, the kids make four boxes on a piece of paper and then have to illustrate, describe and label whether their picture is a physical or chemical change.

Me with the kids at the trailhead for Mesa Arch getting ready to go on our hike and talk about chemical and physical changes in matter that we see along the way!

Here we go-- on our hike to Mesa Arch!

Here we stop to talk about some plants and animals, and whether photosynthesis is a physical or chemical change. How about if an animal eats a yucca leaf? What happens when they digest the leaf? What kind of change is it when it comes out and is left as scat?

What about the parts of trees that are along the trail? What kind of change is taking place? Is that tree still living? This went on throughout the entire hike, and everything happening around us was labeled by the children as either a chemical or physical change. Once they decided, it was up to them to explain to me why they thought that was so.

"What happens when the rain comes down and slowly washes away pieces of that rock?"

Almost to Mesa Arch!

We made it! Now, what kind of change is the Arch? Physical or chemical?

Now that we made it to the Arch, it was time to do our activity.

"Fold your paper into a hamburger, and then a hot dog, You should have four boxes."

The fifth graders were a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed this field trip. I got to teach another station that was about Weathering and Erosion, and was actually video taped while teaching in order to do a formal self-evaluation. I hope you enjoy my pictures, and be on the lookout for pictures from teaching 3rd grade!