Searching for Petroglyphs

Friday was so much fun! Danielle and I met Karen at the elementary school to do the pre-trip with the second graders. We had 5 classrooms to visit, and were preparing ourselves mentally. When the time came to talk to the kids, I felt the jitters come on! Oh no!


We went into our first classroom and talked to the kids about how their field trip was coming up pretty soon! What do you think you should bring with you? Water, lunch, healthy snack, hat, sunglasses, sunblock, good shoes, a backpack, an adult, and your best manners. 
 Where can you collect rocks? Where should you not collect rocks? No, you probably shouldn't collect rocks in your neighbors' yards unless they have given you permission. Can you collect rocks at Arches? No, it's illegal to remove rocks from Arches, but you can get rocks in your yard!
Does anyone here have a rock collection? What two things can you tell me about your faaaaavorite rock? Wow! How cool! Now I'm going to read you a book about rock collecting.


Then I read the book, and it was time to pass out rocks to everyone. Hold your rock off of your desk, in your hands please! Now, silently look at your rock. Who wants to volunteer to come to the front of the class and tell us two things about their rock? 


This goes on for a while, and then it's time to read another book about rock collecting. When we are done with that, a quick review about what to bring is given, and then it's time for us to move on to the next classroom.


I had so much fun doing this and working with the kids!! When we were finished, we went back to the Rock House and read the past reviews of the program.


When I got off, I dropped my stuff off at home and changed clothes. I was in the mood to go petroglyph hunting! Here's what I found.

                                ^The "Birthing Panel"

If this doesn't make you believe in aliens... 

Learning to Work With Children

On Wednesday, we literally spent the entire day in the conference room talking about WWC, or Working With Children. We learned a lot of different things from best teaching practices, to working with kids who have special needs, to being sensitive to the local cultural differences. 


Thursday, September 1, 2011: Learning our Outdoor Stations

Today was time for outdoor training on how our stations will work when the kids come to Arches.
We loaded up the car and headed into Arches. We then acted out the stations as if there were children there so we would have a general idea of what to do. The second graders are learning about rocks, so this is an overview of the stations we will be doing with them.


So, we do a “pre-trip” on Fridays where we visit the school and go to 5+ classrooms and discuss the topic. Then, on the following Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we do the field trips and the post-trip.


Pre-Trip Activity: Just What Are Rocks, Anyway?
It is during this station that students should be able to understand that rock underlies everything on the surface of the earth, and they should be able to name one category that can be used to classify a rock.


We will talk about if any of the students have rock collections at home, and how collecting is fun, but in some places collecting is not allowed. Can the students guess why you should not collect rocks in certain places? Then we read them a book called Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop. What ways can rocks be classified?


Rocks are handed out to each student. Each student is given an opportunity to see the rock, and a few students can stand up and show their rock and say something about it. Observations about ways rocks can be classified are discussed.


Station 1: Rocks, Rocks and More Rocks!
We tell students that we will be examining rocks and that we have a “magic box” full of rocks to share with them. Keep in mind, these are second graders. As we pull out certain rocks such as sandstone, granite, petrified wood, limestone, quartzite, and chert- and tell the story of how they were created. The rocks are handed out, one at a time. As the students pass them around the circle, they are asked which rock they think is the hardest, softest, and heaviest. What rock matches the one you are sitting on?


They are asked to sort the rocks by making piles. For example, all the rocks that were once liquid in one pile and any others that were once living things in another. Students will then sort the rocks in 5 or 6 other different ways.


Students are put into pairs and one is blindfolded. The student without a blindfold is then asked to choose one rock each to give to their partner. The blindfolded student then feels the rock (behind their backs so they don’t peek, second graders will cheat at this game!). What is the size, shape, weight and texture like? When they have made a guess, they will give the rock back to their partner who will then mix it into the pile. With blindfolds removed, they will try to guess which rock was theirs in the pile. How did you recognize your rock? The partners then switch roles and repeat the activity. How can geologists tell the difference between kinds of rock? They ask similar questions like how heavy is it? Is it hard or soft? How does it break? What color is it?


Then it’s time for the Rock Type Relay! Students are put into two teams. The rock pile is placed in front of the teams about 20 feet away. The teacher will then call out a name or characteristic of a rock. The first student must run, choose the correct rock, and return back to the line. The game continues until the teacher runs out of clues!


Station 2: Build Up, Tear Down
After this station, students should be able to name two processes that change rocks, name two things that harden rocks, and name two things that erode rocks.


Do you think that they way the earth looks changes over time? The area where you are sitting looked different a million years ago. In Colorado, there was a mountain as tall as Mount Everest. In Moab, there was an ocean. Over time, the dirt from the mountain washed down into the ocean, eventually hardening into rock.


Do you know how sand hardens into rock? The recipe has four ingredients. Would you like to go on a treasure hunt to find the missing ingredients for making sandstone? Read the first clue- which leads student to the ‘sand’ card. The card is placed on the big Recipe Card. The next clue is ‘pressure’, next ‘water’, then finally ‘time’. You don’t know what ‘pressure’ is? Put your hands together in one pile. Can the hands near the bottom feel the pressure?


Now it is time to try and make sandstone. We go to a sandy area and each student makes a personal pile of sand on the nearby rock. Apply pressure to your sand by stomping on it. Water is poured on each pile and we discuss the role of water moving between sand grains which cements them together. For the time ingredient, students need to keep stomping for another 5,000 years. Would you be bored by then? Would you be dead by then?


Now it’s time for the Sandstone Recipe Rhyme: “Sand, pressure, water, time; that’s the sandstone recipe rhyme!” Move your fingers for ‘sand’, push hands down for ‘pressure’, make swimming motions for ‘water’, point to wrist for ‘time’, and march in place or snap during ‘that’s the sandstone recipe rhyme!’


When sandstone is exposed to air it starts to erode. Can anyone tell me what erosion is? Erosion is the wearing down or the weathering of rocks. Have you ever burned a piece of toast and then taken a knife and scraped off the burned part, making all the burnt crumbs fall on the plate? You were eroding your toast, slowly wearing it away and making small pieces fall off. Do rocks erode because a giant is scraping them with a knife? The causes of erosion are wind, water, and ice.


We then take a short hike around the sandstone and students find examples of erosion. A crack in the sandstone means that water might be able to get into that crack. Ice is the number one cause of erosion! The students stand in a circle shoulder to shoulder. They are water molecules during a nice warm day. The sun is going down, and it is getting very cold, and they are freezing. They then stick out their elbows, and the circle gets bigger when they freeze! Water expands when it freezes, and then thaws to become smaller again. Everyone stands shoulder to shoulder again and goes through the cycle of night and day again, when two students press their hands against each other. When water seeps into a crack and freezes, it pushes the crack apart because of the expanding molecules. The teacher puts her hands in between the students’ hands. As the ice thaws, the teacher’s hands seep lower into the crack between the students’ hands, demonstrating the freezing/thawing process. This is done several times until the hands are pushed several inches apart, and one of the rocks falls!


There was once sandstone covering this whole area and everything you see is the result of erosion. Build a mound of sand with rocks inside of it. Some sandstone is harder than others. Hard sandstone erodes more slowly than the soft sandstone, making the unique formations throughout the area. Water is poured on the mound and the rocks gradually are exposed, creating newly created formations.


Station 3: Secrets in the Soil
After this station, students will be able to explain two roles of biological soil crusts, name two places to walk to avoid stepping on the soil crusts, and name two organisms that make up soil crusts.
Look around. What do you see besides rock? What happens when the sand blows? Why doesn’t it all blow away? There are living substances called biological soil crusts that keep the sand in place.


Teachers use a flannel board to tell the story of CB the Crypto. He is a puppet that lives in the middle of the board. He is introduced to the children, and gets to be a part of the explanation about biological soil crusts. The crust holds the soil in place, preventing erosion and soaking up water like a sponge, provides nutrients for plants, and provides protected places for seeds to grow. The puppet tells the students that there is one thing it fears, and that is being crushed because it takes so very long for it to grow back.


It’s time to see some real soil crust! There are three places to walk to avoid stepping on the crust: on trails or road, in washes, or on rock. Students then practice walking on trails by taking turns tiptoeing through the crypto mat, avoiding the crypto bumps.


The students then lay belly-down in front of a patch of cryptos, and are challenged to look at them for 30 seconds without talking. Each student is asked to name something they see in the soil crust. Hand lenses are given out so the students can see the lichens, mosses, plants, indentations to hold seeds, insects, etc. A photo of magnified cyanobacteria is shown, and sheaths are shown by holding up a loose piece of crypto.


Each student is given a costume and a name tag. There are specific boundaries and they are going to play a game of tag. The student who is cyanobacteria must use their long, stringy gloves to tag each of the other students who are sand grains, lichen, and moss. The first student tagged will grab onto the cyanobacteria’s shoulders forming a snake. As each student is tagged they add onto the back of the snake until an entire crypto bump is formed (all students have been tagged). 


The last station, Station 4, is called Rocks: Past and Present
Students will be able to name two modern uses of rocks, and describe how people used to use rocks.


At one time, did people use rocks in their everyday lives? What are some ways that ancient people used rocks like arrowheads, grinding stones, etc? Here are some examples of ancient rock technology. What was each used for? Why are different rocks used for different purposes? Would sandstone make a good knife? Why was chert used for arrowheads? Was it difficult to make arrowheads and other tools?
Have you ever played charades? In this game of charades, you are going to act out a way that ancient people used rocks. One student acts out a way rocks were used, such as shooting a bow and arrow, hunting with a spear, grinding corn, etc. The other students must guess what is being acted out!


Do people still use rocks everyday? What are some examples of how rocks continue to be a part of our lives, like in jewelry, landscaping, pencils, etc. Pictures are shown of modern uses of rocks. Many of the rocks we use today have been changed or refined. Some examples are shown that are made out of rock ore. What are some other objects made out of rock? Then we discuss the refining process by reading a book named “Metal”.


Time to show the Ancient Uses of Rock poster! Some pictures are hidden around the area and the students must find the pictures. The pictures are then placed on the poster next to the corresponding picture of an ancient use. 


Students are asked to sit in a circle. As a group, we are going to review by completing a crossword puzzle. Questions are read and students try to answer.


During the post-trip activity, we talk about Rock Art. This is done only after the field trip has been completed as kind of a follow-up.


Students will be able to describe two things about a rock that could easily be missed, and name one use for a rock.


What are some ways people use rocks? Do you remember learning about a microscopic organism that helps to prevent erosion? How do soil crusts help prevent erosion? What are some other things that biological soil crusts provide for the natural environment? What are things that can harm soil crusts? 


Not all rocks are created the same way. Some rocks were once liquid inside the earth. We call these igneous rocks! What rock was once a liquid? Granite! What happens to rocks over time? Erosion! The sediments from erosion pile up. What happens to these sediments over millions of years? They harden into rocks! We call these rocks sedimentary rocks. Rocks sometimes get buried deep in the earth, melt, and change. If this happens, metamorphic rocks are formed.


Paper is passed out to each student. Fold the paper in half. A box of rocks is brought out and one is given to each student. The student is then asked to draw their rocks on one side of their paper. What type of rock do you have? Write the type of rock under the drawing. A hand lens is given to each student, and they are asked to examine their rocks and draw what they see on the other side of the paper. 


Students are then asked to tell their neighbor some neat things about their rock. Each student with an igneous rock raise them up to show the class. Then metamorphic, then sedimentary. Did you see something with the hand lens that you did not see with your eyes? Do you think scientists use hand lenses to learn about rocks?

Let's get this thing caught up, shall we?

Alright, while all of my Baylor friends and family are at the football game against TCU, I will sit here and attempt to get my blog caught up! Sic 'em, Bears! That's my alma mater!!!

So, let's talk about Saturday! We got up really early and got ready to go white water rafting. Before we went, we stopped at the Wake and Bake and had some breakfast burritos and belgian waffles with strawberries and bananas on top. YUM! 


Adrift is the name of the company who took us rafting. We hopped on the bus and prepared ourselves to face the frigid Colorado river. Some of the people who were on the raft with us were from across the pond, and they were hilarious. One of the girls was a drama major and so here we were, floating down the Colorado, with this Londoner reciting lines from Shakespeare's As You Like It. It was awesome, to say the least!


I finally convinced myself mentally to jump into the water. It was like jumping into freezing cold chocolate milk. You could not see through the water at all. I cooled down, and hopped back into the boat. Dad, however, stayed in the water and at the advice of our river guide, went over a small rapid. All of a sudden, all you can see are his feet sticking up out of the water. He resurfaces (we all had life jackets on), sputtered out loud, and coughed. Erin and I could not stop laughing! He 'bottomed' out and it was absolutely hilarious. 


It didn't end there! We hit another rapid a little later and Erin had her leg hanging over the side. The raft hit a rock just right and sent her over the side. Luckily, she didn't get hurt and did not get her face wet! She got a much needed dip to cool off and then got back into the raft. It was very eventful!


On the way down the river we got to see a baby coyote, and a lot of old movie sets. They said that some of them were from movies that John Wayne had been in. There was so much beautiful scenery around us, it was almost surreal. Here are some pictures. Keep in mind, I saved the best pictures for last. :)

Now, here are the funny pictures. Take a look at Lee's face. :)

I hope you enjoyed the close-ups of Lee's horrified face. We were on level 1 rapids. Wow, Dad. :]


Sunday, August 28th:
Today was pretty chill. Dad and Erin left for grand junction after we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the local Pancake Haus. I had french toast, and it was delicious. I have not had a bad meal here yet!


I went back to the house and arranged my room and my part of the kitchen, trying my best to get situated. I finally got comfortable, and made dinner in the freshly cleaned kitchen.

I was in the mood for some Southern comfort food, so I made cornbread chicken pot pie. Here is the recipe!

1 (10.75 ounce) can of condensed Cream of Chicken soup
1 (8 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups cubed chicken
1 (8 ounce) package Jiffy’s corn muffin mix
¾ cup milk
1 egg
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese


Heat the oven to 400 F.
Stir the soup, corn and chicken in a 9 inch pie plate.
Stir the muffin mix, milk and egg in a small bowl until barely blended.
Spread the batter over the chicken mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 
Sprinkle some cheese on top. Voila!

Monday, August 30, 2011- My first day of work!

I woke up bright and early at 7:15 to get ready for work. I was so nervous and excited the night before that I barely slept! I felt like it was the night before my first day of school... Dressed in regular clothes, I walked to the historic Rock House. This is where I will be working most of the time during my internship. 

I opened the door and slowly crept inside, since I was a few minutes early. I peeked around the corner and saw my boss, Heidi Wainer, sitting at her desk. I introduced myself and 5 minutes later Danielle came inside. She was the other CCOE intern. She is from Buffalo, New York but drove to Arches from Mississippi. We introduced ourselves, and then dove into the mountain of paperwork we had. Welcome to the government! 

Around 11:45 am, we went to the Visitor's Center to meet everyone. However, a lot of people were missing so we met a few people. I still meet someone new almost every single day! We went back to the Rock House to do more paperwork and check out our books and reading materials. We have so many books to read that I feel like I am back at Baylor!

Heidi took us to eat at La Hacienda for lunch in town. To be honest, the Mexican food here just isn't the same as the Mexican food you get in Texas. I had the sour cream chicken enchiladas (of course), and they were nothing special. We got to talk to Heidi more and learn more about her.


Heidi showed us around town and guided us to all of the schools in Moab. We will mostly be going to the huge, new Elementary school. We went inside and she showed us how to get around. The school is so nice! This is where we will be spending a significant amount of time during pre-trips and post-trips. 


Heidi pointed out the good places to get certain things in town, and told us what food wasn't good and where not to go. She had a surprise for us, so we went with her down this gravel road out of town and she showed us where some of the petroglyphs are. I didn't have my camera at the time, but I went again today and will post the pictures on today's blog. They were so cool! I think if anything, they made me believe in aliens. Just wait until you see them.


We went back to Arches and it was time to search through the uniform cache to see if we could find any shirts that fit us. I found mine on the first try, and was very happy! Poor Danielle, she can't really find one that fits because she is so tiny. I wish I had that problem!


Before we knew it, it was time to head home. We took our heavy books and boxes and walked home. Then, I called my dad to tell him about my day.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011: My First Hike

I met Danielle at the Rock House bright and early at 8 am. We prepared our backpacks and water bottles and hopped in the government car. We were off to Balanced Rock so I could get a grip on hiking for the first time on an easy trail. 

After conquering the Balanced Rock, we headed off to Double Arch and hiked up to the middle of one of the arches. This hike was a little bit more difficult, but I did not fall! I was proud of myself. Here I am standing in front of the Garden of Eden.

At around 11 we met up with Lauren, a fellow SCA who is here working in the Resource Management and Interpretation division. She is from Chicago. We joined her on a hike through the Windows Arches section of the park, then around Turret Arch. We learned a lot about the plants, animals, and microorganisms who thrive in the park.
Around lunch time, I was getting hungry and was almost out of water so we headed back to the Rock House. There we unpacked our lunches, talked to Heidi about what we learned and saw, and met the other new CCOE Ranger. After lunch, we spent some time looking through the field guides and books trying our best to identify the plants and animals we had seen that day.

                                 ^Double Arch

                                             ^Can you see Danielle?

                             ^The Spectacles
Then it was time to go gas up the government vehicle! We rode into town and filled up the car and brought it back. Then if was off to the Visitor’s Center to work on our Arches Scrapbook. One of our tasks is to shadow the Rangers/SCAs at the front desk for 2 hours. We stood, learned, and realized that people ask about the same 10 or so questions every time.


I snuck off for around 20 minutes to watch the introductory park video because the room they play it in is so much cooler than the open visitor’s area. 


Once the time came to be off for the day, we headed back to the Rock House and gathered our belongings. By then it was extremely hot outside, so I went home and cooled down for a little while before going into town. The other SCAs and Danielle had suggested that I purchase a water bladder for my backpack so the next time we do a more strenuous hike I won’t run out of water. Excellent idea! I went into town and bought a platypus 3 liter bladder and am excited to use it next time we go climbing.




Here’s a little lesson about the Arches:
How are arches formed?

A natural arch or natural bridge is a natural geological formation where a rock arch forms, with an opening underneath. Most natural arches form as a narrow ridge, walled by cliffs, become narrower from erosion, with a softer rock stratum under the cliff-forming stratum gradually eroding out until the rock shelters thus formed meet underneath the ridge, thus forming the arch. Natural arches commonly form where cliffs are subject to erosion from the sea, rivers or weathering; the processes "find" weaknesses in rocks and work on them, making them larger until they break through. 

I'm in MOAB!

Dad and I started out at the crazy hour of 3:00 am on Wednesday, August 24 to drive to New Mexico. I was on my way back home to Ennis from Waco when my phone rings. "Hello?" "Where are you?" "Uhh, I'm in Italy on the way back?" "Do you want to pack up and leave now? Tonight?" ".....uhhh.... I'd like to shower first and spend some time with my dog?"


So basically I got home just to shower, throw stuff in the car, say goodbye to my dog, and get back in the car. It was a dark drive to Albuquerque! Once we got to Albuquerque, we decided to keep driving. Once we got to our hotel the next afternoon, we CRASHED!


On the way to Utah the next morning, we had to stop on the Navajo Reservation and try some "kneel down bread" that an older woman was selling on the side of the road.

Here is Dad "ooh"ing at Shiprock.

 We kept on driving, determined to make it to Four Corners National Monument. And we did...

After Four Corners, we were determined to get to Moab! We arrived on Thursday, August 25th, and were so surprised at what we saw. This place is NOTHING like Beatrice, Nebraska! We checked into the Motel 6 and were eager to go exploring. We decided to eat at the Thai restaurant that was listed on all of the previous surveys I had been sent. It was here that I had the BEST tempura ever! Of course we had to try the fried chicken dumplings and they were amazing, too...

Y-U-M! But wait, there's more. Here comes the fried banana with honey!

We were stuffed and happy. I am definitely going to the Thai place again to order the tempura! After dinner we went shopping, and were surprised by the skies.

Friday, August 27th:
Today was the day to move into government housing! I was excited to see where I would be living for 3 months. We pulled up to the fees booth and explained who we were. He told us they were 'warned' I was coming and said to go to the Visitor's Center. So, we went inside and I walked up to one of the Rangers and explained who I was. She replies, "HI! I'm actually one of your roommates!" How fun that the first person I encounter should happen to be one of my roommates. She gave me instructions on how to get to my house and we headed over there to unpack. We unloaded the car and then it was time to meet Erin at the Motel 6- she had driven into Moab from Grand Junction.
 It was difficult deciding where to eat lunch, but we finally settled on the Moab Brewery. There I had their homemade root beer. It was quite different from what I have had in the past, but it was still good along with my turkey burger!
After lunch, it was time to go to the grocery store to stock up. At the advice of my other roommate, I filled out a points card and began to hunt down the things on my list. We got a pretty good amount of stuff and went back to the house to stock the cold stuff. Dad was anxious to go inside the park! Here are a few pictures of the house and my room:

Yes, that is my bedroom after I got everything put away. I had to get a fan since I live in the desert and all we have is a swamp cooler!


 We headed up into the park afterwards and here are some pictures. You will most likely see the same Arches a few times in later posts with or without me in front of them! 

Balanced Rock ^

Garden of Eden ^

Skyline Arch ^

                                 Symbol of Utah, the Delicate Arch ^


A lot of people are asking me lately, "So what is it exactly that you do at Arches?" Well, I will wrap up today's blog with a short answer.

My position functions within the Education Division of Canyonlands National Park. My work area includes a variety of teaching locations inside Arches National Park and on the surrounding public lands as well as at local schools. My work involves assisting education rangers with classroom presentations, teaching groups of students in the field, front country trail roving and doing some office work. In addition, my work may involve working with other divisions on an as needed basis. I get to go on hikes, talk to visitors, and explore to get to know the environment better. We are given the task of being able to identify plants, animals, and rock formations within the park. I get to work with children for the first time on Friday- and I cannot wait!