Week 6 Pre-Trip Post

”Look, Mrs. Brown it’s Mt. Washington in my FlyGuy book!”

I teach first grade at New Suncook School in Lovell, Maine. I’ve been preparing for my trip to the summit which (fingers crossed) will happen tomorrow. I have my backpack loaded, cookies baked for the crew, camera battery charged and in spite of the Nor’Easter storm “Stella” that is dumping 2 feet of snow on us today I am very excited for this adventure!

My first graders have been very involved in my planning for this ‘Arctic Wednesday Adventure’ we have done several ‘Weather’ experiments. Students made rain with shaving cream clouds in mason jars, watched precipitation with steam from a coffee pot and an ice cube and created a ‘cloud’ by microwaving a bar of ivory soap. My students monitored and recorded the weather and wind speed with our Kestrel instrument. We were able to go on a field trip to the Weather Discovery Center!! They participated in a live feed with Mike on the summit, watched the movie and explored all of the hands on exhibits. Students read books about weather and wrote about what they enjoyed on the field trip.The students watched videos from the summit, our favorite was “Home of the World’s Worst Breakfast.” They have asked me to try and pour cereal outside on the deck and most of all, they hope to be able to see Marty (maybe I’ll be able to get a photo of him).

Each year we teach first graders a unit on Weather. Having this opportunity has really allowed me to add more experiential learning for my 6 year olds. I believe it will be something they remember for a long time.

I am grateful to have been a part of this pilot program and I know that no matter if we make it to the summit tomorrow or not, the adventure will be an experience of a lifetime.

-Kelley Brown, New Suncook Elementary