A couple weeks ago my class went on a field trip to the Oregon coast. We went to learn about advertising, marine life and the history of the Columbia River. We stayed in yurts at provincial parks. On our first day we drove for 9 hours straight with only stop to get food and go to rest stops. We finally stopped at the Dismal Nitch which is where Lewis and Clark and there crew got stuck because of a bad storm. Our next stop was the Astoria column.  The Astoria column is a large column that depicts pivotal moments in history that happened at the Columbia River.

We got to throw wooden planes off the top of the column. After that we went to a beach to watch the sunset and see the Wreck of Peter Iredale.

Some other highlights from Oregon are when we went ziplining on the second day. I loved zip lining because we got to get soaking wet.

On day three we went to Cannon Beach, home of the fourth largest intertidal rock in the world. It was raining so hard we were soaked to the bone.

On our fourth day into the field trip we did a quest which is like a scavenger hunt. We were put into quest groups with about 6 kids in each group. The goal was to follow the clues to spell a word then that word told you were the stamp was and you needed the stamp to prove that you had finished the quest. We did this quest at South Beach state park. My group did not do very well. We only got 1 out of thirteen letters.

On the fifth day we worked with the Oregon State University to study marine life. We race little crabs against each and used the scientific method to do experiments and see which crabs would go faster and what variables could change the results.

We also got to touch and learn about intertidal animals that live in the northwest. We got to feel sea urchins, starfish, mussels, clams, sea monkeys, crabs and snapping shrimp.

We also learned about whales and the different kinds of whales. Once the lesson was over we assembled a whale skeleton and learned about a whales anatomy.

The next day we came back and made R.O.Vs (remote operated vehicles) in groups. It was very hard to make it the right size and to make sure that the propellers were protected and that the wires were attached. After we made our R.O.Vs we went to Yaquina Head which is the 3rd oldest lighthouse in Oregon. The the beaches there were many intertidal species living in the tide pools. All the rocks were from a volcano so they felt very cool.

Finally at night right before the sunset we went to Beverly Beach state park to watch the sunset. The sunset was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day we went to Depoe Bay, the worlds smallest harbour. It the whale watching capitol of the U.S. though we didn’t see any whales we bought socks and saw a beautiful view!

 

Then we went to John’s Incredible Pizza Company. It is a buffet and an arcade with rides and fun. We ate a lot of ice cream! We also went on a very spinny ride.

Finally on day seven we went to the NorthWest Trek. We got to see lots of animals that live in the NorthWest. We saw eagles, owls, bears, goats, buffalo, caribou and so much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that concludes my trip!

On this trip I really got to know all of my classmates. We really bonded through Jakub singing in the bus and getting lost during our quests. I found I got a lot better at problem solving. The first time we did a quest it was very confusing. Our last quest made a lot more sense and we worked together a lot better. On this trip I also got a lot better at working in a group. Sometimes working in groups is a real pain in the butt but overtime working in groups becomes a lot less annoying. I learned how to let others take the lead and to not control the group.

On the others hand working as an individual on this trip was not very easy because there’s not many places you can go to have alone time to work on stuff. You were either working in your yurt with all your friends or you were working surrounded by more people. So if I wanted to get any individual work done you had to resist the urge to talk to your friends or go run around the in the park. Sometimes it was easy for me to put my head down and work but most times I got distracted by what was going on around me.

On this trip I also found I struggled with the volume of my voice in quite places. Like when we were eating at restaurants I found that it was usually my table who would be talking the loudest. Sometimes we would start laughing a lot too and then we would get carried away and not be able to stop laughing. This would usually happen at bad times. Next time I will try and stop myself before it gets to the point where I can no longer control it.
Here’s My Oregon Book!

That wraps up my field trip to Oregon!