Last week my PLP 8 class took a trip to the Oregon coast! We drove all the way from Vancouver to Newport. During the trip I had to manage my impulsivity, persist and persevere, use my metacognition skills, ask questions and pose problems and think interdependently. A link to a book I created about the trip is here!
It was a long 8 hour drive and about 2/3 of the way there we visited the Astoria column. We walked all the way up and threw wooden planes off the top. By the time we arrived in Fort Stevens for the first night I was exhausted.
Regardless I persisted to the next day when we visited the Fort Stevens military museum. We learned about how the Fort changed through the its history in the civil war, WW2 and as a regular military base. I controlled my impulsivity by listening respectfully to the tour guide and following the tour track. After the military museum we went to highlife adventures. It was super fun! Highlife is a zip-line tour that consists of 8 zip lines. For dinner we went to Nisa’s Thai Restaurant. They served pad Thai, flaming beef and my favourite, sticky rice. It was super good and definitely recharged my body for the next day.
During day 3 We went to the Colombia River Maritime Museum. First we had to create a video explaining the bar and the jetty’s. Then we had to write a paragraph on the Chinookan peoples. Finally we went into a lightship which is a lighthouse on a boat. We had a challenge though. We had to create and take a photo inside the ship and the most creative photo won a prize. I worked interdependently because the my friends and I worked together to take a photo pretending to eat in the galley. We didn’t win the prize though. After the Maritime Museum we visited cannon beach. It wasn’t super fun though because to get there we had to walk through untreated sewage and it was insanely windy and rainy so we couldn’t enjoy ourselves. At the end of the day we visited the Tillamook Creamery. I got to see how the cheese is made and got to sample tons. It’s super yummy.
By day 4 we had arrived at Newport. The first thing we did was questing. Questing is basically a wide scale scavenger hunt. At first our group had trouble and could only find 2 clues. We went back to the teachers, our heads down. They saw we barely did anything and sent us right back out. This time we were more successful. We read the instructions more carefully and worked interdependently. We realized that the trail we were looking for was behind some sedges. (basically tall grass) We got on the trail and after we found the next clue it was smooth sailing. We completed the quest while no other group could. Next we visited the Hatfield Marine Science Centre. We did 2 workshops. The first one was called speedy science. We raced crabs and did an experiment to see what types of crabs were faster. It turns out small crabs with all appendages are the fastest. The second workshop was about animal adaptations. We learned how whales structure vary because of their different food sources. We learned how animals adapt to their environment. Lastly we all thought and worked interdependently on reconstructing the skeletal system of a whale.
On day 5 we went right back to the Hatfield Marine Science Centre to build a Remotely Operated Vehicle or ROV. I controlled my impulsivity by listening to the instructions so we could build the most effective ROV. When building, we worked interdependently and while driving we thought independently to maximize our efficiency. Once we finished our ROV’s we roamed around the visitors centre. In the visitors centre there was lots to do. There was a sand box with live action topography maps and a tsunami machine to test out your lego creations. When building our lego buildings we worked interdependently to build a strong building although it could not withstand the tsunami. Also in the visitors centre there was multiple aquariums. Some with crab, some with anemone and urchin and one even with an octopus. The visitors centre was a blast. The last thing we did on day 5 was visit Yaquina Head. Yaquina Head has a visitors centre and a beautiful tide. We looked in the tide pools and I questioned how the tide and form of the rocks affects the sea life. We took awesome photos as well. Day 5 was very fun.
On day 6 we visited Depoe Bay. We learned that Depoe bay is the smallest navigable harbour in the world. We visited a sock shop and I got socks with the American flag on them. We also visited a whale statue and took a photo with it. On day 6 we also went to John’s Incredible Pizza Company (JIPC). JIPC is basically a pizza buffet mixed in with an arcade and a theme park. What you’re meant to do is eat pizza and dessert and then visit the arcade and win tickets. Then go spend your tickets on a prize and finally go on a ride. I ate so much pizza and my strategies for the arcade was play the cheap games so I could play as many as possible. I played a jump rope game, terminator, trivia and pinball. The ride I went on was a spinner and after I was almost sick. Luckily I persisted onto day 7
During day 7 we went to the Northwest trek wildlife tour. First we took a tram around the park, viewing all the animals. Next we went on a self guided tour visiting all the enclosures and learning about the animals. My favourite animals that we saw were the cougar and the beavers. The cougar was a lot bigger than I expected. I controlled my impulsivity to run around so I could read the signs and learn more about the animals. The beavers were amazing. I questioned how they could swim so fast but soon realized that they had webbed feet. They had massive brown teeth. They were mainly curled in their den but we got to see them swim once. Another favourite animal of mine was the river otters. We saw them from above jump up and swim on their bellies. It was like they were putting on a show. The last thing we did on the Oregon trip was eat at the Golden Corral. The Golden Corral was awesome. It was an all you can eat buffet and had so many delicious treats. It even had a chocolate fountain. The man who seated us was very nice and got us all cotton candy to bring home.
The Oregon trip was a great experience. I feel I learned lots and persisted through even if I was tired or bored. I learned so much about the Oregon coast and I never knew so much about intertidal life. I controlled my impulsivity by making sure I was always listening and learning so I could get as much as possible out of this trip. After all it was only once that we were going! I enjoyed the trip very much and got to know so many people much better. Even people I had known since grade 2! If I had the choice to be back there again I would take it in a heartbeat. Now I know that Oregon is an amazing place with so much to do and so many great people. I am now definitely looking forward to the next overnight field study in grade 9!
October 31, 2019 at 4:56 am
Sounds like your trip was a blast.
November 3, 2019 at 4:22 pm
Your trip must have been jam packed with activity’s.