Boy, did we have a great time at Yearley! I always seem to get weather that isn't exactly nasty, but not nice, either. We had drizzle, wind, pouring rain and humidity, all in the two days we were there. Fortunately, it never matters what the weather at Yearley - Judy, Lea and Stephanie are well prepared, the facility is supplied with rubber boots and rainsuits, and the programs go on. BIG thanks to all the parents who came to help out, either with shopping last week or at Yearley yesterday and today.
After arriving and having a quick snack, we took a hike around the property to learn the layout, familiarize ourselves with the trails and see the boundaries for certain activities. And, of course, photo ops.
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| We learned the history of the property from Lea. |
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| She taught us about how Mr. Yearley himself dug out the three ponds. |
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| We saw where the canoes are kept. |
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| We learned the names of the 3 ponds - test your child! |
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| We were goofy. |
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| And we had the best group photo EVER.
After our lunch, we went into the house and travelled back in time to meet Jean, Coureur des bois, and Crazy Two Loons, Ojibwe Chief, to learn about the history of the fur trade between Canadian Natives and French traders, following the routes along to French River and Fort William (Thunder Bay). Students were then divided into small groups and sent out to trade their goods with the local Natives (the adults) for our many quality furs such as beaver (needed for men's hats), coyote (women's muffs and fur trimmings), rabbit (fur trims), and, of course, black bear, which is still used on the hats of the Grenadier Guards who guard several of Queen Elizabeth's Palaces. I must admit I was having so much fun as 'Chief Soft-in-the-Head, along with my 'cousin', 'Chief Rotten Fish', that I didn't' take any pictures at all! But Judy has sent along the memory cards from the Yearley cameras for me to download more pictures that I may not have taken.
Following an amazing taco dinner, we then played the Ecology Game. Each child was pre-assigned a role, from mouse up the food chain to disease. They had to find the food and water stations, stamping their cards to prove they'd found them, all the while keeping themselves safe from the predators hunting them, including Tieran, starting out as a deer hunter then having a horrible scientific accident that turned him into a tanker spill of toxic waste, and Morgan, who was some sort of disease that we eventually identified as Ebola. And in the meantime, we adults were patrolling the boundaries as Mack Trucks, ready to create road kill whenever we could. Fortunately for all our darling animals, Alex was patrolling the forest in the form of the Conservationist, ready to give life to any poor critter who needed one.
A night hike with the fewest flashlights we could handle was our second last event of the night. We howled our best, but we didn't hear any returning sounds from either the local wolf or coyote populations. Is it possible that they knew we were human? NO, NEVER!!!
A lovely campfire with s'mores provided by the group in charge of snack and we were off to bed. A little later than the adults would have preferred, I'm sure, but it wasn't as late as I have experienced in the past.
Up early at 7am (your child can no longer give you a hard time; I'm the witness. They can handle it!) for a scrummy breakfast of bacon (Annette, we love you!), eggs, pancakes and cereal, we did our big cleanup and then headed out for our programs of the day.
We had voted to do the Wetlands Study and Canoeing. I headed off with the Wetlands group. Judy used a dipping apparatus to show us how much tannin was in the water, which meant that in the areas of the wetland with too many tannins; the water was dark coloured and could not allow enough light in to let plants grow. Those plant-free areas were where we could wade in wearing our gaiters. We used sieves to scoop up as many different life forms as we could. The more life forms one can find means that the wetland has more oxygen present and is therefore a healthier wetland.
We found mayfly (shad to we North Bayers) larvae and nymphs, damselfly nymphs, dragonfly nymphs and caddis fly nymphs (my personal favourite), not to mention frogs, water skimmers, boatmen and more! We used a microscope hooked up to the Smartboard was amazing. I'm going to have to see if I can borrow one from the Board, or, better yet, get the school to buy one!
    
While one group was having fun digging around for critters in the pond, the other group was learning basic canoeing skills: the role of the bowsman and sternsman, the different paddle strokes, and how to raft up (join canoes). Can't you just see they're having fun??
  
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