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Education
The
Cross Rivendell Trail is managed through a unique
partnership between the Rivendell Trails Association
and the Rivendell Interstate School District,
drawing upon the strength
of
each organization.
The
Cross Rivendell Trail provides a wide variety
of learning opportunities across disciplines.
Subjects such as math, science, literature,
history and physical education can all benefit
from units on the Cross Rivendell Trail. The
trail and its associated lands can serve as
a living classroom, and can build capacity for
students and teachers through units designed
to teach about place, forestry, math, ecology,
land management, and challenges in land use
and conservation.
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Place-Based Education Goals
for
the Cross Rivendell Trail
Enhance
curriculum with local knowledge
Providing
outdoor learning opportunities
Promote environmental
stewardship
Provide relevant,
hands-on and service-learning opportunities
Build stronger relationships
with communities
Increase volunteer
participation
in community efforts
Foster student leadership
for management of the CRT
PDF
Report
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School
& Class Hikes on the CRT
Westshire
Elementary School (Sunday Mountain - Orford, NH)
Westshire
Elementary School Students, Staff, and Parents hiked
up and over Sunday Mountain (over 4.5 miles total)
in Orford, New Hampshire on Monday, October 12th.
MAP
The hike also included students searching for five
hidden boxes along the trail left by Rivendell 6th
graders on their Middle School hike the previous Friday.
Boxes were found using clues and contained a pen,
small notebook with observations, and small items
from along the trail (ex. leaves, acorns). Box locations
were also recorded using a GPS receiver and will remain
on the trail for the school year.
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6th
Grade Sunday Mountain Hike instructions and
Worksheet
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Rivendell
Academy Middle School Hikes - Friday, October 9th,
2010
6th
Grade Hike - Sunday Mountain to Rivendell Academy,
6.5 miles
Local
History / Trail Box Exercise (see above) / GIS and
GPS Instruction on GIS Day (see below)
7th
Grade - Mount Cube to Indian Pond Rd, 6.6 miles
Local
History / GIS and GPS Instruction on GIS Day
(see below)
8th
Grade - Bald Top Mountain from Lake Morey Rd, 6.6
miles
Landscape
Change (science) / Local
History / GIS and GPS Instruction on GIS Day (see
below)
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Rivendell
Student Trail Crew on Mount Cube, Orford, NH
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A
Rivendell Interstate School District student crew
repaired erosion control features on the Mount Cube
section of the Cross Rivendell Trail (CRT) in July
2009. This
project has been funded by: New Hampshire, Bureau
of Trails, Recreational
Trails Program (RTP) grant. Project Supported
by: The Rivendell Trails Association (RTA), Rivendell
Interstate School District, and Camp
Moosilauke who adopt and maintain this section
of the CRT.
View
Cross
Rivendell Interstate School District (RISD)
Press
Release and Work Details ONLINE
Download
/ View the Trail
Crew Flyer (PDF)
GPS
data of trail erosion control features available
soon
...
A new trailhead
kiosk at Mount Cube was installed this summer thanks
to the assistance of Rivendell Students. Additional
renovations are planned for the coming year including
new signage. This new kiosk has been donated by
the Lenore Niles Fund, Crossroad Farm, and TimberHomes
LLC. Thank you.
Rivendell's
Outdoor Community Classroom ( ROCC )
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ROCC
is comprised of the section of trail from the
Academy parking lot to Townshed Road in Orford,
New Hampshire. This section of the trail is
used by many classes. The intent of ROCC is
to promote place-based education with meaningful
work and authentic performance tasks.
MAP |
The
7th Grade classes spend some time classifying plants
on the trail and developing informative, hand-illustrated
trail books. The 8th
Grade uses the trail in their earth formation unit
as well as their Dose/response lab unit. Agricultural
Ecology courses walk parts of the CRT to examine
different examples of succession in forest types.
Freshman
science courses use the surrounding habitat adjacent
to the trails to run forest studies and amphibian/reptile
biodiversity studies. They also use decomposing logs
to set up investigations for Certificate of Mastery
Lab Reports. Language
Arts classes have used the trail in the past to journal
in books made with paper carefully made from leaves
and bark collected from the trail.
2nd Grade: Seeds
(fall), Plants and Weather (spring)
Fall
instruction on the trail for 2nd graders includes
a fieldtrip to the Cross Rivendell Trail to collect
and identify seeds. Students from Westshire Elementary
School collected seeds during their all-school hike
over Sunday Mountain in Orford, NH. Students from
Samuel Morey walked the trail in West Fairlee MAP
to hunt for seeds and learn about dispersal mechanisms
in fields and forests. Students found many examples
of wind-dispersed seeds including those of asters,
thistles and milkweed. Hitchhiking seeds were found
on jackets, gloves, and pants simulating dispersal
from animals. In addition, a horse along the trail
to Baldtop Mountain had a mane full of burdock burrs.
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Fall
Seed Fieldtrip Worksheet
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In
SPRING
2009,
second graders from both Westshire and Samuel Morey
Elementary Schools participated in a field-trip to
the Mountain School in Vershire, Vermont. A spring
trip to the sugarhouse
at the Mountain School was designed with the teachers
to take advantage of the changing seasons and curriculum
work covering subject areas having to do with plants,
weather, and Native American studies. In addition,
the Cross Rivendell Trail travels through this area
of Vershire and the the Mountain School is an active
participant in community activities that include trail.
Students
hiked ½ mile to the sugarhouse through snowy
fields and woods and were greeted by Marc McKee, Assistant
Farm Manager & Sugarmaker, and his assistant Adda.
Students participated in activities in small groups
to learn about the collection of sap, sugar maple
trees, and the boiling of sap to make syrup in the
sugarhouse. Students completed worksheets recording
weather conditions, identifying features and unique
characteristics of sugar maple trees, and drawing
diagrams of the sugarhouse and collection equipment.
Cooled maple syrup straight from the pan was sampled
by all.
Many
thanks to the Mountain School, teachers Kevin Petrone
& Paula Driscoll, staff, and parents for their
participation.
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Spring
Sugarhouse Worksheet
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3rd Grade: Rivers and Erosion (fall), Amphibians (spring)
FALL
Rivers
and Erosion
Each October and November, 3rd grade students from
Westshire and Samuel Morey Elementary Schools explore
the geological aspects
of how rivers shape the land. In the classroom they
learn about sediment types as well as how water erodes
and deposits weathered material using sand tables.
In preparation for field exercises students view online
maps and visit web mapping applications to visualize
river forms and features at both the local, regional,
and global level.
Fieldtrips
along the Cross Rivendell Trail allow students to
observe, first-hand, local rivers and streams. Students
record field observations detailing river / stream
shape, flow, sediment types, slope, and velocity at
sites in Vermont (Ompompanoosuc River) MAP
and New Hampshire (Jacobs Brook). MAP
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Work
of Rivers Handout
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Erosion
Field Worksheet
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Calculating
Flow Worksheet
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Useful
Links ( Information from other websites )
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Amphibian Fieldtrip, SPRING
Locations in Fairlee, VT and Orford, NH
Details
coming soon ...
4th Grade: Mapping, Geography and Local Settlement
On
Thursday, April 30th (2009) forth graders from Westshire
and Samuel Morey Elementary Schools experienced first-hand
the local history of West Fairlee and the Ely Copper
Mine. The field trip began at the West Fairlee Historical
Society where local historians and residents presented
two short videos followed by pictures, stories, and
display items featuring West Fairlee, and the nearby
Ely Copper Mine in Vershire, in the late 1800's. The
trip was designed with teachers to take advantage
of community resources and history as students investigate
patterns of local geography and settlement.
Following
the visit to the Historical Society students walked
the Cross Rivendell Trail through West Fairlee and
up Mill Street to Southworth Park MAP.
Students were able to identify historic homes, former
mill sites along the Ompompanoosuc River, and changes
to the village from viewpoints along the road. Following
lunch at Southworth Park students had an opportunity
to sketch views of the village and consider changes
to the landscape.
Many
thanks to Jim McDade, Roger Bailey, and the West Fairlee
Historical Society; teachers Steve Crimin and Lori
Derosier, staff and parents for their participation.
Understanding
Place Through Maps and History ( website
)
View
additional historic images of West Fairlee online
from the
UVM
Landscape Change Program
West
Fairlee Village - Beers
Atlas 1877
5th
Grade: Winter Survival
On
Tuesday, February 16th (2010) Rivendell fifth graders
participated in an outdoor activity on the ROCC to
learn about winter surivival and how to handle winter
emergencies. This field trip was designed to take
place as the class read the book "Hatchet"
by Gary Paulsen. Students learned about staying warm
(hypothermia, frostbite, wind chill, etc) , shelter
building, first aid, water & food, and decision
making. In groups, students where given cards with
items they might use in case of an emergency -and-
an emergnecy situation.
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Winter
Priorities & S.T.O.P
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Survival
Equipment Card Sheet
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Emergency
Card Sheet
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Rivendell Academy Middle School
Geographic
Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System
(GPS) Instruction
GIS
Day 2009 - Wednesday, November 18th
This
year Geographic Information System (GIS) instruction
will inlude 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes and will
use online map applications and geospatial data gathered
from the Rivendell Academy Middle School hikes on
October 2nd, 2009.
GIS
Day 2008
Geographic
Information System (GIS) instruction using online
mapping applications featuring Google Maps, the Vermont
Interactive Map Viewer (VCGI), and the New
Hampshire GRANIT Data Mapper
Instruction
includes the discussion and demonstration of Global
Positioning Systems (GPS) technology.
7th
and 8th Grade Winter Survival Hike / GIS & GPS
classroom Instruction
Online
mapping applications, instruction, and worksheet for
7th and 8th grade students using GPS data obtained
from the winter survivial skills hike in Orford, NH.
7th
Grade (2010) materials available online at
http://crossrivendelltrail.org/7th-grade_winter-hike_2010.htm
8th
Grade (2009) materials available online at http://crossrivendelltrail.org/bog.htm
Encountering History Along The Cross Rivendell Trail
( website
)
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This
website is designed to explore historical themes
found on the trail by using the landscape, photographs
and primary documents. In addition, a number of
sites have links to teacher activities that focus
on the use of primary documents and provide pathways
to further historical investigations. (
© Flow of History. All rights reserved. ) |
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