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Links
Elementary
School Trail Programs & Curriculum
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 and Samuel Morey Elementary
Schools visit the trail in West Fairlee MAP to hunt for seeds and learn about
dispersal mechanisms in fields and forests.
Students find many examples of wind-dispersed
seeds including those of asters, thistles and
milkweed. Hitchhiking seeds are also found on
jackets, gloves, and pants simulating dispersal
from animals. In the past 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, second graders from both Westshire
and Samuel Morey Elementary Schools participate
in a field-trip to the Mountain School in Vershire,
Vermont. A spring trip to the sugarhouse at the Mountain School is 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 hike ½ mile to the
sugarhouse through snowy fields and woods and
are greeted by Marc McKee, Assistant Farm Manager
& Sugarmaker and assistants. Students participate
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 complete 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 is
sampled by all.
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Spring Sugarhouse Worksheet
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3rd
Grade: Rivers and Erosion (fall)
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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3rd
Grade: Amphibians (spring)
Locations in Fairlee, VT and Orford, NH
Coming
Soon ...
4th
Grade: Mapping, Geography and Local Settlement
Each April, 4th-graders from Westshire
and Samuel Morey Elementary Schools experienced
first-hand the local history. The field trips
include visits to the Historical Societies in
West Fairlee, Fairlee, and Orford (Vershire
- coming soon!). Local historians and residents
present videos, pictures, stories, and display
items featuring local history and settlement.
Topics include, for example, West Fairlee and
the nearby Ely Copper Mine in Vershire from
the late 1800's. The trips are designed with
teachers to take advantage of community resources
and history as students investigate patterns
of local geography and settlement.
To visit the Historical Societies
students walk the Cross Rivendell Trail through
West Fairlee, Fairlee, and Orford. In West Fairlee
students walk 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.
Understanding
Place Through Maps and History ( website
)
Encountering
History Along The Cross Rivendell Trail
(
website
)
View
additional historic images of West Fairlee online
from the
UVM
Landscape Change Program
Fairlee
/ West Fairlee INTERACTIVE
Beers Atlas 1877
West
Fairlee Village (JPEG) Beers
Atlas 1877
5th
Grade: Winter Safety & Survival
In February, Rivendell 5th-graders
hike the trail and participate in an outdoor
activity to learn about winter surivival and
how to handle winter emergencies. This field
trip was designed to take place after a weather
unit and as the class read the book "Hatchet"
by Gary Paulsen. Students learn about staying
warm (hypothermia, frostbite, wind chill), shelter
building, first aid, water & food, and decision
making. In groups, students are 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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6th
Grade: Ecosystems, Class and Forest Ecology
Hike to Bald Top Mtn
(fall)
A new fall program on the trail
for the 6th grade includes an interpretive hike
and in-class discussion of ecosystems at
different scales (worldwide, North America,
New England, along the CRT) using online
mapping applications (website).
A field trip to Bald Top Mountain in West
Fairlee / Fairlee Vermont MAP allows students to examine
ecosystems at the local level. Forest
ecosystems along this 1.9 mile hike to the summit
can change dramatically from areas of forest
disturbance caused by logging activity to a
large stand of old-growth forest. Students have
an opportunity to observe the trees, forest
structure, evidence of disturbance (human &
natural), habitat, and distance peaks during
this hike. They also complete a worksheet
reinforcing relevant vocabulary and ecosystem
/ forest concepts. In 2010 the 6th graders,
teachers, staff, and parents enjoyed a warm
and sunny November day.
Westshire Elementary School, Bald Top Mountain, October
2011
Coming Soon ...
Westshire Elementary School, Vershire / West Fairlee,
VT - October 8th, 2010
Westshire Elementary School Students,
Staff, and Parents hiked back to school from
the CRT trailhead at Parker Rd in Vershire on
a beautiful fall day. MAP The 5.2+ mile hike through the forest
included a northern vista (with Camel's Hump
in the distance), fall foliage, and a scavenger
hunt. Progress was recorded using a GPS receiver
so that students can revisit the hike in-class
to learn about local geography, maps, and GPS
technology.
Westshire Elementary School, Sunday Mountain, October 2009
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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Hike instructions and worksheet
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Rivendell
Academy ( 7-12 ) Trail Programs & Curriculum
Trail
to Every Classroom (TTEC) Curriculum ( Mount
Cube Area)
TTEC_Curriculum_Development_ECOSYSTEMS-web.pdf
Agricultural
/ Forest Ecology ( West Fairlee )
High-school
students from Agricultural Ecology visit the
CRT in West Fairlee in fall to study forest
succession and regeneration. Students examine
and record plant species along 100 meter transects.
Plans include a long-term database of forest
regeneration at this site and an interpretative
trail. The
trail in this location was rebuilt by the
Rivendell Student Trail Crew in the summer
of 2011.
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 |
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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.
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
Rivendell Academy Middle School Hikes - Friday, October
9th, 2009
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 above)
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 above)
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. ) |
Rivendell
Student Trail Crew
Summer
Rivendell Student Trail Crew, July
& August 2011
The Introduction
to Trail Crew program crew worked
afternoons on trail sections in Fairlee,
VT and Orford, NH clearing & blazing
trail and building bog bridges. Funding
for this program generously provided by
the Rivendell Interstate School District
(RISD) Visions Program.
A
Summer RISD Student
Trail Crew, funded by the Vermont
Recreation Trails Program (RTP), was on
the trail in August working to re-open a section
of the CRT from Marsh Hill Rd to Middlebrook
Rd in West Fairlee, VT. This section of trail
was disturbed by forest harvest activity in
the winter of 2009-2010. Work included extensive
rebuilding of the treadway using bench construction,
the clearing and removal of post-harvest debris,
stones steps, waterbars, and blazing/marking
of 0.5 miles of trail.
Mount
Cube, Orford, NH (2009)
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.
 
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