Field Trip!

We went on a field trip to the R.H Sauders Power Dam this past Saturday to see a demonstration from the St. Lawrence River Institute on the local geological history.

They apparently hold these seminar type things at least once a month so we'll be watching out for them. Especially since they're free!

First the presenter did a slide show that covered how the last ice ages carved out the Great Lakes and how our area was actually under water about 10,000 years ago by the Champlain Sea! She also talked about animals that lived in our area around the time of the last ice age and all the way back to Pre-Cambrian times when the organisms broke down and became the sedimentary rock in our area.

She showed how certain types of rock actually makes a fizzing sound when mixed with vinegar.

Also how water moves through different type of natural and man made materials. Brianna really liked this one!

Next came a discussion on how the continents have moved over the years. Everyone was invited to think of how they thought the continents would look like in 65 million years from now. Brianna says the one towards middle is North America.

Afterwards we checked out some new stuff at the dam's visitor center, like the view finder that lets you see the dam up close!

Brianna also checked out a interactive quiz about the dam.

And wrote out her first field trip report. Even though it was a Saturday, not a normal day for schoolish stuff, she happily did it! (Pardon the spelling, it hadn't been corrected yet!)