Narrative Descriptions of Student Experiences

Emma
I just wanted to thank you so much for letting me have the best field trip that I ever had! When I heard that we were going to a nature center, I thought that it would be totally boring. I'm not the outdoor kind of person. I left wishing that I could come back soon!

I took your winter survival class. I loved the acting part where we pretended to be lost. It was so fun to make a shelter, and I loved just thinking about how to do it and then feeling it "click" and knew just what to do. Then, I couldn't wait to be lost!

I also learned some interesting facts. I didn't know that the number 3 was a signal of distress, and when we were walking, I learned some cool stuff about the growth and animals at Belwin. I also learned about temperatures and I was fascinated with all the information on hypothermia. I also feel prepared to treat frostbite.

The kick sledding was really cool! I didn't know that some people get around like that! Also, trying to make a fire was a highlight of the day. The cotton ball looked like a marshmallow!

Now, I have 3 things to say to you:
1. WOW!!!! I learned SO much!
2. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
3. PLEASE let 6th graders and up come to Belwin! I want to come again!

Otto
Thank you so much for letting us come to Belwin, it's an amazing place! I was in the group "Animal Signs" and I loved it! You have an amazing program - a hands-on experience and the great outdoors.

In "Animal Signs" I loved how we were allowed to go at our own pace; usually I am waiting for people that are slower but I didn't have to this time. In some of the stations in "Animal Signs" they had examples of things or we were told to find things. It all helped add to a great experience. I enjoyed how much we got to move too. Almost the whole class was outdoors, which made it all the more fun! I really liked using the kick sleds. They were a fun use of the much too short time we spent there. (I wish we could be there much longer than we were.)

All in all, I must say that this field trip was one of the best that I've been on in my five years at Capitol Hill. I wish we could go every year! I loved it! It was wonderful!

Clara
Thank you so much for letting us come to your beautiful wilderness area. I enjoyed walking through the woods and trying to use our observation skills to find traces of animals. It was fascinating to see what kind of tracks and smells and food (half acorns) and scat meant what type of animal. I really liked looking at the bird feeder and trying to see how many species we could find in 5 minutes. It's one thing to learn stuff like this in a classroom, but to actually to be in a hands-on class outdoors is really fun. I wish I would be able to come again and for future grades I'll say, "Just wait until you go to Belwin! It's a highlight of 5th grade!" For now, I say, "Boy that was one of the greatest field trips ever!"

When we Went to Belwin
by: Ian
Rumble! We went down the rocky road to Belwin. When we got out of the dirty bus, I heard a crunch as my boots truck the snow. It sounded like popping open a bag of potato chips. I knew I was going to have lots of fun so I scurried up the hill like a mouse. Whoa! My face smacked the snow like I was magnatized to it. When I fell everything was so fast it didn't even feel like I was falling. I got up and went to go catch up. I finally got up the hill and I saw the cabin. It was a big brown cabin made straight from wood but the talking caught my attention. "Remember you don't want to frighten the animals. They would also like to have a good time here too so be nice to them and they will be nice to you". So we did and after that long talk we finally went into the building and had a great time at Belwin. This was important to me because it was one of the best days I had.

Mohamed
Grade 3
Today we went to Belwin. We saw all kinds of animals. We played a game called Oh Deer! The game was very fun. We even got to touch coyote skin and touch other dead animal skin. We saw trees that were turning into soil. The best part we saw was animal footprints. I liked the field trip very much and we got to see a tee-pee. We didn’t get to go inside the tee-pee but at least it was fun. We got to see some animal homes and we even saw a tree that had a bump in it. And when I was in the bus I saw an eagle’s nest and it was very big and there were eggs in it. I learned that fungus can turn the trees green and I learned that Belwin is close to Wisconsin. I really liked Belwin it was the best field trip O ever had and I was glad that I got to go to Belwin and I got to go on top of the tower and I got to take a picture of the North and I saw burnt trees. I was sad for the trees but I heard a woodpecker and saw a giant crow and I saw the poop of other animals. It looked nasty I ran in front of everybody else because it was so nasty. And I saw seven male turkeys and I knew that they were males because they had beards and I knew that the females were more brownish then the males and they didn’t have beards.

Travis
Grade 5
Dear Belwin -
Belwin was fun to be at because we got to get away from our normal school. Having school at a nature center was fun because we were outside most of the day. Belwin was fun and I would like to go back and have more fun learning. At Belwin we learned outdoor survival. What important thing did I learn in my activity? I learned how to make a fire with flint and steel. I learned how to make a shelter out of a plastic tube, a mat, and a reflecting blanket. I learned about hypothermia, frostbite, and the seven steps for survival. The seven steps for survival is: 1) Positive Mental Attitude, 2) Air, 3) Shelter, 4) Fire, 5) Rest, 6) Water, 7) Food.

When I went to Belwin
by: David
Smoosh! Smoosh! My feet were stomping on the snow like mashed potatoes.
When I was walking up the trail, I could hear blue jays and cardinals singing together.
It sounded like they were calling to each other or some other bird.
I felt cold air rushing on my face like a blizzard.
My cheeks felt like they were going to burst!
I saw wild turkey tracks in the new snow. They resembled a triangle shape.
The frost air smelled like when you open your freezer at home.
It smelt like frozen vegetables.
Halfway up the trail I could taste the cold air in my mouth.
It was like ice cream, but without flavor.
Going to Belwin was special because I learned lots of new things about nature.

Lizzy
Grade 5
I learned how to ski very well and I only fell over ten times. Even though the trail was hard I think I did pretty well for a beginner. But my favorite parts were when we went down the hils. If it weren’t for Barbara I never would have learned how to cross country ski. But it was really fun. I think I’ll want to go again. Plus I’ll teach my dad too.

Caitlin
Grade 3
Dear Belwin -
I loved the Mammals group. I enjoyed the games and the tower. I learned about warm-blooded and cold-blooded. The chorus frogs were my favorite. The eye spy thing at the top of the tower was fun. The games were hard but I still liked them. I liked the bird singing thing. I thought it was interesting when you got the blue bird to come close. I thought the gopher sand hill was interesting. The tower was my favorite place to be. I learned that one of the trees you had was 200 years old. I thought the turtle catcher was cool. How does the tag stay on? Thank you for having my grade come to Belwin!

Unknown
Grade 2
I went to Belwin with my second grade class. I tasted sap and it tasted sour. I heard birds and it sound beautiful. I saw a tee pee and trees and they were cool. I smelled wood chips and they were not that good smelling. They smelled like grass. I touched leaves and I felt sticks. The leaves were crunchy and the sticks were awesome. They were cool shapes. I hope you want to go to Belwin some day. It is so cool there. There is a lot to look at Belwin.

Teria
Grade 3
My third grade class had a trip to Belwin. Once we got there the fun began. We saw deer and squirrel tracks. We also hered a chickadee. It is a bird. When we were outside I accidentally put snow in my mouth. It felt like my teeth were frosin because it was so cold. Also, when were were outside Geoff took us to the tower. We could see a lake and Wisconsin. To me it was beautiful! Belwin is a great place and someday I hope to get to go there again and lern more about it!

Krista
Grade 5
Today was one of the most great and one of the most wonderful days of my life. It was a great and fun learning experience for me! I learned that the Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the whole world! It was so cool and I think that every fifth grader in Minnesota should go. My teacher at Belwin was David. He taught us how to use a compass. He also taught us paces we needed to know it to find the answer to the question that was on the card. He gave us a card and we would have to count paces and use our compass. If we did it wrong we would have to start al over again after we were done we got a bigger challenge. We would have to answer the questions and follow the directions. When we were done with the three questions we gave it to David. Then we got one with ten questions! After lunch we got to use walkie-talkies! We followed the directions and I did B2 and B3, they were fun. I loved it!

Excerpts from Student Writing

...We learned that brown bumps are the homes of gophers. We found five of them. You can learn many things at Belwin. My favorite part was looking for animal signs. I found 2 burrows, 1 nest, 7 deer tracks and 2 places where deer rubbed their antlers...

...I learned that you can make a sundial out of sticks. A sundial can be used to tell time...

...I liked Belwin because we played a game about robins. The game was a fun way to learn about nature...

...We learned about nature. Nature was one of the teachers...

...You can learn many things are Belwin. My favorite part was when we went to the ponds and tried to catch some animals. There were scuds and glassworms. Sometimes we caught ice...

...I learned that fungus on trees help make soil. When trees turn into soil its called compost...

...I liked Belwin because you see lots more nature than you usually see. We saw turkey tracks, a bald eagle, and a bunch more stuff...

...I learned that the trees and animals are David's teachers. It is pretty cool how he learns from things in the forest...

...I heard leaves crackles and birds tweet. I heard pine trees blowing in the wind. I tasted sap...