4^th graders head to Waterloo

This is a pitcher plant and is found on the bog.  Fascinating!

I haven’t been on this trip since I was in third grade.  Seriously!  I can’t believe I haven’t spent time out here since I was a kid.  It’s an absolutely wonderful area and it didn’t disappoint for our field trip!  Kids spent time walking the trails of the Waterloo Recreation Area – a massive piece of land that includes an incredible bog.  They learned about Nature’s Recyclers (the title of our science unit) and all that the area has to offer.  They found an amazing amount of cool and interesting things on our trip.  Naturalists walk through the trails with them, pointing out everything worth seeing along the way.  There is so much to learn!  At the end of our trip, we stopped in to a pioneer cemetery to see how stone aged differently than granite.  Kids were fascinated by the differences.  An added bonus, my 5^th grade teacher Mr. Melby was honored at this cemetery when a bench was put up in his honor, allowing people to sit in the midst of Waterloo, soaking up knowledge and history.  He was one of my favorite teachers and it was fun to share my memories of him with my kids.