Seventh Graders Report on Bear Brook Adventure

2/15/2023

On February 7, the entire Derryfield 7th grade embarked on the annual winter field trip to Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, NH. Led by middle school science teacher Karen Robichaud, the intrepid adventurers each reported back on their experience in the wilderness. Here is their story, told through many voices.

“The goal of the trip was to take pictures and note different tracks and scat left behind by the animals. The grade was separated into different groups and were left at different points in the woods. Each group was given two compasses and a map to find their way to Smith Pond shelter.” (Amelia Hicks)

“Now, you might be thinking that it was an independent field trip, well this is not at all true. We had groups and roles that we were supposed to do throughout the field trip. Some of the roles include, trackoligist, photographer, medic, writer, and other independent things. We all worked together as a group to discover and reflect on nature's beauty.” (Ben Graham)

Keen Observations

“I liked being the trackologist. After seeing lots of deer tracks, they started to be very recognizable to me. Even though I had looked at lots of tracks prior to the field trip, they seemed so different in real life. For example, we could see the line in the middle of the deer hoof on some of the tracks. You wouldn’t be able to see that on a piece of paper.” (Juliana Cataldo)

“As we split into groups we started to identify different tracks and observe how biotic factors rely on abiotic factors. An example that supports these factors is how birds rely on sticks and leaves to build their nests to keep them warm and to seek shelter. An amazing abiotic feature that we identified was a beaver lodge located at the pond. It was made out of sticks, leaves, and other abiotic features!” (Ben Zych)

Trials and Tribulations

“On the trip to the pond, our group courageously decided to trek over a mountain to save time. When we summited the mountain, we saw that there was another mountain to get past. We were tired from our audacious first climb, so we boldly decided to go around the second mountain to save our legs.” (Drake Glover)

“The biggest challenge my group faced was going through a bunch of oversized, agonizing, distressing, excruciating, harrowing, torturous, laborious, dead bushes that consisted of getting whacked over and over again.” (Awaab Mousa)

“At around 11:15 am our group noticed that we didn't know where we were. We stopped multiple times rechecking the map and our compass. We were so confused that we had to use Google maps. It felt like we were going in circles over the same hills over and over again.” (Jane Levesque)

In Summary

“Then the most amazing thing happened. People appeared through the woods! Everybody ran to greet the group of explorers. The greeting of others really showed friendship. The funny thing is that that group leader was Ms.Glidden, the GEOGRAPHY teacher. But the group did not get lost, they decided to take the scenic route.” (Katie Stonaker)

“Highlights of the day were cooking hotdogs on an open fire and celebrating our successes of the day. On the waterfront of the shelter, students rejoiced in a little game of hockey. Sticks were created from real sticks and broke on impact with a wooden puck.” (Adelino Vellis)

“The trip was very physically draining but my group found many ways to rejuvenate ourselves. Even though the trip was tiring, we enhanced our experience by not letting our tiredness get the best of us, and making sure to have fun on the way.” (Maryam Elsheikh)

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