Pyramid Mountain 02.18.10

We returned to Pyramid Mountain for class # 3. Trees. The kids learned the difference between deciduous trees and evergreens. Okay, they all knew the difference, but this was the intro to identifying trees in the winter.

At the start of the class they had two types of evergreens. They examined them, broke open a needle or two to examine the insides, and discussed how you can recognize it as an evergreen.

The next step was finding out how you identify a deciduous tree. Looking at the buds, leaf scars, the branches are the big 3.

After identifying various twigs in the classroom it was time to go outside and identify some trees.

They spent a few minutes discussing the differences in the bark of this tree and the trees around it. Notice the smooth bark. So nice for carving your initials. Well don't do that. It is disrespectful to the tree.

For those who do not know, it is a Beech Tree.

This was not their favorite class. They realize that being able to identify trees is an important survival skill but this is not exciting. They did enjoy themselves but the trees don't move the way birds move around. There was no evidence of glaciers. Well, there could have been but it was way up high in the air. This class lacked a bit of the excitement that the other two had.

After we were done looking at the trees we hiked over to a maple tree and took a peak in the bucket collecting sap. Very soon maple syrup time will be over. You need the right conditions or the sap does not flow.

On our way to the maple tree we noticed deer tracks in the snow (along with a fair amount of that yellow snow you should avoid). We followed the tracks to an area where the snow was all kicked up and littered with leaves. The deer restaurant. This was where they stopped to dig under the snow for some good eats. The kids thought that was pretty cool.