OUTDOOR
EDUCATION
May 1-3, 2011
By Matthew Trunsky
OUTDOOR ED
On May 1, 2011, most of the Marie Murphy Scholars went to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to have an outdoor educational experience. We stayed in a campsite for 3 days 2 nights. While we were there, we got to do all of these extraordinary activities including team building – which taught us to work together towards a common goal. Fun games like relay races, team courses and Jedi – which allowed us to have fun while working together. We were also allowed to test our individual abilities with activities like archery – something I happen to be very good at due to my own camp experience. The climbing wall and high ropes were also individual challenges that happen to be a lot of fun. The final part of our outdoor experience was the study of nature, orienteering and insect study. While I felt that I was well informed about what this experience would be like, it was 10 times better than anything I could of imagined.
May 1, 2011
When we hit the bump in the road that woke me up, I knew that we had reached our destination. There was also a lot of cheering and screaming upon our arrival. When we got out of the bus, we grabbed our luggage and went to the cabin, put our luggage at our bunks and headed down to the lake to play carpet ball and have free time until lunch. After lunch, we got to do a lot of team building activities like finger fencing – where you lock hands except your pointer finger and try to poke your opponent in the gut. After that, we split up into mini groups of 13 and we went to the middle of the playing field and played a game called Jedi. Jedi is where one person is blindfolded and has to rely on his/her teammates to guide you to a hidden sword. The object of this team building challenge is to work together to find the hidden sword and then find the other person that is blindfolded and hit them with your sword before they hit you. I felt that this exercise promoted good listening skills and required the blindfolded person to follow directions. We won most of the time so I guess we were good listeners and direction givers.
After that we went to a big teeter tauter. We had to decide as a team how to divide up our group so that we were evenly balanced on either side of the fulcrum. This posed a challenge in that we had an uneven number of people so we really had to figure out how to divide up our group based on each kid’s weight. We started with two people, then 4, then 6 until all the kids were on. The 13th kid got on the side that was the highest with the hope that it would come out evenly. The test was to make sure everyone was on the seesaw and that we could balance the seesaw while singing a full verse of “Row, Row, Your Boat”. The easy part was singing in spite of the fact that we couldn’t stop laughing. It was a lot harder than I thought to keep the seesaw balanced.
The next challenge was in the forest. There were three islands onto which we were all to climb on. We were required to fit all 13 kids on 3 islands. These islands were made out of planks (we barley fit). Once we got everyone onto the first island, we were to make a bridge using boards and a rope so that we could all cross over to the other islands. As a group, we worked together to provide the necessary tools to get everyone across. I guess I learned that there are many different ways to solve this problem and as a group we decided on the best way: one person held the rope, while everyone crossed on the plank. The arguments that happened were about different ideas on how to solve the problem. When this happened, I would try to quiet everyone down and then try the ideas one at a time. These activities taught us how to work together.
Next we made our way down to a web made out of strings. The web was probably the size of a large living room carpet. The challenge was to hold hands with all 13 kids on your team and make it across the web without falling and without touching the strings of the web more than 3 times. What I learned from this activity was that teamwork is an important life lesson and you should listen to what others have to say even if their idea is different from yours. You never know, someone may be giving you helpful hints on how to do something. It is also important to share your ideas and not to be afraid to try them.
May 2, 2011
Today we studied entomology, the study of insects, wilderness survival, archery, nature awareness, orienteering, some new games, high ropes and the climbing wall. We all had a blast with these new activities and experiences. In fact, for most of the kids, the climbing tower with zip line and the high ropes were new experiences. A lot of the kids were really scared but pushed through their fears and did it. Watching classmates beat their fears was really cool to watch.
Here are the details of what happened during the day:
Entomology. During entomology, we were asked to sit on the ground and have a picture of an insect placed on our backs. We went from person to person giving clues to that person about the insect that was on their back. The object of this lesson was to think about the clues we each got and try to guess what the insect was. Once everyone found out what was on their back, we discussed each one and the characteristics of the bugs. My bug was a Hercules Beetle, which I guessed correctly. All of my teammates guessed correctly. We learned that each bug has three main body parts: head, thorax and abdomen. Insects also have 3 pairs of segmented legs, and a pair of antennae. Most insects have 2 pairs of wings. After that, we sat around a table in the middle of the room and were asked to create an insect using candy and toothpicks. We were asked to tell if it was a predator or prey and to tell the group how it attacks or defends itself. Once that was over, we got to eat them. What I learned from this activity was that it is better to get some information prior to a creating something rather than just making something up. It is a lot more interesting, too.
Candy bugs what's better than that
Wilderness Survival. During this section, we sat around a fire and talked about what you would need to have with you in order to survive if stranded somewhere. We were then placed back into teams. Our assignment was to make a fort using the things around us (mostly sticks and logs). The fort needed to be able to protect us from any wild animal, survive a storm and protect us against the weather. My group found a tree that had fallen over and was wedged into another tree. This provided us with an area below the tree branch to create our fort. We found lots of tree branches and bark to hang from and lean onto the fallen tree. Our fort was amazing. We all thought it was suitable for someone who was stranded and felt that it could protect against storms and animals. What I learned from this activity was that it is good to be prepared and have a lot of ideas on how to solve your problem. That way, if one idea doesn’t work, you have a back up plan. Also, it is important to do the most important things first , like set up the shelter while there is still daylight.
Archery. Archery was so much fun because we got to do something I really like and I am very good at. We learned all the basic controls to the arrow and bow. We learned safety rules like never pick up an arrow when someone is in the range; never point an arrow at another person, and shoot only when told to shoot the arrow. We got to do 2 rounds of 3 shot warm ups. Afterwards, we put balloons at the end of the range and you had to try and shoot them. After my 2nd round without popping a balloon, I got picked to try another round. My first shot was high, 2nd shot was a little high and 3rd shot right in the corner of the balloon. “POP.” I was so happy I was yelling and jumping all over the place. What I learned was to take my time and not to rush things. Slow and steady pops the balloon! This was one of my favorite activities.
Nature awareness: In this we got to do a lot of activities that were fun and challenging. One of the activities was acting like a squirrel. To do that we had to tape our thumbs and pick up candy. The person who could eat and pick up the most candy won the game. After that we had to use get blindfolded and get directed by a partner to find a tree. Once you got to the tree, you had to hug it. Then your partner would walk you back to your original spot. You probably walked 200 steps. The next step was to go to the same tree only this time you had to listen to your partner telling you how to get to the same place but by a different path. I was forced to use my ears to direct me to the tree again. This was obviously harder and I was worried that I was going to run into something or trip and fall over something. Next we were given a whiff of peppermint and then were asked to go into the forest and try to find 5 slips of paper that had the peppermint smell. If you wanted help or wanted to get someone’s attention, you were required to bark. I found 4 of the 5 peppermint papers. I think that if the wind was less, I would have found the peppermint more easily. What I learned from this task was that it was very important to listen to your teammates so that you knew when you had all of the sheets of paper. Communication made this challenge a whole lot easer.
Orienteering: A compass has a needle that spins and always points north. There is a part that you can turn, and line the compass needle up with this and it will tell you the direction that you are going. To practice with a compass, we each got a penny and randomly dropped it on the ground. Then, starting by standing on top of the penny, we walked 20 paces in 4 directions, using a compass to point us in the direction. The object was to return to the same spot where we started (to find the coin). I found that if I carefully lined up my direction on the compass, I could get back to my starting point. To get the certain point you had to get the red point of the compass in the big arrow. After warming up we got into groups of 3 and headed into the woods and found certain points in the forest. Getting the right coordinates was hard for me. What I learned from that was that if you end up in a wrong spot rethink your steps and start again.
New Games. New games were really fun. We played Capture the Flag and kickball. In capture the flag, we played 2 rounds (my team lost both). Although it was fun, I wish my team had won at least 1 game instead on none. Next, we played kickball, and trust me, that got intense. We had a pop up, a big boot into the outfield, then a home run. After that, I don’t know where we were. We were all over the place! What I learned with this activity was that teamwork is critical when it comes to a game where there are 9 positions. You have to all work together to win the game.
May 3, 2011
We were on our way to the High Ropes Course and the Rock-Climbing Wall. When we got there it was amazing. The ropes course was 25ft up and the rock wall was 50ft tall. When I was up on the ropes, I felt like I was going to fall and die but then I kept remembering that I was on a harness. There were 4 stations on the rope course; there was the beam walk, the steps, the string, the ropes and the tiers. I did all of them. Then when I was feeling pretty confident in the ropes course, my group was called up to do the rock-climbing wall. I was so scared at 50 feet. When I started to climb, I thought that it was so easy, but then the grips kept getting smaller and smaller until you could only hold on with one hand. I kept on thinking that I was going to slip, but then I got a strong hold on the grip and felt much more confident. Once I got up the rock-climbing wall, the only way down was zip lining. Once I got strapped in, I jumped and started to go and then before my eyes it was over. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I loved it so much. What I learned from this is that once you conquer your fears you can do anything.
When thinking about who demonstrated leadership qualities, I feel as though I did. I felt like I listened well to my teammates, was open to other ideas, I got along with my teammates and I encouraged others to conquer their fears. I did this especially with the rock climbing and zip-line. All in all, I loved out door Ed and would love to do it again. In fact, I wish I were still there. But it feels good to be home. My favorite thing was definitely the rock-climbing wall because that really pushed me to the max with my fear of heights. But once I got up there, I was so proud and wish I were still doing it. Thank you to all of the Marie Murphy teachers and I hope we do something like this again. Thank you.
Matthew Trunsky
