My Trip to Outdoor Education
The Map of Snake Road Adventure Center
INTRODUCTION
We left school at 9:15 and were set off to Snake Road Adventure Center. It took us a long 1 hour and 30 minutes to get there. We arrived at about 10:45. We knew our cabins mates right before the trip. We chose our cabin mates on an index card. My cabin people were Gregory, Ryan, Chase, Vincent, Jonathan B., Jagr, Aiman, Jack, Robbie, Matthew T., and Noah. We were introduced to the staff and the major rules. One of the rules was the five-finger rule. The thumb finger meant that you must be good. The index finger means no blaming. The middle finger meant no swearing. The ring finger meant commitment. Pinky meant cooperation. Then, we went to our cabins. There were 3 boys’ cabins, all in the Engebretson Lodge. I had cabin A. The camp was shaped like a hill and the bottom of the hill was the Geneva Lake. The top of hill or cap was the big field, were we played most of our games. At about 11:20, we went into our activity groups. My activity group included Jack, Liz, Antonio, Robbie, Xotchitl, Paul C., Matthew T., Michael, Colleen, William, Alyssa, and Bella. Mr. Schnurlien and Mrs. Diane led our group. At 11:30 we went to the big field to play some Big Group Games. The Snake River staff led this.
TEAMS COURSE
After the Big Group Games, we had grilled cheese for lunch. Then we did Teams Course. The purpose of these games was to work together to accomplish the game. We first made 4 different puzzles without using our mouths or moving around. There we played magic carpet were we had to flip a carpet from one side to another without falling of the carpet. William figured out the idea that we should flip the carpet from corner to corner. This idea worked. This game taught us how to be able to work together without disagreement. Then we went into the woods and used a giant teeter-totter. What we had to do was we had to sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” when the teeter-totter was in a balanced mode. This taught us how to work together and have a one-group mind. This was because only one person could move, not the whole group to accomplish the challenge. We then went onto 3 islands and a raft, which was when we had to make a bridge out of 2 boards and a rope. We had to figure out how to stay on one idea the whole time. I figured out that we should be able to put one board on top of each other to make a bridge. This was the idea we kept the whole time. Then we played Portal, which was when the group was connected in a chain and we had to get from one side to another through a tangle of strings. We couldn’t touch the strings. This taught us to work together. On every puzzle, there was one person that figured out an idea that finished the puzzle. The others just had to follow through with the idea. After a spaghetti dinner we did relay races and went to sleep at 10:15 PM.
NATURE
I woke up at 7:00 AM and had breakfast at 8:00. For breakfast I had bacon and eggs. Then I started my activities. At 8:45 AM I started Nature. At Nature we learned how to use our senses and I was able to use my senses to get a prize. The first activity I did was using my sense of touch to feel a rock and try to get it back. This taught me to use my sense of touch to find the rock. Then I used my four fingers, beside my thumb to be able to get candy and put it into my bag. This taught me that it was hard to get things without my thumb. Then I tried to use my sense of touch to find a tree that I felt before without my sense of sight. This taught me to be able to use my sense of feeling to be able to find a tree. Then we used our sense of smell to find 5 clues with my activity group but I was not allowed to speak. The most difficult think about the scent hike was that we couldn’t actually speak on the hike. This made it harder for us to communicate with each other. At 9:50 I went to Entomology.
ENTOMOLOGY
Entomology is the study of bugs. I learned in entomology that the Viceroy butterfly mimics the Monarch butterfly because the Monarch butterfly has a gad taste to animals, so that if the Viceroy looks like the Monarch then the animals will not want to eat the Viceroy. I got a bug that was called the blue-eyed Prancer. I learned that it had big blue eyes and had about the same characteristics of a dragonfly. I was able to make a bug out of candy. I also learned that the dragonfly is the only bug that can eat and fly at the same time. I learned that I was pretty good at making something out of scrap. This I learned by having to make a bug. I also learned that it is hard to know all bug types, because I got one that I didn’t even have a clue about. I made an ant looking bug, but with smaller legs. Then I got to eat it. At 10:55 I went to Orienteering.
ORIENTEERING
Trying to Find a Penny During Orienteering
Orienteering was when we had to go around the camp using a compass. A compass works by having one magnet connected to the magnetic poles of the Earth. This is why the compass has an arrow that points north and an arrow that points south. If you wanted to travel 30 steps S then you would put the direction of travel at 180 degrees and then you would put ‘Red Fred In The Shed’ and that would make your direction f travel looking south. I learned how to use my eyes to see what was an object in the distance and to step some amount of steps to it. We first had to take a penny, put it on a spot on the ground and use our compass to walk around some amount of steps and get back to the penny we put on the ground. Then, we used the compass to navigate ourselves to get from one tree to another, and we had to visit 3 different trees before we got to the finishing stop, which was an exit out of the woods. The hard part of orienteering is that you have to be looking the right way, which is hard, because there is still a degree that could be off. Then at 12:30 we had lunch.
BASIC SURVIVAL
In basic Survival, I learned how to live in the wilderness. I learned what to bring if you are going hiking, what to do, and some safety precautions. I also learned how to make a house out of woods very quickly. The three things somebody should bring on a hiking trip are food, shelter, and a cell phone. The cell phone is for calling an emergency number if you’re lost. But you should bring a friend or parent along too. I learned that a stick that might look big enough is actually smaller than you think. I learned this when I was making my shelter out of sticks. Then we went to New Games.
NEW GAMES
New games were not very new actually. The games we played were ‘Capture The Flag’ and ‘Kickball’. They were not very new to me. I felt very confused because we didn’t play ‘New Games’. My favorite game was Kickball because I am better at that game. I also like this game because there is always a time of rest, and a time of playing. This made me do better went I was in Outfield. My team lot on the first game (Capture The Flag) and lost on the second game (Kickball). I learned about myself that I could be able to win with a little bit of teamwork. Then we went straight to Archery.
ARCHERY
The Archery Range
At archery we got to use a bow and arrow. This is when we got to be able to learn how to shoot and some safety procedures. The safety procedures are that we have to wait until everyone is done shooting to get our arrows. Then, we have to get our arrows by putting our index finger and thumb on our left hand, and then pull the arrow out wt our right hand. We first tried to hit a picture of a deer with our bows and arrows. Then we had to try to hit balloons. I was one inch away from a balloon. I then learned that use your thumb as an anchor. The teacher there was very good at archery. I learned about myself that I am not very good at aiming. Then we had dinner.
CLIMBING TOWER/HIGH ROPES
I completed all the elements of high ropes. I did one were there was a balancing beam, and I had to use it to walk from one side to another. The only thing is, is that it was more than 10 ft above the ground. It was hard psychologically, but it was very safe. Then there was one were there was a group of tires. I had to jump from one tire to another. The first jumped I jumped to the third tire. This shows that it was pretty safe. Then there was one were you had to go on swings and go across to one side to another. Then we got to use a tight rope, and we had four ropes that we hanged onto, and used to walk from one side to another. They were all easy, but hard to do because I kept tensing up. Then there was the climbing tower. This was 1500 cm, or 50 ft. That made it a hard climb. We had to use rock climbing to get to the top and to get to the bottom was very fun. We used a zip line. This let us go down the 50 ft very fast. I felt scared at first when I was about to get to start. Then I took one step, which led me to a blazing gust of wind. I felt relieved after the zip line.
DORM TIME, MEALS, AND BIG GROUP ACTIVITIES
Every time before or after a meal we had Dorm Time. This was when we could write in our journals and we could be relaxed for 30 minutes or more. This was also a time were we played the card game ‘BS’ and we talked to each other. At Dorm Time, we were able to take a shower or just take a quick nap. Also the meals at Outdoor Ed were the best. I will tell you all the meals. Monday lunch we had grilled cheese. Monday dinner we had spaghetti. For Tuesday breakfast we had eggs and bacon. Then for lunch we had pizza. Dinner was chicken strips. Wednesday breakfast we had sausage and eggs. Lunch was tacos. Then there was the activities were the whole group participated in them. This included everyone in the school who decided to go. The big group activities were Big Group Games, Relay Races, and Campfire. Group Games consisted of three games called “Everybody’s it Tag”, “Brawl Ball”, and “The Blob”. Relay Races were when we were in crazy relay races. One was called “Waiter, Waiter!” This was when we balanced an eyeball on a paper plate. Then we did a campfire, which was when we had a campfire and made S’mores. All these activities, Dorm Time, Meals, and Big Group Activities are things that may or seem important, but they were.
CONCLUSION
We left Snake Road Adventure Center at 12:45 and arrived at 2:20. We were done with Outdoor Ed. This was very fun at we had a lot of fun. One thing I left to the finish was Carpet Ball. This was the best game at camp. This was a game were you had to place two balls and tried to hit your opponent’s two balls. This was very fun. I was one of the best players in the game and I learned that even though I may not be the best at sports, I could still be good at something. I am not very good at sports. Carpet Ball was one of the things I will remember from Outdoor Ed. I also learned how to have good sportsmanship. At the end of Outdoor Ed, I had learned a lot of things about myself. The trip to Outdoor Ed was the best field trip this year!
