

Chautauqua Field Trip


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S: Chautauqua Park

FC: Our Field Trip to Chautauqua Park September 2011

2: Our Field Trip to Chautauqua Park September 2011 Written by Ms. Eileen's fourth graders STEM LAb Magnet School

3: Dedicated to the volunteer naturalists who made our trip so educational and memorable Mrs. Tracy Tellinger for making the arrangements for us

4: Have you ever learned about black bears at Chautauqua Park? It was a wonderful day to learn about black bears. Black bears is that that they do not always have to be the color black, some other colors of the bear are cinnamon brown, dim brown and white-as white as an old man’s beard and hair! Another thing my group’s naturalist explained to us is that the black bear will have a different size jaw than a grizzly bear. The bear’s sense of smell is quite outstanding. The black bear’s nose can smell from almost a mile away! Did you know that? Plus the bear has to eat 20,000 calories a day, that’s a lot of ruby red berries. In the normal black bear diet they consume berries, pine beetles and, while it is not good for them, our food. You might wonder how they get the pine beetles, they claw apart the tree. Then find the beetles within the bark after severing the bark. Those are some noteworthy wild black bear facts. by:Anna

5: It was a glorious, sunny day and my group and I saw an upside down bird! At first I thought it was a bat but the ranger said it was a bird! It was called a nuthatch, it was black and white. I bet its talons were sharp! I bet it might have been looking for juicy insects. That was really interesting. By Grant M

6: In the middle of our long hike at Chautauqua, we came across a tree with bite marks. The tree was as light as yucky oatmeal. Ranger Dave told us that they were pine beetles that made the small hollow holes. “Then how come it’s knocked over?” I wondered. “That is a very good question,” Ranger Dave answered. He told us that the pine beetles made so many holes that it was petrified and has been there since. In my head I thought about exactly how many pine beetles it took to petrify it? The tree was as tall as four elephants!

7: Maybe it took thousands of the pine beetles to petrify it. Then I heard Dave sigh, “Those pine beetles are killing our beautiful trees.” “There might not be any trees left in a 100 years,” Ranger Dave confessed. I went up to the tree and sniffed it. It smelled like yummy butterscotch. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I love the butterscotch trees. I took one more look at the tree and sighed, and then I began to walk up the mountain once again. By Isabella

8: By Grant.J Last Tuesday I went on a spectacular trip to the Flatirons. The people in my team were Tyler, Angelo, and Isabella. Each of our teams got a ranger. When we got ours, we started hiking. Shortly we came to a stop and the ranger told us what Chautauqua was like in the past and what creatures lived there. Then we noticed a fallen part of a Flatiron and ran up to it and I spotted a lot of fungus on it so it so it must have fallen a long time ago. Soon we took off again and started hiking. Then we noticed an outhouse and the ranger asked if anyone had to GO, we all remarked no and moved on. Next, the ranger showed us a map of

9: the Flatirons on a sign and he pointed to the third Flatirons and stated we would climb that one. The next thing we came upon was the Bluebell Shelter. I thought to myself, “I wonder if they'll give me a free pizza”. Then we were able to see a Flatiron that said CU for Colorado University. The Flatiron looked as big as Mt.Everest. Soon after hiking and hiking, we finally got to the Flatirons. We got to climb it a tiny bit and then we hiked all the way back down and the scenery was beautiful. That was when I hiked the Flatirons.

10: Last Tuesday was terrific because we got to go on a field trip and see an upside down bird. I saw the bird at Chautauqua Park in Colorado when we were hiking. The whole field trip was NOT just about the bird. The awesomely upside down bird was called a nuthatch. I was not the first one to find the black nuthatch, but I did see it hop around upside down in the forest green tree. There are three unique types of nuthatches. The nuthatch was black with a white belly and a short beak. Then we had to move on. By Aaron

11: Last Tuesday my group and I went to Chautauqua to hike. I think it was a perfect day for a hike in the mountains. Did you know that Chautauqua was an ocean a long time ago? At the bottom of the mountain we started hiking and our ranger told us clues about how they know Chautauqua was a big ocean. Then we kept hiking, on the way up we saw a small gray bird in a green bush. Then we kept walking. We were walking about as fast as a cheetah up that mountain. We saw so many symbols, for example a, picture of a green tag which means your dog can’t be in that area unless your dog has been trained to walk with you. We also noticed a symbol for the outhouse. The symbol looked like a girl or a boy.

12: After a bit more walking, our ranger told us about snakes. We also learned about ladybugs, foxes, and the main animal, the black bear. That is about all the animal research we did but we did do a ton of hiking. I will never ever forget that wonderful beautiful place called Chautauqua! By Lydia

13: Last Tuesday was an amazing day! As my group made our way up the Flatirons, we stopped and in the middle of Mrs. Bevv’s sentence, I spotted a bird and it was upside down. I was sort of terrified until Mrs. Bevv told me they’re common. I think it was a sunny yellow and rich blue. The blue bird was as rich blue as the sky. The yellow was as sunny as a dandelion. As it was upside down, it looked like it was looking for food. I will never forget that feathered friend. By: Lulu

14: Last Tuesday I went for a great hike and we saw bear scat. It was a sight. My group and I were just beginning to hike. When we spotted a group going by, we got out of the way. They said they thought they noticed bear scat deeper in the forest up the trail. So we hiked up another mile. In the midpoint of the trail was bear scat. It was dark brown and there were a lot of seeds in it. We dug in it. It was brown in the midpoint. It looked very unusual. Our leader looked at it and she said it was fresh. The bear made it that morning and it looked like it was made by a brown bear. Later on in the day we saw a bear taking a nap in the field. By: Christopher

15: Last Tuesday I learned that it was an awesome place at Chautauqua before time. At Chautauqua there used to just be sand, lots of sand. It used to be a desert. No one lived there, it was deserted. Then there was a large green rain forest, and giant dinosaurs lived there. Then there was a huge flood and everything was demolished, but the birds survived because they can soar like planes. Then the water disappeared and Chautauqua Park was created. That’s how the mountains were created. By Angelo

16: On Tuesday both 4th grade classes went to Chautauqua Park. It was a steaming hot day and a beautiful day for a hike. There were beautiful blue skies and red leaves on the green grass. It was such a gorgeous day at Chautauqua. Each class made groups of 4. Then we numbered each group and group 1 went with group 1 from Mrs. West’s class. Each group got a ranger. The ranger had a bag of activities to learn for the trip. We also got a ranger so he or she could show us things like scat, birds, flowers, and erosion.

17: When we were on the hike I saw a lot of things but I have one that I want to talk about. We had just passed the fungus and bear scat when we stopped at a tree. I’ve never seen a tree a tree like this one. It was HUGE and from one side you can see its roots. The ranger said that erosion happened there. Are you thinking what I thought? What is erosion? One example is when there is a storm. Then the dirt gets thin and watery and the mud slides.

18: In this case it made the tree roots show. I learned how erosion works on the field trip. If I didn’t go on the field trip, I wouldn’t know what erosion is. Another thing I saw on the trip were the Flatirons. They call it that because the plates crashed together and made a mountain. The mountain that had one flat side and one rough side. So that is why they called the mountain Flatirons. I had a great time at Chautauqua Park. I Iearned about erosion and land forms. I also saw birds, flowers, fungus, and other things. | by Mandy

19: Last Tuesday my group and I got a topographic map. We learned about the topographic map for about 30 minutes. One of the things we learned about is contour lines. Contour lines are lines that are far apart. When we were about 8 miles up the trail, we looked at our topographic map. We were about 2,000 feet up. At the end of the trail, we were seeing tall, green grass. Now we were about 10 miles up and we were at Gregory Canyon. On our way back we just noticed on our topographic map we were headed for the side of a black road. I will never, never, never forget Chautauqua. By Zach

20: One early morning on Tuesday I went to Chautauqua an open space for animals to live there and it was an awesome hike. It was blazing when we got off bus and found are helpers and we found are rangers every ranger had a back pack that had activities for the hike and we got prepared we were about to hike up the hill oh no I was out of water I needed to quench my thirst it was hot as lava .

21: We began our hike my shoes clenched the light dirt as we started the hike every one heard the insects that were in the golden emerald as we got higher and finally we were closer to the top and whoa I saw a white black bear was in a fortress made out of tree branches of some sort next to trees in a miniature forest with a lot of space for a grown bear to run but don't worry we weren't close to it at all a hundred yards away from it plastic mountain model. As we headed down the path we got back and we talked about the hike and had lunch and went back to school. by Bryson

22: Have you ever wondered what Chautauqua looked like thousands of millions of years ago? As the sun beat down on our group we strode up a pretty flat trail that leads right into the towering Rocky Mountains. The trail crunched beneath my feet and the ranger stopped. He bent down and began digging in his never ending pack while the soft crisp breeze whistled past my ear. He pulled out four plaid clothes. One red, one green, one light baby blue, and one dark blue. He picked a volunteer (not me) and made him hold his hands out flat. He placed the red one on his hands and said that this place used to be a desert. My eyes widened. “The red cloth represents the desert”. He grabbed the light baby blue cloth and placed it on top of the red. “The desert got flooded” he said. “It turned into a sea”. “The desert turned into a sea floor”.

23: He dug in his pack once again pulling out a white translucent plastic box. He opened up the box. In it there was a rock wrapped in bubble wrap. I wasn’t sure what it was, all I saw was some ebony raven colored rock. I became anxious. He unwrapped it and said that it was a prehistoric squid shell. He said that some squids use to have a spiral long coned shaped black rock. It is as black as the night sky in my words. He also yanked a computer made picture of one out of his pack. Another rock was in the box! As he brought that one out he placed the squid shell back in. The rock was as brown as the bark on a tree. And that made sense because it was petrified wood.

24: . I collect petrified wood so I know what it is. I collect little pieces; it is just bark that turned into rock over time. “Wait!” I said to myself. “When were there trees?” At the same time, he brought the green cloth out and placed it on the light, baby blue one. “The sea went away and a rainforest grew,” he said. “That is where the petrified wood came from,” he said. Then he placed the dark blue cloth on the green one. After that, the mountains formed. And while the mountains were forming, some of the outdated petrified desert started to stick up. “Those are the Flatirons,” he said. That was the most educational hike I ever had! by Tyler

26: Last Tuesday was a sunny, hot, and spectacular day to see poison ivy in the fall at Chautauqua Park. Our guide (much older than us, of course) took us upwards toward a giant forest. The trees were as stout as football players getting ready for a stunning game! After explaining about all sorts of rocks, when we were about of the way to the giant forest, something caught a boy in my group’s eye. I really didn’t know what the plant was called, or what the plant was. Somebody yelled out, “I think its poison ivy!’’ Our guide came over to observe. After looking at the interesting plant, his head came up and, still looking at the plant, he asked all of us, ‘’How does anyone know that it is poison ivy?’’ I inquired, ‘’So is it poison ivy?’’ ‘’Yes, It is!’’ replied our guide. Quincy spoke up, ‘’How you know that it is poison ivy, is that poison ivy usually poison ivy has three leaves on a branch.’’ ‘’ Yes! That is accurate! Also, this time of year, since it is fall, usually they are red or violet, and in the summer or spring they turn green.” ‘’Wow!” I whispered. ‘’ Never knew that poison ivy had three leaves a branch.’’ I took my camera phone out and took an image of the poison ivy.

27: After about two or three minutes, we slowed down because it was really steep downwards. After that, we looked to the right and there, right in the middle of a clearing, was a lake of poison ivy! ‘’Wow!’’ I thought in my head. Then I turned my head the opposite way (left) and guess what! There was also a meadow full of poison ivy there too! They were as red as a burning grill with steak on top. My group and I finally got to the top. While we were hiking, I saw some light green poison ivy. My guess was that during summer, poison ivy was probably dark, dark green, and the ones that are light green, will turn violet red SOON! During our hike, we found only a few leaves, branches, or plants of poison ivy. I recollected in my brain of what Quincy said. ‘’Poison ivy only has three leaves a stem or branch.’’ ‘’I’m going to tell this to Mom and Dad and also Cianne, Camryn and Christoper!’’ I thought in my head. Almost at the end of the trail, someone bumped me and I almost touched a branch of poison ivy. Huh! Huh! Huh! I panted. ‘’Oh! That was a close one for sure! I was super lucky! If I had touched that, I would be itchy right now!’’ After that, we saw no more poison ivy. Well, I hope I see that violet plant again so I can tell everyone in my family! I will never, ever forget that first sight of poison ivy. By: Cori

28: Last Tuesday was awesome! We went hiking. We split up into 6 groups and started our hike. We were headed to the Flatirons. We were walking and someone was complaining about asthma. It was really annoying. We were almost there and our ranger said, “SHHH.” I thought she heard a bear, ah actually she heard a kind of squirrel. It’s black as night and as fast as a dragster with ears as pointy as a spear. There was a really rocky part it was like stairs. We made amazing discovery - the Flatirons. We were there in a second and lunch was over but we ate on the bus!!!! by Jake

29: By Cameron This week we had a fun field trip to Chautauqua park. My group and I made an amazing discovery - bear poop! We were hiking when we saw it. Up the mountain we saw another mound of bear scat. At the beginning of the trail we started a game. My group and I put animal pictures on our backs. We asked yes or no questions to try to figure out what animal we had. Up the mountain I figured that I was a black squirrel. Cullen was some kind of bird. There were about 5 other people in our group. Then we played another game with a white ball of yarn. We threw it at each other to show how every animal is connected. Then I saw a humming bird at mid-way point. At the end of the trail, I looked to my right and saw a wall of leaves. My group and I thought it was cool. Then we ate lunch. During lunch a little puppy ate Anna`s lunch. Last but not least, we got in the bus and went back to school.

30: Last Tuesday my group and I talked about Erosion. We saw a tree that showed it's giant roots. The ranger explained that it was probably caused by a large rushing bunch of earth's water that went down the mountain like a wave about to appear in a shining turquoise sea. The water rushes down until it gets sucked up into the dirt. It will push trees and make humongous holes. When water causes erosion, it takes a long time. Erosion can occur with other forces on earth too, like when the earth makes a hole that shouts out pressure like opening a soda can. I can't wait to discover more miraculous things that happen on earth!! By Ananya

31: It was an unusual and sunny day at Chautauqua park, and a spectacular site to find a giant cocoa tan mother bear as ginormous as a moose. I could not believe my eyes! I had never seen a bear in the wild. I have only seen bears in the zoo. As still as a rock, the bear napped in the grass. It must have woken up because when we headed back it was surprisingly GONE! Her paw prints vanished from the dusty, mucky, dirt road. I was amazed. So soon they were spotted, snoozing in the sunshine were three baby bears. They were as cute as can be, for I had seen the cutest thing - not a bear, but a chubby baby bear and it was cute and how about that! On the bus I named the bears Molly, Chautauqua, Bamboo (Bam for short), and last but not least, Hexa bear! By Bekkah

32: Last Tuesday we went to Chautauqua and found lots of wildlife. It was funny on the trail because we saw some dogs that were going ahead of their trainers. I also saw a black squirrel. Then we also saw bear scat, which was extremely disgusting. On our trail saw a bunch of birds and stuff like that. And we think that we saw a hawk’s nest because we had some binoculars, so it was a little bit easier to see but we also thought that it was an eagle. On our way up we didn’t see as many animals that we did see on our way down. But we did see poison ivy that was as red as MARS. And it was really immense so we were all on one side of the trail, I don’t want poison ivy anywhere on my body. That was my hike to Chautauqua. By Cullen

33: Tuesday 27th September 2011 was a fabulous day to see crystallized sap because it was a sunny day. There was a slight cool breeze and bright baby blue sky. Sap is what comes from trees when the bark gets split and it is trying to heal itself. It has a rough, scratchy cloudy white look to it. It is also very sticky and if you get it on you it is impossible to get off. Fact: resin is used in many manufactured things we use today like cleaners, paints, stains, even sweeteners. By: Samantha THE END

34: By: Quincy Crunch, crunch - the sound of my shoes wobbling across the rocky trail, a warm breeze blew over the rocky grassy trail landscape. My class and I were hiking at a Chautauqua Park. As we went further up the rocky trail, we came to an odd looking rock. The ranger told us it was a Fountain Formation and it was the same formation as the Flatirons. As we headed further up the steep trail, “STOP,” warned the ranger sternly. He examined a bright orange plant very carefully. He said it was poison ivy! Then I realized it was all around us like a sea of orange water! Luckily we got by untouched. We came up on a forest. By that time the sun was scorching down on my neck like bacon in a frying pan. I was thankful for some shade.

35: Just as we entered, I saw a group of green cactus and I just had to touch it. (Don’t try that at home.) Into the forest we went. It was full of light purple mushrooms. Not too deep into the dark woods, we came to an abundant tree. Not just any ordinary tree but a special tree. A black bark tree, the sap smells like sweet vanilla. If you ever find one, try smelling it. There was a group of fallen trees that looked like a fort. We passed a sign warning us of bears and headed back to the compact ranger station. Inside they had dead stuffed animals. There was a brown beaver, a gray coyote, a gray mountain lion, a brown bear, a yellow eagle, a yellow prairie dog, an orange fox and a brown rattlesnake. Our day was done. I really liked hiking at Chautauqua.

36: Last Tuesday was thrilling because my group and I got to soar the Flatirons! It was a long, long climb up the mountain, it was like climbing up to the sun! While we were climbing, we stopped at certain points and we learned about Chautauqua on the way up to the Flatirons. It was astonishing! After a long climb up the mountain, before my group and I knew it we were at the famous Flatirons!

37: The view was spectacular. I spotted all of Chautauqua. The Flatirons looked so huge, it was like a dinosaur fossil. If you were sitting on them you would know what I mean. It was a surprising view. We had to climb back down from the Flatirons sooner than I thought. Then we hiked down from the big brown rocky mountains. I had a great adventure last Tuesday, and I cannot wait for my next adventure! By Charlie

38: Last Tuesday I found out about Chautauqua a long, long, long time ago. Learning about Chautauqua was a different type of learning- FUN!! We had some towels that represented the layers of sediment in the rock. We observed images of what it looked like a long time ago. They were terrific! One picture showed that a portion of Colorado was once an ocean. Can you believe it?! When we saw the other image, it showed that most of the trees were covered in moss that was as green as dark green grass in a field. Colorado was basically a forest. There were great big trees taller than probably the biggest tree in Colorado. Also on the shore, the dinosaurs were always there. And the Flatirons became the Flatirons because a long time ago the Rocky Mountains shoved the parts of sediment to make the Flatirons pop up. Before it was just the small Rocky Mountains then when they began to grow, they also pushed the sediment to make a Flatiron. Then the Flatiron pushed up another then another then another until the Flatirons were formed. I’m so glad that we go to travel to bountiful Chautauqua and learn about it a long ago. By Sadie

40: One Saturday I got picked up from my friend Jackson’s sleep over at 7:45 in the morning to go to my grandpa’s funeral. It was an extended ride to Arnold, Missouri! Josie, Dad, and I played a lot of games to keep us occupied like Who Can Spot the Most Constellations. I won that game. We also played Who Can Estimate the Closest to How Many Miles to Arnold, and Josie won. One other game we played was Road Kill Bingo and dad won. By the time we got to Arnold, it was 9:37pm. That was a long ride I will never forget. BY Ethan | the north star | 25 50 75 | 100 | answer 138 and a 1/2

41: Last Tuesday the ranger told my group and me about all kinds of wildlife, like foxes and stuff like that. I learned that bears love devouring pine beetles and blueberries off of trees and bushes too. I also learned that there are three cubs and one mama bear that are running down a path that is blocked. Another thing I learned about bears is that they poop scat! I had fun learning about bears. learning about be By Alex

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