After weeks of anticipation, the time has finally we arrived. On Saturday, June 25th, our team of five fellows left Wisconsin for Denver, Colorado. We are beyond excited to attend the 2016 ISTE Conference.
We arrived early in hopes of checking out some educational experiences and locations that we had all heard, and in some cases, taught about. It's one thing to teach on a topic but another to experience it first-hand and bring that into the classroom of students. So after flying in bright and early, and renting a car, we set off for Colorado Springs, CO. Upon arrival we immediately went to the Garden of the Gods. The Garden of the Gods is a National Natural Landmark. The park itself is over 1,300 acres and is made up of beautiful red rock formations.
While touring the Visitor and Nature Center, we could explore the geology, plants, animals, and people. There was so much great learning to be had and a few special items that we could take home with us to share.
After our visit to the Garden of the Gods, we went to visit the Cave of the Winds. “Discovered in 1881, Cave of the Winds has been a must-see Colorado Springs attraction for travelers for more than a century. We’re one of the premiere show caves in the United States – and, at 7,000 feet, we’re also one of the highest!” The formations of stalactites and stalagmites, the variety of rocks, the view from 7,000 feet, and the information we collected was amazing. The limestone in this cave dates back to 500 million years ago. The area was once covered completely by water and when it receded and the caves filled with air, that’s when the formations were created. Our vocabulary was expanded to include calcite, flowstone, speleology, and speleothem. It’s also funny to learn that this cave was discovered by two kids. Curiosity is an amazing thing.
On Sunday, we spent the day in the Rocky Mountains. We drove up to Estes Park and from there into the Rocky Mountain National Park.
The journey took us up 12,000+ feet and gave us some absolutely breath-taking views. The real takeaways came from learning about the ecosystem, animal life, and the Continental Divide. The Alpine Tundra ecosystem is the one of their most fragile ecosystems. It's located between elevations of 11,000 to 11, 500. When exiting your car to explore, you see many signs that read "Repeated footsteps often destroy tundra plants, allowing exposed soil to blow away. Recovery may take hundreds of years, so please use designated trails when exploring this unique area."
As it said this an extreme environment with strong winds and cold temperatures. But you can also see the lichens and flowers that can withstand these harsh conditions. You can also see the "rocks out of place" that have been left by the glaciers and from this height, view the amazing formations carved out by these same glaciers millions of years ago.
We were lucky enough to see a few animals that call this habitat home; Bighorn Sheep, Marmot, and Elk.
While driving through, our team talked a bit about how we could use pictures we had taken of the breath-taking scenery and teach about tectonic plates, glaciers, and ecosystems. With NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) being implemented next year, each grade level could have the opportunity to use our learning and pictures in their teaching.
Our last stop was the Continental Divide.
The "Great Divide separates drainage to the Atlantic from drainage to the Pacific. It traverses America from Alaska almost to Cape Horn". It goes along five U.S. States: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.
The Atlantic Ocean drainage goes from "Cache La Poulre Creek into the Platte River which flows to the MIssouri, then to the Mississippi, thus reaching the Gulf of Mexico (part of the Atlantic Ocean)." The Pacific Ocean drainage goes to “Beaver Creek into the Colorado River, which then flows through the Grand Canyon National Park and on to the Gulf of California (a part of the Pacific Ocean).”
Being able to experience these locations in person is going to add so much more passion to our teaching of these topics. Pictures alone are great but can be found in texts and online, the experiences that we can share with our students are priceless.
Next up: Day 1 of the ISTE Conference!
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