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Links
Elementary School Trail Programs
& Curriculum
2nd Grade: Seeds (fall), Plants and
Weather (spring)
Fall
instruction on the trail for 2nd graders includes a fieldtrip to the
Cross Rivendell Trail to collect and identify seeds. Students from
Westshire and Samuel Morey Elementary Schools visit the trail in West
Fairlee MAP
to hunt for seeds and learn about dispersal mechanisms in fields and
forests. Students find many examples of wind-dispersed seeds including
those of asters, thistles and milkweed. Hitchhiking seeds are also
found on jackets, gloves, and pants simulating dispersal from animals.
In the past a horse along the trail to Baldtop Mountain had a mane full
of burdock burrs.
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Fall
Seed Fieldtrip Worksheet
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In SPRING, second
graders from both Westshire and Samuel Morey Elementary Schools
participate in a field-trip to the Mountain School in Vershire,
Vermont. A spring trip to the sugarhouse at the Mountain School
is designed with the teachers to take advantage of the changing seasons
and curriculum work covering subject areas having to do with plants,
weather, and Native American studies. In addition, the Cross Rivendell
Trail travels through this area of Vershire and the the Mountain School
is an active participant in community activities that include trail.
Students
hike ½ mile to the sugarhouse through snowy fields and woods and are
greeted by Marc McKee, Assistant Farm Manager & Sugarmaker and
assistants. Students participate in activities in small groups to learn
about the collection of sap, sugar maple trees, and the boiling of sap
to make syrup in the sugarhouse. Students complete worksheets recording
weather conditions, identifying features and unique characteristics of
sugar maple trees, and drawing diagrams of the sugarhouse and
collection equipment. Cooled maple syrup straight from the pan is
sampled by all.
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Spring
Sugarhouse Worksheet
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3rd Grade: Rivers and
Erosion (fall)
Each
October and November, 3rd grade students from Westshire and Samuel
Morey Elementary Schools explore the geological aspects of how rivers shape the
land. In the classroom they learn about sediment types as well as how
water erodes and deposits weathered material using sand tables. In
preparation for field exercises students view online maps and visit web
mapping applications to visualize river forms and features at both the
local, regional, and global level.
Fieldtrips
along the Cross Rivendell Trail allow students to observe, first-hand,
local rivers and streams. Students record field observations detailing
river / stream shape, flow, sediment types, slope, and velocity at
sites in Vermont (Ompompanoosuc River) MAP
and New Hampshire (Jacobs Brook). MAP
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Work of Rivers Handout
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Erosion Field Worksheet
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Calculating Flow Worksheet
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3rd Grade: Amphibians
(spring)
Locations in Fairlee, VT and Orford, NH
Coming
Soon ...
4th Grade: Mapping,
Geography and Local Settlement
Each
April, 4th-graders from Westshire and Samuel Morey Elementary Schools
experienced first-hand the local history. The field trips include
visits to the Historical Societies in West Fairlee, Fairlee, and Orford
(Vershire - coming soon!). Local historians and residents present
videos, pictures, stories, and display items featuring local history
and settlement. Topics include, for example, West Fairlee and the
nearby Ely Copper Mine in Vershire from the late 1800's. The trips are
designed with teachers to take advantage of community resources and
history as students investigate patterns of local geography and
settlement.
To visit
the Historical Societies students walk the Cross Rivendell Trail
through West Fairlee, Fairlee, and Orford. In West Fairlee students
walk up Mill Street to Southworth Park MAP.
Students were able to identify historic homes, former mill sites along
the Ompompanoosuc River, and changes to the village from viewpoints
along the road. Following lunch at Southworth Park students had an
opportunity to sketch views of the village and consider changes to the
landscape.
Understanding
Place Through Maps and History ( website
)
Encountering History Along The Cross Rivendell Trail
( website
)
View additional historic images of West
Fairlee online from the UVM Landscape Change Program
Orford
Proprietor's Map INTERACTIVE Map Application
Fairlee / West Fairlee INTERACTIVE Beers Atlas 1877
West
Fairlee Village (JPEG) Beers Atlas 1877
5th Grade: Winter Safety
& Survival
In
February, Rivendell 5th-graders hike the trail and participate in an
outdoor activity to learn about winter surivival and how to handle
winter emergencies. This field trip was designed to take place after a
weather unit and as the class read the book "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen.
Students learn about staying warm (hypothermia, frostbite, wind chill),
shelter building, first aid, water & food, and decision making.
In groups, students are given cards with items they might use in case
of an emergency -and- an emergnecy situation.
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Winter Priorities &
S.T.O.P
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Survival
Equipment Card Sheet
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Emergency Card Sheet
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6th Grade: Ecosystems,
Class and Forest Ecology Hike to Bald Top Mtn (fall)
A new
fall program on the trail for the 6th grade includes an interpretive
hike and in-class discussion of ecosystems at different scales
(worldwide, North America, New England, along the
CRT) using online mapping applications (website). A field trip
to Bald Top Mountain in West Fairlee / Fairlee Vermont MAP allows
students to examine ecosystems at the local level. Forest
ecosystems along this 1.9 mile hike to the summit can change
dramatically from areas of forest disturbance caused by logging
activity to a large stand of old-growth forest. Students have an
opportunity to observe the trees, forest structure, evidence of
disturbance (human & natural), habitat, and distance peaks
during this hike. They also complete a worksheet reinforcing
relevant vocabulary and ecosystem / forest concepts. In 2010
the 6th graders, teachers, staff, and parents enjoyed a warm and sunny
November day.
Westshire Elementary School,
Bald Top Mountain, October 2011
Coming Soon ...
Westshire Elementary School,
Vershire / West Fairlee, VT - October 8th, 2010
Westshire
Elementary School Students, Staff, and Parents hiked back to school
from the CRT trailhead at Parker Rd in Vershire on a beautiful fall
day. MAP
The 5.2+ mile hike through the forest included a northern vista (with
Camel's Hump in the distance), fall foliage, and a scavenger hunt.
Progress was recorded using a GPS receiver so that students can revisit
the hike in-class to learn about local geography, maps, and GPS
technology.
Westshire
Elementary School, Sunday
Mountain, October 2009
Westshire
Elementary School Students, Staff, and Parents hiked up and over Sunday
Mountain (over 4.5 miles total) in Orford, New Hampshire on Monday,
October 12th. MAP
The hike also included students searching for five hidden boxes along
the trail left by Rivendell 6th graders on their Middle School hike the
previous Friday. Boxes were found using clues and contained a pen,
small notebook with observations, and small items from along the trail
(ex. leaves, acorns). Box locations were also recorded using a GPS
receiver and will remain on the trail for the school year.
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Hike
instructions and worksheet
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Rivendell Academy ( 7-12 ) Trail
Programs & Curriculum
Trail to Every Classroom
(TTEC) Curriculum ( Mount Cube Area)
TTEC_Curriculum_Development_ECOSYSTEMS-web.pdf
Agricultural
/ Forest Ecology ( West Fairlee )
High-school
students from Agricultural Ecology visit the CRT in West Fairlee in
fall to study forest succession and regeneration. Students examine and
record plant species along 100 meter transects.
Plans include a long-term database of forest regeneration at this site
and an interpretative trail. The
trail in this location was rebuilt by the Rivendell Student Trail Crew
in the summer of 2011.
Rivendell's Outdoor
Community Classroom ( ROCC )
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ROCC is comprised of the section of trail from the
Academy parking lot to Townshed Road in Orford, New Hampshire. This
section of the trail is used by many classes. The intent of ROCC is to
promote place-based education with meaningful work and authentic
performance tasks. MAP |
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The 7th Grade classes spend some time classifying
plants on the trail and developing informative, hand-illustrated trail
books. The 8th
Grade uses the trail in their earth formation unit as well as their
Dose/response lab unit. Agricultural
Ecology courses walk parts of the CRT to examine different examples of
succession in forest types.
Freshman science courses use the surrounding
habitat adjacent to the trails to run forest studies and
amphibian/reptile biodiversity studies. They also use decomposing logs
to set up investigations for Certificate of Mastery Lab Reports. Language Arts classes have used the trail in the
past to journal in books made with paper carefully made from leaves and
bark collected from the trail.
Rivendell Academy Middle
School - Geographic Information
System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) Instruction
GIS
Day 2009 - Wednesday, November 18th
This
year Geographic Information System (GIS) instruction will inlude 6th,
7th and 8th grade classes and will use online map applications and
geospatial data gathered from the Rivendell Academy Middle School hikes
on October 2nd, 2009.
GIS
Day 2008
Geographic
Information System (GIS) instruction using online mapping applications
featuring Google Maps, the Vermont Interactive Map Viewer
(VCGI), and the New Hampshire GRANIT Data Mapper
Instruction
includes the discussion and demonstration of Global Positioning Systems
(GPS) technology.
7th
and 8th Grade Winter Survival Hike / GIS & GPS classroom
Instruction
Online
mapping applications, instruction, and worksheet for 7th and 8th grade
students using GPS data obtained from the winter survivial skills hike
in Orford, NH.
7th Grade (2010) materials available
online at http://crossrivendelltrail.org/7th-grade_winter-hike_2010.htm
8th Grade (2009) materials available online
at http://crossrivendelltrail.org/bog.htm
Rivendell Academy Middle
School Hikes - Friday, October 9th, 2009
6th
Grade Hike - Sunday Mountain to Rivendell Academy, 6.5 miles
Local
History / Trail Box Exercise (see above) / GIS and GPS Instruction on
GIS Day (see above)
7th
Grade - Mount Cube to Indian Pond Rd, 6.6 miles
Local
History / GIS and GPS Instruction on GIS Day (see below)
8th
Grade - Bald Top Mountain from Lake Morey Rd, 6.6 miles
Landscape
Change (science) / Local History / GIS and GPS Instruction on GIS Day
(see above)
Encountering
History Along The Cross Rivendell Trail
( website
)
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This
website is designed to explore historical themes found on the trail by
using the landscape, photographs and primary documents. In addition, a
number of sites have links to teacher activities that focus on the use
of primary documents and provide pathways to further historical
investigations. ( © Flow of History. All
rights reserved. ) |
Rivendell Student Trail
Crew
Summer
Rivendell Student Trail Crew, July
2012
The
Introduction to
Trail Crew program crew worked
afternoons for a week in July on trail sections
in Vershire, West Fairlee, and Orford clearing
& blazing trail, removing downed trees,
and creating new signs. Funding for student
workers and transportation to work sites
was generously provided by the RISD Visions
Program. Trail Crew: Andy Boyce (Coordinator),
John Bristol (Rivendell Faculty), Dylan
Peltier (Adult Leader), Bodie Avery, Emily
Colonese, Cameron Day, Heather Dexter, Liam
Fleming, Tel French, Will Gardner, Kyle
Gelenian, Brandon Mound, Christian Parenti,
Cam Suprenant, Kyle Thresher, Cody Williams,
and Joey Wood.
The
full-time Rivendell
Student Trail Crew, funded by
a grant from the Davis
Conservation Foundation, was on the
trail in July working in Fairlee to maintain
the CRT and to identify and remove invasive
plants species from the trail and summit
of Bald Top Mountain. The 5.2 miles of trail
from Bloodbrook Rd to Lake Morey Rd received
much needed trail maintenance. In addition,
completed work on the summit will help initiate
a program to prevent the spread of invasive
plants (ex. Common Buckthorn, Japanese Barberry,
Shrub Honeysuckles) within the Brushwood
Forest complex. Return trips to monitor
changes are already underway and included
a 6th grade ecology field trip to Bald Top
in October. Trail Crew: Andy Boyce (Coordinator),
Dylan Peltier (Adult Leader), Martha Cochran
(Volunteer), Christian Knowlton (Crew Leader),
Leverett Byrd, Cameron Day, Liam Fleming,
Will Gardiner, Weston Knowlton, Christian
Parenti, Kyle Thresher, Joey Wood, and Cody
Williams.
Summer
Rivendell Student Trail Crew, July
& August 2011
The Introduction
to Trail Crew program crew worked
afternoons on trail sections in Fairlee,
VT and Orford, NH clearing & blazing
trail and building bog bridges. Funding
for this program generously provided by
the Rivendell Interstate School District
(RISD) Visions Program.
A Summer RISD Student Trail Crew,
funded by the Vermont Recreation Trails Program (RTP),
was on the trail in August working to re-open a section of the CRT from
Marsh Hill Rd to Middlebrook Rd in West Fairlee, VT. This section of
trail was disturbed by forest harvest activity in the winter of
2009-2010. Work included extensive rebuilding of the treadway using
bench construction, the clearing and removal of post-harvest debris,
stones steps, waterbars, and blazing/marking of 0.5 miles of trail.
Mount Cube, Orford, NH
(2009)
Rivendell
Interstate School District student crew repaired erosion control
features on the Mount Cube section of the Cross Rivendell Trail (CRT)
in July 2009. This project has been funded by: New Hampshire,
Bureau of Trails, Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant.
Project Supported by: The Rivendell Trails Association (RTA), Rivendell
Interstate School District, and Camp Moosilauke who adopt and
maintain this section of the CRT.
View
Cross Rivendell Interstate School District
(RISD) Press Release and Work Details ONLINE
Download
/ View the Trail
Crew Flyer (PDF)
GPS data
of trail erosion control features available soon ...
A new trailhead kiosk at Mount
Cube was installed this summer thanks to the assistance of Rivendell
Students. Additional renovations are planned for the coming year
including new signage. This new kiosk has been donated by the
Lenore Niles Fund, Crossroad Farm, and TimberHomes LLC. Thank you.
 
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