As some of you are aware, I'm actively writing a book (me, and 3MM other Americans!). Wrote this piece after leading a school field trip this week. If interested, enjoy, if not, discard!
Field Trip I lead a number of birding field trips each year, most for adults, a few for children. Today I had the 3rd and 4th grade students from Faith Christian School in Foreston, MN. Children bring enthusiasm and joy to a field trip. They also bring noise and chaos. If one's goal is to see birds, don't lead a youth trip. If one's goal is to expose children to nature, then by all means become a mentor and lead several. Adult field trips have many of the stereotypical roles: a.. The unofficial, often aggressive, self-appointed leader who walks ahead of the group b.. The question asker c.. The "I can't see it" (I swear, the bird could land on his/her shoulder.) d.. The lingerers, generally of two classes - those for whom the trip is a social occasion, and those who want to savor every last bird, plant, camera angle, etc. Today's trip, despite only having nine children, still held each of these roles. Although one can grow frustrated, each of these roles have their positives - the first may indeed become a leader some day, the second might be the budding scientist, the third may just be awaking to nature, and the last might be the artists and friends our society needs. One role did concern me today: "I'm afraid of the woods". This child clung close to the teacher when entering the coniferous woods, and continually brought up negative fearful scenarios. The teacher explained that this child had very little exposure to nature. How sad! How potentially disastrous! Virtually any lingering fear is concerning, but to fear God's nature is indeed disquieting. Think of the potential ramifications - inability to see God in nature, inability to bask in the rest God's creation provides, missing out on natural beauty while confined to an urban or suburban lifestyle - and the harm that such an adult could bring to his/her family - not to mention a community if they occupy a position of power! Let's catch such children soon while they're still flexible. We also learned a stewardship lesson together. As children, they wanted to collect - flowers, seeds, walking sticks, a cool dead snake - but this was, after all, a refuge. By request, I put in a call to the refuge headquarters, and they reinforced the maxim - if it's here, it stays here. The children moaned, but 88% complied, and the 11% we're still working with a bit. I also learned a lesson, know your audience. We discovered a rather large ant hill, picture nine sets of tennis shoes .75 inches from the hill, warning each other about the potential hazards. I thought this might be an excellent opportunity to teach group counting skills - block off a section of the ant hill mentally, count the ants, then multiply by the number of blocks (result, ~700 ants on top). The kids were not impressed - after all, that's just math - but they continued to be impressed by the action. And, after careful consideration, one child told me, "I still think there are 7 million ants there". I have led a number of school field trips - while we've seen cool (translate, "big and colorful") birds together - we've never had a significant number of birds - and it's never mattered. Al Schirmacher Princeton, MN Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
