Yesterday our class went to the Indiana Dunes.
The first thing we did was get off the bus and go and meet the park ranger
who was our tour guide for half the day.
After we got off the bus we went to a Marram Grass Dune
and started testing. We tested the percolation in different habitats and
places, most of them were different but not by much. We tested at dunes,
wetlands, oak forest, and beach.
We walked through a lot of places, and not one was the same. Our guide showed
us plants and I saw she was also very nice.
On the wetlands it was the coolest, and the Savanna was the warmest. The
plant that I thought was neat was King Solomon's Seal. Then we left and
went on the bus to a picnic ground, and ate lunch, then we had a P.E. because
Mr. Sitz came with. Then came our next guide J.P. He took us into the dunes
and down Mt. Baldy.
First we went into a blowout and talked about how Lake Michigan was formed
from a giant glacier. Then we climbed to the top of Mt. Baldy and he taught
us about a tree that survives under sand.
Then we went down Mt. Baldy. Most people rolled down. I was one of them.
I hope to go back there sometime with my family.
I will never forget this field trip of my 5 th grade year.
P.S. While we were there we saw some animals.
Indiana Dunes
June 2, 1993 we took a long journey to Indiana to visit
the Indiana Dunes Lake Shore Park. It was one of the most exciting field
trips we've taken this year.
First a girl ranger named Kristin took us through the wetlands. (It sure
was wet because it was raining.) She explained to us different ways to tell
if a plant is poison ivy or not. She said poison ivy had partially a red
stem, and it has 3 leaves, she said it was all over the dunes. So the whole
trip I was afraid I would step on it.
There were many many different habitats at Indiana Dunes. There were wetlands,
beaches and other Dunes. We learned how to use some tools that had to do
with measuring the wind direction and temperature, moisture in the soil,
and so on. One habitat we stopped at was the wetlands. We stopped to do
the measuring stuff and Kristin mentioned that there could be poisonous
snakes where were were, and I was real happy to hear that. We had a great
time in the first half anyway.
We got equipment to find out the air temperature, ground
temperature, light intensity, soil moisture, wind speed, wind direction,
soil temperature, and the percolation.
Measurement kit and notebook
Essay fragment
Yesterday we went to the Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore. The nearest
town is Chesterton. The dunes were going to be filled with steel mills and
power plants, but a man named Paul Douglass made it a National Lake Shore.
The dunes have the 4th most different kinds of species of animals and plants.
When I was young I wanted to save the
world.
In my middle years I would have been content to save my country.
Now I just want to save the Dunes.
Succession
Succession is when over hundreds of years something changes in a pattern.
Our class went to Indiana to visit the Indiana Dunes. There we learned about
succession. We also saw it.
We got there and our guide showed us marram grass, the first part of succession
on a dune. We learned that marram grass is a strong grass that holds the
dune together. After we walked a little farther we came to another part
of succession, which is the edge where the sand gets a little soil in it
and poison ivy starts growing there and different types of plants, too.
Students leave dune area for Oak forest
We walked a little farther and got to the oak savanna.
There we saw lots of trees and different plants. We also saw lots of animal
holes there. Then we walked down a hill to the wetlands. There we saw lots
of skunk cabbage, which smells like a skunk, and a type of fern called cinnamon
fern.
Cinnamon fern is a fern with a cinnamon colored
rod going up the middle. Then we walked up the hill and down another and
came to the woods again. Now we have followed all the steps of succession.
Succession is a wonderful thing to learn about. I learned a lot of things
about it at the dunes.
I hope you have too.
Habitats
A habitat is a place with food, water, shelter, and air
that an animal lives in. At Indiana we learned about it. I hope you will
too.
When we got to the dunes, our guide showed us the first part of habitats.
A marram grass dune. A marram grass dune is a home to many buts and animals.
Some of the bugs are ants and mosquito. some of the animals were snakes
and birds.
We went on to the next habitat, the edge of the woods. There we saw many
bugs such as catapillars and inch worms. One of the animals I saw there
were different types of birds. At the next habitat, the oak savanna, where
I saw lots of types of birds, and I found a big hole that a woodchuck or
badger could have lived in. After that we went to the wetland. There we
saw lots of mosquito. Snakes also lived there. I hope you learned as much
as I did.
Habitats are everywhere. They are beautiful. I hope to go there again.
Indiana Dunes
On June 2, 1993 we went to the Indiana Dunes National Lake
Shore, Chesterton. we saw and studied many of the habitats there.
First we went to the Marram Grass Dunes. There we measured the wind speed
and direction, lightness, percolation rate, soil moisture, air temperature,
and wind temperature. Next we went to the oak forest area, and did the same.
There we also spotted the first of many poison ivy plants. Next we went
to the wetlands, then the oak savanna. Last we went to the beach. Last for
the morning that is!
1 of our charts (we had 2) turned out like this.
Habitats
Dune / Marram Grass / Wetlands / Oak Savanna / Beach
Light
Intensity
Indiana Dunes now has many many habitats, but it didn't used to . . .
All the habitats used to be sandy dunes. In time the wind blew the sand
further and further from the ocean's floor. Soon it began to cover up plants,
and only some survived.
After time the dead plants and the sand began to form a soil rich enough
for some plants to live in. Then the soil got rich enough for more and more
plants to live in, forming habitats.
Lake Michigan began as a glacier. Over time the glacier began to melt. As
it melted it pushed the land then fell back, forming the dunes. Soon it
all melted and formed the great lake, Lake Michigan. This period was the
succession of Lake Michigan.
Indiana Dunes
A few days ago we went to the Indiana Dunes National Lake
Shore in Chesterton, Indiana.
We left our school at around 7:00 A.M. We left searching for many things
such as habitats, types of plants, and to help our nature skills. Our main
reason to go there was to look at habitats of animals and plants.
It was a very gray day with a little sprinkle of rain coming down. We were
greeted by one of the park rangers. She introduced herself and then we were
on our way.
We took our first measurements at a marram grass dune. They call it that
because it has marram grass all over it. She first showed us how to work
these tools. Some of them were complicated, but most were very simple. They
all measured wind, ground temperature, air tempterature. We saw some holes
in the ground and we thought it was a snake hole but it was a mole hole
too.
Then she introduced us to poison ivy and what it looks like. And then we
continued on our trip.
She introduced us to very many plants such as blackberry, blueberry and
many more.
Then we went down to the wetlands and took our measurements. The wind stayed
the same at 0 but the water percolated a lot slower. And we saw many different
plants and it gave me the feeling of a rain forest.
Then we went up to the beach and there was a small dune that we all jumped
off and took our measurements. There was a lot more wind. It was about 4
mph. Then we walked back to the entrance and left the premises to eat lunch
at Mount Baldie.
After ending our lunch we met our guide Jean Pierre. And we went on with
our hike. As we neared the summit we hopped into a small hole and Jean Pierre
told us about succession.
Succession is when the trees at the bottom start forming to the top of the
dune and go all over the dune. This can only happen if people don't walk
over it or have parties. Lake Michigan was formed by a big glacier that
was a mile high. It moved very slowly crushing everything and forming a
lake.
Then we walked up to the summit and rolled down and ended our trip.
In that day we had learned a lot like succession or how habitats aren't
only for animals, but plants too.
Dunes
Yesterday we went to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
near Chesterton, Indiana. Some of the habitats we saw there were dunes,
oak savannas, oak forests, and beaches and wetlands.
When we went on a hike through the dunes, we saw very few plant species.
some of the ones we saw were marram grass, which sends out very long roots
(about 20 feet) and has them sprout in different places in the dune. We
also saw small trees and flowers (wild) on the dunes.
When we went to the oak forest we saw bracket ferns, poison ivy, and harder
soil.
Ranger standing in ferns
Because of the harder soil, we found percolation (the process
of how long it takes for water to enter the ground) was much slower going
into the ground.
When we went to the wetlands we saw lots of vegetation like grape vines,
skunk cabbage, wild flowers, blueberries, blackberries, and wild geranium.
It was cooler there than any place else, and it also has hard soil. (There
were also trees there!)
Later we went to the beach. We saw very little vegetation, but lots of sand.
It only took about 30 seconds to percolate! (In the oak forest it took about
4 1/2 minutes to percolate!)
The air and ground temperature were always around 60 degrees F.
In the Oak savanna we saw lots of grass and wild flowers, but very few trees.
Lupine in Oak savanna
In the Oak Savanna the wind speed was at 6 mph.
Dunes
On June 2nd 1993 we went to the Indiana Dunes National
Lake Shore. We saw dunes, wetlands, Oak forest, Oak savanna, and Beach.
Here are some of the things we learned.
At the dunes I saw a lot of sand, but we also saw some plants. I saw one
that was a little yellow flower called a Puccoon,but the one thing I saw
the most of was Marram Grass. Marram Grass spreads (reproduces) by sending
out long roots about 20 ft. long in all directions, that eventually come
up through the soil.
At the Oak forest we saw a kind of fern called Bracket Fern, a kind of tree
called Sassafras, that smelled like shampoo, a Slippery Elm Tree, and a
kind of plant called Poison Ivy, which if you touch it, the oil on it will
irritate your skin, but to all other animals, it is eatable, and lots of
birds eat its berries that it grows.
Students in Oak forest
At the wetlands, it was 3 degrees cooler than
anyplace else, and it had a plant called Skunk Cabbage, that smelled like
a skunk, a kind of fern called Cinnamon Fern, that looked like a Bracket
fern, but had a little stick coming out of it that looked like cinnamon.
we also saw there blueberries, poison ivy, blackberries and a grape vine.
(And a small purple wildflower.)
At the Oak savanna, I saw Goats Beard, Oak trees, more poison ivy, and lots
of ferns, like in the other habitats.
At the beach, all there was to see was a steel mill, Lake Michigan, and
big sand dunes with no plants on them. I learned that the Cottonwood Tree
can be buried with sand, and still live. Unlike any other tree in the world.
I also learned that the dune moves by being blown by the wind.
At Indiana Dunes we took tests on percolation of water, ground temperature,
air temperature, wind speed, and the direction the wind is blowing. The
percolation of water was diverse, some places 10 minutes for percolation,
others only 30 seconds for percolation. The ground and air temperature was
always the same (60 degrees F) but at the wetlands where it was 3 degrees
cooler (57 degrees F) The wind speed was diverse, some places 6, other places
0. The direction of the wind was always the same, blowing from the North
West, to South East.
Vocabulary
Leeward -- The side of the dune not facing the wind.
Windward -- The side of the dune facing the wind.
Succession -- When after a blowout, a dune gets a new habitat over
100s of years.
Blowout -- When the soil gets loose enough in a habitat, and the
habitat is blown away by the wind.
Measurement
Wednesday we went to the Indiana Dunes. We started at the
Marram Grass Dunes. The ranger showed us how to measure with the tools.
The first thing is the percolation rate. You put an empty can in the ground
then a paper cup filled with water, and dump the water in the can so it
can soak in the ground. Then you time it the second it is filled with water.
Then stop the timer when it is done soaking. There are also other measurements
such as the brightness of the sun. You point it up to the sky and look at
the dial. Also there is an air temperature measurement.
We also measured at the wetlands. It took a lot longer to percolate
the water because the ground already had lots of water in it.
We measured at the beach where it took 20 seconds to percolate. That is
because it is dry there and the water from the lst time it rained is still
soaked down deep and has room at the surface for more water.
At the Four Dunes there are flowers because the sun can seep through the
trees and give sunlight to make plants and flowers grow. The air temperature
is the warmest because the sun can seep through the trees. The brightness
of the sky is bright in the Four Dunes.