Field Trips

WSB’s 3rd Grade Visits a Local Farm

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Last week, our 3rd grade class had a wonderful time visiting Calvert’s Gift: Organic Herb & Vegetable Farm in Sparks, Maryland. Students got to pick and taste a large variety of organic vegetables fresh from the earth.
Calvert’s Gift Farm does a CSA and sells some of their produce at farmers’ markets (one is in Towson). Be sure to stop by and say hello to our host, Beckie. As a parting gift the farm gave the class about 15 pounds of fresh radishes and turnips! (Which they are now busy pickling.)
Please enjoy the photos below (some of which were even taken by the students):

WSB visits One Straw Farm

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On Monday our 3rd grade class started their gardening block, and to kick it off properly we went on a field trip to One Straw Farm. Our gracious hosts, Joan & Drew Norman, have been running the organic farm since 1983. Joan took us on a grand tour showing us the land, animals, and farm equipment; and she had us tasting lots of vegetables and berries along the way. She even sent us off with our pockets loaded with peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, and one giant butternut squash each! Below is a slideshow of our day on the farm. Be sure to check out & support One Straw Farm at the 32nd Street Farmers’ Market in Waverly every Saturday.

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WSB’s 3 Grade & the Organic Fruit Farm

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130290250924.131.255.120Today, I had the pleasure of accompanying Ms. Jerram & WSB’s 3rd grade class on a trip to Hybridoma Organic Fruit Farm. The weather was beautiful, with heavy, sliver-laced storm clouds floating rapidly overhead. The students picked raspberries and apples, climbed some farm equipment, and learned about Mr. Hamilton’s impressive solar array. We left munching on organic apples and got back to school just before the heavy rain began to fall. Mr. Hamilton was kind enough to donated two blueberry plants to our school which we will plant later on this week. You can visit Hybridoma Farm and pick your own organic fruits from Mid-June thru August on Wednesdays & Saturdays. (It’s only about 20 miles north of Baltimore City. Click on the image above for more information.) Below are photos of our trip. Enjoy. . . .

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4th Grade Camping in Southern Maryland

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Last week, I had the pleasure of camping for 3 days at Point Lookout State Park in Southern Maryland with Mrs. Harris and her 4th grade class. We started the trip with a stop at Calvert Cliffs State Park to hike and hunt for fossils along the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay. We then made our way to our site to set up camp, cook dinner, tell stories, and sleep. The next day we traveled West to St. Clement’s Island Museum where we learned about the arrival of the first Marylanders from England. The rest of the day was spent exploring Point Lookout, getting wet, building campfires, eating s’mores, exchanging ghost stories, and deeply sleeping. On Friday, we headed to historic St. Mary’s City for an entertaining and informative day about Maryland’s first city and capitol. Enjoy the slideshow below:

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And if you’re curious, you can check out last year’s 4th grade exploring the same region HERE.

Field Trip: 5th Grade Goes to Marshy Point Nature Center

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Ms. Arnold knows how to start the school year off right! Last Friday, I accompanied the 5th grade class to Marshy Point Nature Center. If you haven’t been there, it’s definitely worth checking out; and it’s only about a 30 minutes drive from WSB. We started the day with a presentation about the wonders of the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. Students were able to touch a bunch of different creatures, including a duck, a blue crab, fish, and a couple different kinds of turtles. After that we all went out on canoes. It was windy, but we all (eventually) managed to find our way to a distant meeting point where we cast a large net and explored the bottom of the bay. The whole time a couple bald eagles spiraled overhead. Below is a short slideshow of our day:

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Camping Down South with the 4th Grade

/ Lehcim Nosredna / 1 Comment

Last week the 4th grade class went camping down at the southern tip of Maryland. We hiked, played, toured an oyster farm, played some more, beach bummed, ate well, slept well (mostly), and wrapped it all up with a tour of historic St. Mary’s City. It was a full 3 days…and nights! …on the last evening (at around 4:30am), a smelly visitor (skunk!) stopped by for some day-old, tent-stashed lunches. I think we all learned why Ms. Mulvihill peeks into everyones’ bags before they’re put in a tent. (A practice I will be taking on from here on out.) Ms. Skunk was especially interested in the girls’ tent, but she was no match for a football toss and emergency food evacuation.
Below is a slideshow of 80 photographs shown in chronological order. Enjoy!

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5th Grade Camping Trip on Wye Island

/ Lehcim Nosredna / 2 Comments

Last week I had the privileged of camping with some of WSB’s finest teachers and 5th grade students (plus one outstanding dad).
We spent 3 days on Wye Island amongst the tidal recesses of the Chesapeake Bay. We did some hiking, camp cooking, canoeing, a service project (of removing growing tubes from trees), s’mores making, creative storytelling, freeze-tag playing, and more s’mores making. PLUS sailing & oyster dredging on a skipjack! It was a full and well spent 3 days!
Later this week I’ll be posting some photos of the various projects happening around our campus but have been too busy to share.  For now, please enjoy this slideshow from our 5th grade’s camping adventure. . . .

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