Hello everyone!
Are you looking forward to Thanksgiving? I am! I have a huge feast planned even though there are only two of us. You just can't skimp on Thanksgiving! Well anyway, time is flying by so quickly out here already! Wednesday, did not warm up as I had hoped. It stayed in the low 30's. Jeff and I did manage to get some wood chopped despite the chilly weather. We also drove out of the park to get our mail. The road was pretty much clear except for a few icy spots. We didn't see any animals, unfortunately.
Thursday was in the mid 30's. I went over to the hotel in the afternoon to help with some painting. I feel the need to mention here that painting sounds like a lot more fun than it actually is. Most of the 214 rooms need some painting done, so it is going to take a very long time to complete the project. Fortunately, we have ALL winter. I had to paint the ceiling of one of the bathrooms which was very difficult. We were able to leave at 6 pm to head home. It is almost completely dark by 5 pm now. I can't believe it! I think we have about another month of losing daylight before the days will slowly begin to get longer again.
Friday, was an awesome day. The weather is so fickle here. It's incredible! The temperature topped out at 48 degrees! Can you believe it? Jeff and I chopped wood for quite a while. Again, we ran in to the photographer up here. He is a very nice man who lives on the west side of the park. He is originally from Japan, but has lived in Montana for 13 years. He mostly takes pictures of wildlife, and he said that he got some pictures of the rams fighting! How amazing! He hikes in the 7 miles, pulling a sled with his camping gear and photography gear. What dedication!
Like I said, the weather here is fickle. Saturday the temperature topped out at 30 degrees. Despite the cold temperature, wind, and snow, I took a nice little hike around Swiftcurrent Lake. I just can't stand sitting inside all the time. The trail is just under 3 miles and covered in snow. It was a very peaceful walk. The only wildlife I saw was one stellar jay, a relative of the blue jay. It was quiet except for the trees creaking. And, it turned out to bit a bit of a workout trudging through the snow. Just what I was looking for!
It was 28 degrees on Sunday when I wrote this. So far, it is not snowing, nor is it too windy. We will be staying in most of the day and watching football. Unfortunately, I don't get the Steeler's game out here. Here's a question for you: I am in the Mountain Time Zone and you are in the Eastern Time Zone. If the Steeler's game comes on at 1:00 pm Eastern Time, what time does it come on here in Montana?
Well, for your lesson today, I thought I would tie together our topics that we have already talked about, the National Park Service, glaciers, bighorn sheep, and bears. We will talk a little about the history of Glacier National Park before it became a national park. Native Americans first inhabited this region 10,000 years ago. The Blackfeet tribe arrived in the early 18th century and soon dominated the eastern slopes and the great plains of this area. Bison was the primary source of food for the tribe, but by 1882 the last bison in the region was shot. The Blackfeet tribe was beginning to starve to death, so an American friend of the tribe, James Schultz, decided to help. With the help of George Grinnell, the Backfeet tribe began receiving government aid. When Grinnell was introduced to this area he declared it "The Crown of the Continent," a name that has stuck. Grinnell was awe-struck by the beauty of the area. This area is so unique because of the jagged peaks and deep valleys formed by the glaciers we have talked about. This kicked off Grinnell's fight to make the area into a national park. It took ten years of lobbying, but finally on May 11, 1910, the area was declared Glacier National Park.
With this new park status, many things began to change. The park service implemented fire control policies, wildlife management, park management (maintaining trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and roadways.) Part of wildlife management is making sure visitors view wildlife from a safe distance and do not feed the animals. The park service also uses special garbage cans that are bear proof and put warnings on all of the picnic tables telling visitors about bear saftey. Park rangers patrol campgrounds and picnic areas and fine people for leaving food or coolers unattended. At every trailhead there are warning signs for bears and other wildlife. Also, if a bear is frequenting a trail, the park service will post signs and close the trail or campground if necessary. All of these things are very important to maintaining a national park and the saftey of both the animals and the visitors to the park. One of the reasons that bighorn sheep and grizzly bears are still in this area is because no hunting is allowed in the park. These species are protected from harm within park boundries.
Well, for your lesson today, I thought I would tie together our topics that we have already talked about, the National Park Service, glaciers, bighorn sheep, and bears. We will talk a little about the history of Glacier National Park before it became a national park. Native Americans first inhabited this region 10,000 years ago. The Blackfeet tribe arrived in the early 18th century and soon dominated the eastern slopes and the great plains of this area. Bison was the primary source of food for the tribe, but by 1882 the last bison in the region was shot. The Blackfeet tribe was beginning to starve to death, so an American friend of the tribe, James Schultz, decided to help. With the help of George Grinnell, the Backfeet tribe began receiving government aid. When Grinnell was introduced to this area he declared it "The Crown of the Continent," a name that has stuck. Grinnell was awe-struck by the beauty of the area. This area is so unique because of the jagged peaks and deep valleys formed by the glaciers we have talked about. This kicked off Grinnell's fight to make the area into a national park. It took ten years of lobbying, but finally on May 11, 1910, the area was declared Glacier National Park.
With this new park status, many things began to change. The park service implemented fire control policies, wildlife management, park management (maintaining trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and roadways.) Part of wildlife management is making sure visitors view wildlife from a safe distance and do not feed the animals. The park service also uses special garbage cans that are bear proof and put warnings on all of the picnic tables telling visitors about bear saftey. Park rangers patrol campgrounds and picnic areas and fine people for leaving food or coolers unattended. At every trailhead there are warning signs for bears and other wildlife. Also, if a bear is frequenting a trail, the park service will post signs and close the trail or campground if necessary. All of these things are very important to maintaining a national park and the saftey of both the animals and the visitors to the park. One of the reasons that bighorn sheep and grizzly bears are still in this area is because no hunting is allowed in the park. These species are protected from harm within park boundries.
Here are some signs that are found in Glacier NP. They are designed to protect both the animals and the visitors. Also, we use special bearproof garbage cans like the one pictured below.
Assignment: Create your own mini-national park. Split up into groups. Each group will need one large sheet of bulletin board paper or art paper, one regular sized piece of paper, color pencils, and markers.
On the large sheet of paper, I want you to draw a map of your national park. The map should include the name of the park and the names of its creators (you). Inside the park boundries, you should draw the landforms that you would find in your park. Ex: rivers, lakes, forests, mountains, canyons, deserts, etc. Also, include roads for travel and hiking or bike trails if they are present in your park.
Use your park map to help you answer the questions below.
1. List three activities that visitors can do in your national park? Ex: Rock climbing
2. What kinds of animals would be protected in your park?
3. How will you make sure visitors enjoy your park without destroying your park? In other words, what are the rules of your national park? Name at least three. Ex: No littering
4. Using the regular piece of paper, make a brochure describing your park. Your brochure should be designed to make people want to visit the park. It should be creative, maybe with some pictures, and descibe the great things about your park.
4. Your national park will need money from the government to keep it running. Tell the president, your teacher, why your park deserves funding.
5. Besides government funding, how else will you get the money to run the park and pay your employees?
The steelers lost the game on Sunday, but it was a very close game! To answer your question the game was on at 1PM Eastern Time, but would have been on at 11AM your time. We learned that there is a two-hour time difference. Currently we are creating bear "wanted" posters that we are so excited to share with you tomorrow when we Skype with you! We just read today an article in the National Geographic Kids magazine about a man in Bozeman, Montana who took care of a baby Grizzly Bear and raised him until he grew up to a full-size Grizzly Bear. The man's name is Casey Anderson and the Grizzly Bear's name is Brutus. Do you know him? We will see you tomorrow! Mrs. McGee's Third Grade Class
ReplyDeleteWe are currently making our own National Parks. We put them in our hallway outside of our classroom. We will try to send a picture to you via email. We have thoroughly enjoyed this project and have come up with parks from "Harrisburg National Park" to "Colorado National Park". Maybe next time we Skype we can show you our posters. We love your blog. Thanks for sharing with us! Have a great Thanksgiving Miss Heidi!
ReplyDelete