Dinosaur Ridge

Dear Parents and Guardians,

One of our last stops in Denver, Colorado will be to the exciting Dinosaur Ridge! Students will be taken on an excellent tour of the Ridge. On the tour students will learn about the different stages of fossilization as well as the different layers of Earth. The tour will provide excellent, real-life examples of each stage of fossilization and layer of Earth. Students will draw and describe these stages as they move through the tour.

After the tour students will be given the chance to dig their own fossils in the Fossil Pit at Dinosaur Ridge! Students will learn how to use the proper tools and also learn how to properly dig for a fossil. Students will present their findings to the class and are allowed to bring their fossils home. This should be a wonderful and learning-filled experience for your child!

Wilderness Tour: Rocky Mountain National Park

Dear Parents and Guardians,

For our fourth lesson, we will be visiting the Rocky Mountain National Park and taking a wilderness tour in all-wheel drive vehicles. Before the tour students will identify the geography of Elizabethtown. During the tour, we will be stopping for dinner on top of the mountain for a panoramic view with a cook out. After the tour, students will compare and contrast the geography of our hometown, Elizabethtown, PA, to the geography of the Rocky Mountain National Park by depicting and describing the two regions on a poster board. It should be an exciting excursion!

Denver Zoo

Dear Parents and Guardians,

For our third lesson of our trip in Denver, Colorado we will be visiting the Denver Zoo! The students will be split into six groups to tour the zoo. All groups will be visiting nine mandatory exhibits and noting their observations in a packet provided by me. After the nine exhibits have been seen, the groups are free to travel the zoo wherever they would like. During the free traveling time, students will each pick a particular exhibit of their interest. They will make observations of this living thing and its environment. When we return to the classroom, students will present their findings concerning the animal of their choice from the Denver Zoo. I am excited to take this trip with the students and find out what everyone liked best!

Cheetah at the Denver Zoo

* Picture taken from www.flickr.com *

Denver Art Museum

Dear Parents and Guardians,

For our next lesson, we will be visiting the Denver Art Museum. Here students will be able to observe works of art by some of the most famous artists that ever lived. Guided by our teachers and chaperones, the students will choose their favorite artists and a piece of work done by that artist as they travel through the museum. After the visit to the museum, we will discuss as a class the students’ favorite pieces of work from the museum. Then, the students will have time to create their own piece of artwork using supplies such as construction paper, paint, markers, and colored pencils. When completed, each student will choose two pieces of art of their peers to critique by comparing and contrasting, analyzing, interpreting, etc. Hopefully we don’t get too messy because later that evening we will be visiting the Downtown Aquarium!

Coors Field

Dear Parents and Guardians,

For our first lesson we will be visitng Coors Field, where the Colorado Rockies play baseball. During this trip the students will be participating in various activities concerning mean, median, mode, quartiles and range. They will also be conducting their own experiments relating to these same mathematical concepts. During this time the students will also be given a tour of the field where they will see the dugout, vistior's clubhouse, press level, club level, suite level, and concourse level.

Coors Stadium, Colorado

Picture taken from flickr.com