Ms. Thompson and I briefly introduced the program.
Mrs. Sullivan and Mrs. Slover dropped by to welcome students to our ecological studies program.
Then students worked on a team building activity; first individually, and then with a group of 3 to 5 students. The task was to rank 12 items salvaged from a crashed plane in the order that would most likely result in survival. You may like to play this game yourselves.
The highest possible score and most likely to result in death is 50. The lowest possible score most likely to result in your survival is 15.
Good luck.

Students should have a binder to put all Oxbow related work in. Binders will be checked and graded, so it’s important that students keep a record of all work from this point forward.
The binders need not be new. They will be subject to the elements. Hardcover binders make writing field notes easier to accomplish and plastic page protectors help to some degree keep pages from getting wet.

Rubber boots (the kind you can get for about $10 from Walmart) or old sneakers are good when hiking trails if the ground is wet (water can come up to your knees) and we are in the midst of a receiving large amounts of rainfall. As we near the summer, the need for protective footwear lessens.

Next Thursday, we will begin studying the two main habitats found on our school property and at Oxbow. We will remain on school grounds inside (room 505). We will study plant identification and indicator plants to help us recognize the two Florida habitats we will traverse while hiking at Oxbow.

We will be introducing our studies, forming teams, working on team building activities, and illustrating the Oxbow binders. (You do not need to purchase a new binder, a recycled binder is fine- it will be exposed to the elements; so plastic page protectors are very useful.)

The supplies needed for Oxbow are listed in the middle margin under Oxbow Supplies.

Students who have Science or Math during periods 1, 2, or 3 will participate in Oxbow studies in the mornings on Thursdays.
Students who have Science or Math during periods 5, 6, or 7 will participate in Oxbow studies in the afternoons on Thursdays.
On Thursdays that fall on holidays or testing days, as well as the week before FCAT; we will not participate in this outdoor classroom experience.

Remember: Oxbow Ecological Center is located right next door to our school. It is open to the public and features a beautiful educational center, plus many hiking trails. Family dogs are welcome. Oxbow welcomes you to explore our beautiful Floridian native habitats with your children after school or on weekends. They have many family events scheduled throughout the year and host the Audubon Society as well.