
Our Earth and Lava Tubes
The beautiful fall weather has inspired many field trips to give students more hands-on learning experiences while the weather’s great.The Intermediate class (3-4th grade) is currently working on a unit called Our Earth. They have been studying the earth, geology, and natural disasters. As part of this unit, they took a field trip with the Upper Elementary class to the Ape Caves, which is 1.5 hours away from Portland. One of the caves there is the longest lava tube in the United States (13, 042 feet), and all of the students made it through. Here’s a little about the trip, shared by Sonali, the Intermediate teacher.
There was total darkness inside the caves, the only light for navigating was the light we carried with us. Everyone had a flashlight with them & we were in there for over 4 hours; most of the time bouldering. The surface was totally uneven, with rocks and boulders everywhere. I am sure if we could see the whole picture, half of us would not have done it. It was a great lesson of taking one step at a time and all the children were so supportive and co-operative, there was total absence of competitiveness. We even figured out a way to all get over an 8 foot wall blocking the path, and all in total darkness. It felt great and totally supported for “Our Earth” unit that we are working on. We have been learning about different kind of rocks & different forces that changes the face of earth. I totally loved the whole experience.

