Grade 7 Treehaven Trip
Treehaven is a facility in Tomahawk, WI that is affiliated with the UW Steven’s Point College of Natural Resources.
Tamarack’s 7th grade class was able to attend last minute as part of an Urban Ecology Center program in February.
During their 3 day 2 evening trip student’s learned about survival skills, wolf and owl ecology, tree identification as well as many hikes, snow showing and other fun and games!
Students learned about the Rule of 3s for Survival and built snowshelters.
3 minutes w/out air
3 hours w/out shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
Other lessons included:
Wolf Ecology
We played a games to help us think about the wolf’s incredible sense of smell. Other games helped us think about cooperative hunting. Then, we went outside and practiced our wolf howl by the fire!
Owl Ecology
Students played a game to pinpoint the location of sounds, and then tried to name every classmate by their voice! We learned owls can triangulate and pinpoint their prey’s location because of their ear placement.
Tree Identification
Students used dicotomous keys to identify twigs using their buds and bark. After practicing, they went outside to look at and identify trees!
There’s been a Murder
With an interactive game, students learned about the ecology of many forest animals to discover the cause of Red Squirrel’s untimely death.
“It was a great experience! I learned a lot about animals, specifically wolves and owls. I was able to snowshoe and ski for the first time.”
On the last hike through Tamarack Hollow, students learned about Tamarack trees, located animal tracks of snowshoe hare and bobcat, and searched for signs of porcupine.
Thank you to Jodi Hundt, former Tamarack teacher and current Urban Ecology Center teacher, for taking photos and sharing what activities the students were engaged in.