Last field trip

We started by talking about fog. Fog has salt in it which can rust metal and corrode plants. We then moved on to invasive plants. Honeysuckle is invasive. Privet hedge is also invasive and gets a head starts on all the plants by getting out the greens first. Although I do like privet hedge, if it’s invasive it should not be grown. Fox grape isn't invasive but does have an interesting way of getting sun. It climbs up the other plants.
After walking for a while we came upon sheep sorrel which is edible. I tasted it and it was OK. 
We then went to an ancient Wampanoag burial site. The person who was buried there lived on Nantucket 2 AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS AGO. That is pretty awesome.

JohnCarl M.

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I Had A FUN TIME AT THE FIELD STATION, I DID NOT KNOW THAT STRAWBERRY FLOWERS LOOKED LIKE THAT, I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE JUST BUSHES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. WHEN I WENT DOWN TO THE BEACH I THOUGHT THAT YOU MEaNT THERE WAS A DEAD BIrD But IT WAS A DEAD SEAL!  I GOT SCARED BUT THEN IT WAS COOL AT THE SAME TIME. IT WILL GIVE FOOD TO OTHER ANIMALS BUT ASLO BAD FOR THE POOR SEAL. BUT that’s LIFE. it WAS COOL TO lOOK AT, THE TEETH AND HOW MUCH AIR WAS IN IT. 

~SHEA SHEA

On Monday we went to the Field Station. We saw a lot of stuff like a dead little seal. Also we saw a burial site of an ancient Wampanoag that got brought to a museum and then got taken back and buried. We checked the apple tree that we checked about 3 weeks ago. I learned that fog carries salt and sheep sorrel is edible also that some birds throw up on their feet to kill bacteria. It was really fun going on the walk.

-Jake

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"Honeysuckle plant, don't take over like you do."

"Black cherry I say the same to you.”

"You’re both so invasive!"
"Honeysuckle you are smart, you come out before everybody else does, so that you won't have to compete for sunlight, and energy.

"It's just like Nantucket in the summer- everyone swarms in to the harbor like a fierce group of bees, in overwhelming numbers.         

"(Then the games begin!)"

Some plants aren't invasive such as sheep sorrel or the apple tree. The apple tree goes through a cycle.

"But apple tree, now you are going through stages early. Don't you know this affects animals around you?" "(That was rhetorical question.)" "When birds migrate to eat your lovely fruit, they are disappointed, because you weren't patient enough to wait for the them." "You should wait to provide them with your fruit, until they are able to accept it!" "Well I guess it's not your fault, its global warming's!" "Anyway, bye now Apple Tree." 

"Hello Fox grape, I hear you have a special method that you use-climbing" "I hope you don't climb up me!" "

"Hello Seal, how are you?" "(That was a rhetorical question, |you're dead|)" "Anyway, we got off on the wrong foot, I just wanted to mention the fact that you have helped so many organisms, who needed this to happen in order to survive." 

"It is nature’s way, and everything in nature happens for a reason" "It is okay that your body is bloated, because although your body may not always be intact, you are with us in spirit, and should feel proud that in the process of something awful (starving to death), you have created homes and food for many living things!" 

"Bye all living (and non-living things) and I hope you are happy!) 

-Fondly, 

  Ella

On Monday we went out to the U Mass Field station. The Field station is really cool to explore and learn about as you walk along. While we were there we walked around the beautiful property and learned about many invasive species. One really cool one was Honey suckle, because they are a competitive plant. If it leafs out early it will get all of the energy and strengthen their roots. As we walked along we saw more invasive species.  Later we made our way to the beach and walked along in saw a dead seal. We all talked about how it made us feel. When it came to my turn I had many different ideas and how it made me feel. I thought it was cool because we could be that close to a marine animal that had died. On the other hand it was happy for other animals, because now they can get food and shelter. It was also very sad because it had died but it's the way the world works. That was a very cool field trip out to the Field station and I am sad it was our last one.

Isobel C.

63 degrees 

Sunny with a slight breeze

May 11th

This past Monday, May 11th 2015, my class and I visited the U Mass Field Station. We met up with Lenny to talk about different species on the island. We saw very exciting things on this beautiful sunny day. One thing we checked out was the Honey Suckle Plant. This plant is an invasive species. The Honey Suckle plant that we saw had sprouted early to get the most amount of energy from the sun light. (I like to think of it like the first one to the party gets the most ice cream.) 

When we walked over to the Cherry Tree we found a web on one of its branches. The web was made from the Eastern Tent Caterpillar. This type of caterpillar makes a tent of web to allow the eggs to have a comfortable and safe place to hatch. We soon came upon a plant known as Fox Scrape. This plant sprouts right up to the top and tries to get all the energy from the sunlight. Lenny said that if we stood next to the plant for a while, we would soon be covered in Fox Scrape because it grew so long.

After we learned about some of the plants at the U Mass Field Station, we went over to the beach. As we got down to the far end of the beach we stopped upon a very sad image. There, lying on the ground, was a dead seal. The poor seal was starved to death and had to suffer on the sand of the beach. Although I felt bad for the animal, I had to be optimistic and think of the animals who would benefit from this loss. For example, the birds on our island would have a great feed on this animal. After all, it is the circle of life.

I really enjoyed this field trip and I am sad that this was our last field trip this year with Lenny at the U Mass Field Station.

Katie G.

On Monday, May 10th the whole 6th grade hopped in the car and headed to the U Mass Field Station, sadly for the last time with Lenny (a.k.a Len). We took a long walk and first visited and talked about invasive species, which are according to Wikipedia "An invasive species is a plant or animal that is not native to a specific location (an introduced species); and has a tendency to spread, which is believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy and/or human health". We then walked further down the road and an osprey circling around with a fish in its claws and we learned that invasive species are greener that the rest of the native plants. After that we walked a little further down the road and saw eastern tent caterpillars (these bugs are invasive species) which had made their home on an apple tree, which we are tracking. Our last destination was the beach, but first we had a few stops on the way, our first stop was to see a grave of a young Wampanoag woman who died about 2.5 thousand years ago and whose body was taken to museum and, other Wampanoag from her tribe brought her back and buried her properly.  Lastly we went down to the beach, and about 3/4 of the way down we saw the dead seal (named Larry by Katie) which is now food for all the other animals at the U Mass Field Station. Larry, who died probably because of starvation is now a windfall habitat.

Louisa L.

Once our class got to the field station we jumped out of the van and meet Lenny who was ready to show us around the field station and give us an update. It was May 11, 2015 and 64º. As we started walking down the dirt road you could hear birds singing and it smelled like spring. Lenny told us about how the honeysuckle is an invasive plant that leaves out first to get more sunlight and energy than the other plants. As we began to walk towards our next stop we saw a bird that was tail walking. This means that is showing off the prey that it has caught by circling around in the sky. There were black cherry trees lining the road as we strolled down it. In the black cherry trees were Eastern tent caterpillars that were inhabiting them. Near Lenny's house there was privet hedge that is also invasive. We saw the rare species of the lawnmower there too! We walked until we came upon the apple trees that were having their first flowering of the season. Now we were walking to the beach, on the sides of the road Fox Grape was growing over the native plant called Bayberry. Fox grape uses a climbing technique to reach the sun. Once we reached the beach we walked along the shore until we came upon a dead seal. Lenny showed us how the seal's stomach was bloated and that means that it died from hunger. Our class sat around it and we talked about our individual opinions on the dead seal. My opinion is that it is sad that the seal suffered to die, but it is good for the other creatures that feed on it once it's dead. 

This was our last field trip to the field station this year and I very much enjoyed it and would like to thank Lenny and Matt for guiding the class through this book project and found it very fun and very educational!

By,

Sophie G.

On the hottest day this year we went out to the field station. When we got there we went for a walk to the sand plain grasslands. We ate sheep food. Then we went down to the beach and saw a dead seal. It died of starvation. Under law you are not allowed to go close to the animal only if it is a scientific property so we were fine. We said what we thought about it and then we left 

Orion D.

On Monday, May 11 the whole class went to the UMass field station. It was sunny and a bit windy but very warm. It felt like it was 65°.On the field trip the first thing we did was go to the apple tree. The last time that we checked the apple tree was 3 weeks ago and there was nothing on it. When we went to the apple tree this time there were the first buds on it. After that we walked up to a black cherry tree that had Eastern Tent Caterpillar on it. Then we talked about invasive and native plants , a privet hedge is it invasive plants, fox grape  likes to climb as high as possible to get the sun and it is as well an invasive plant, Bayberry is a native plant to Nantucket and Sheep's sorrel is a non-native plant and it is not invasive.

Then we went down to the beach and looked at a dead seal. You cannot go very close to a seal dead or alive. Seal hunters might come and take the seals teeth because they are Ivory and very valuable and jewelers might also come because they can use the ivory for jewelry. When a seal dies they get bloated with air and if they were smaller they become much bigger than they were. If you go to close to the seal you could break a federal law and also you could get hurt! 

Ava W.

We arrived at the field station and got together. Once everyone arrived we started walking down the main path. There were a lot of eastern tent caterpillars because there was a good amount of fruit trees. They like fruit trees. There were more invasive plants than I thought would be on Nantucket. We got to the bluff and Lenny said, "Are you guys hungry? Look for something red." We looked around and saw a small plant. "This is called Sheep Sorel. It's edible." We tried some. "You can make it into tea." We then went down a path to go to the beach. I didn't know why, but I heard other class mates talking about a seal. They were right. There was a dead seal. Flies were flying around, eating it. It was cool because I've never been up to a seal that close. We went around saying what we felt about it. I said, "I think it's sad, but good because the seal population is growing on Nantucket and is luring sharks. Mostly everyone said it was sad. Once that was done we went back to the van.

Samuel H.

It was Monday, when the 6th grade took an adventure. I remember like it was 7 and 50 minutes ago, I was standing there waiting for the trip to begin, after a min passed by we walked along to talk about an invasive plant and how it grows green first to get all the light and the energy from the sun, pretty cool. A lot of other things happen and talked about it was somewhat mostly Orion being vex, when we reached the cabin, Lenny said, can you spot any red "thing", I pointed at the ground and got it right so we walked there, and he said, "this is called sheep sorrel, Who want to eat this, it’s poisonous, but... you have to eat it every day for half a year to it be effective.” I said, ‘’ tastes like apple skin.’’ We left soon after to see a dead baby seal it was sad, we talked about it, what do you think about it I said,” weird, gross and plain disgusting, but sad.”, and other people talked, after that we went back. 

Samir B.

Trip to the Nantucket Field Station
by Elena T.

11:34am

64˚degrees

On Monday, May 11th, on a hot spring day, we headed out to the Nantucket Field Station,

The first thing we saw was an invasive species called Honey Suckle. It's invasive because they leaf two weeks early, and get all the energy, leaving the other plants without any energy nor food.

As we kept walking, we spotted an osprey praying on a fish. Right below the osprey, there was a black cherry tree. It wasn't just any old tree-this tree had living creatures called Eastern Tent caterpillars nesting on it. Eastern tent caterpillars love fruit trees. While we were heading to the apple tree, we spotted yet another bird, called the Turkey Vulgar. 

Next, we found the apple tree, we had been tracking for many weeks now. It is now starting to bloom.

Before we headed to the beach, Lenny showed us a 2,000 year old grave that belonged to a Wampanoag women.

At the beach, we walked over to a dead seal who had died of starvation. It was very sad, but as Lenny and Matt said, it is after all the circle of life, and now other animals can benefit from it.

After spending 15 minutes investigating the seal, and talking about it, we headed back to the Nantucket New School.

I had a lot of fun at this last field trip to the Nantucket Field Station, and I thank Lenny for letting us go there.

~Elena T.

On Monday, we went to the UMASS field station to examine some local invasive species. 

Some examples are:

- Honey suckles 

- Eastern tent caterpillars (cocoon on cherry trees)

- Hedge

- Sheep sorrel (poisonous in large quantities, edible, nutty flavor, nonnative, but not invasive.)

Some native species we saw were:

- Fox grapes

- Bay berries

While walking, we noticed that the tree we are tracking, has some new buds and a few flowers! Lots of the eastern tent caterpillars where nesting in the tree too. I learned that in some places, to get rid of the caterpillars, they were set on fire! 

We also saw a Native American (Wampanoag) woman’s grave who is approximately 2,500 (ish) years old today!

- Alden T.