Day 4

Today we started the morning off by eating breakfast in the Sea Camp's dinning hall Nature's Classroom style. After breakfast, we loaded onto the bus and headed to Wellfleet Audubon. There, we began by learning about bird banding. This included the process of capturing the birds, collecting their data, and tagging the birds. The nets they use to catch them are nearly invisible, as it is made up of extremely thin nylon. We were fortunate enough to witness the process of data collecting and tagging a bird when we watched the "master bander" tag a common yellowthroat male. We then proceeded on a walk through the salt marshes. On the way to the salt marshes, we saw turtles and an eel ramp. The ramp provides the eels with a path to freshwater from the saltwater where they are born. The ramp leads to a bucket of sorts, which is carried to the freshwater each evening. Upon arriving to the marshes we saw (and captured) fiddler crabs. We learned that the male crabs have an enormous claw on one arm. Why? For absolutely no reason other than to impress the ladies. How inconvenient. Then, with nets and buckets, we captured several ribbed muscles and grass shrimp. Next we arrived at the shore just as the tide was retreating. There we found three horseshoe crabs (two of which were mating), many dead crabs washed ashore, and mud snails. Some of us got the opportunity to hold the lone horseshoe crab and even let it skitter along our arms. While learning about the horseshoe crab body, we debunked the myth that these crabs are dangerous in any way. Lastly, we made lunch and ate it on the bus on the way to Marconi Beach.

            Once we arrived to Marconi Beach, we examined the wrack line, did an experiment, and collected rocks. The experiment consisted of building a 15-second sand castle and counting how many waves it took to knock the sand castle down and then wash it away. For many groups, it took around 5 waves to completely wash the sandcastle away. We then had approximately 10 more minutes of free time then each grabbed a rock and loaded back onto the bus.

            During the second half of the day, we visited the incredibly interesting and important town of Woods Hole, Cape Cod. Ben Kelts (our gym teacher) joined us at this time. Splitting into our "A" and "B" groups, we toured the area both on foot and by boat with Zephyr Marine. On land, we visited a lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. While there, we were presented with the opportunity to handle some sea creatures. There were sea urchins, starfish, lobsters, crabs, hermit crabs, conches, scallops, and many more. Don't fret, no one was pinched, stabbed, or poisoned. On the boat, we sent down a camera on a sled and watched the live feed from the ocean floor. We even spotted a horseshoe crab! Then we put down a dredge for creatures and a container/net for plankton. We collected and inspected things such as a scallop, sea urchin, starfish, and many plankton. Finally it was time for dinner. We ended the day by eating pizza together. When we get back we will hopefully go down to the beach before bedtime. I hope you enjoyed our blog entry immensely because we, the authors (Ava and Harper), argued an insurmountable amount regarding the commas, wording, and phrases in this piece. Have a lovely evening.!

                        Sincerely,

                                    The WHMS Middle School

JFK and Plymouth

Today after breakfast, we loaded the bus with our suitcases and headed for the JFK Library and Museum. Our tour guide, Sam, showed us that there is a lot more to John Fitzgerald Kennedy than meets the eye. For example, we discovered that his boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer when he was in the Navy. We also learned about his childhood and that he lived in London for a while when his father served as the U.S ambassador to the U.K.Something that most people don't know about him is that he did not intend to go into politics. He thought he wanted to be a teacher or an educator of some sort. All these small details about his life contributed greatly to our understanding of our former President. 

After we left the JFK Library, we drove to Plymouth Plantation and traveled back in time to the 17th century, where the old English settlement, Plymouth, had been accurately recreate along with a Wampanoag village. We had some free time to explore the customs of the two settlements. First, we wondered around the English village, talking to different Pilgrims, each  with a different and unique story. After, we headed to the Wampanoag village over a dusty path through the woods. There we talked to descendants of the Wampanoag people, as they explained their way of life to us. After a long day, we ate dinner, visited the Plymouth Rock, and celebrated Victor's birthday. Then we departed for our next stay, the Cape Cod Sea Camps in Brewster. 

Day 2

We had a very eventful day today. We learned more about the Salem witch trials, which we had discussed earlier in the year, by going to Salem itself. The first thing we did was watch a video on the history of Essex county (where Salem is located) at the Salem Regional Visitors Center. The video gave a very thorough and complete history of Essex County, which helped us better understand not only the history of the county, but the environment that gave rise to the witchcraft hysteria of 1692. After that, we went on a trolley tour around Salem, where the guide explained what landmarks were around us and the history of Salem. Among the historical landmarks found in Salem are the burial grounds of some judges that participated in the trials, as well as a house that the famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne once lived in. Following the trolley tour, we visited the Salem Witch Museum, which provided a detailed account of the witchcraft hysteria of 1692 that is so notable today. At the museum, we watched a show where music and wax figures were used to illustrate the various events that took place during the witch trials. Also at the museum was an exhibit about how the image of witches has changed several times throughout history, from a pagan midwife, to the green-skinned creature many think of today. The exhibit on witches also talked about Wiccans, actual witches, and the stereotypes that surround them. Overall, the witch museum was very informative, and helped many understand the Salem witch trials better. After we left the witch museum, we ate lunch on the Salem common, a communal grassy area in the center of Salem. It claims to be the oldest common in America, although it is unclear whether it is the Salem common or the Boston Common which holds that distinction. We wrapped up our time in Salem and hopped on the bus, headed towards the Freedom Trail which we had learned about in social studies.

The bulk of today we spent walking the freedom trail. For anyone who doesn't know, the freedom trail is a path connecting the core locations where key events in the American Revolution helped shape America as it broke away from it's mother country to become independent. This experience gave us a valuable understanding of the hard work the colonists put into forming this new country. It also taught us about the horrible tragedies that occurred on March 5th, 1770, the day the Boston Massacre took place. This taught us the perspective of both the British redcoats and the colonists while giving us useful insight into the locations where these events took place. We also learned about buildings where important meetings took place such as the Old South Meeting House where the Boston Tea Party was planned. The tour guide also gave us fun facts about the personal relations and family ties of important figures in the Revolution, and fun facts about buildings and places around Boston, enhancing our comprehension of the era surrounding the people fighting for our independence. Starting at five o'clock, the teachers let us explore Quincy Market, supplying us with 15 dollars for dinner and a drink. We went off in a few different groups to shop, eat and hang out. Learning to spend this money and having the freedom to pick where to buy stuff is a great learning experience that will help us later in life, indefinitely. We are headed down to the lobby now to enjoy group games until bed. Day two was another great day and hopefully the rest of the trip is just as good!

By: Caitlin and Erik

Day 1

Yesterday we left school and went directly to the North Bridge. Then we explored the three monuments that are there: The Battle Monument, The minute man statue, and the grave of the British soldiers. We proceed to sketch and write about the monument of our choice. We ate lunch there. Our next stop was the Minute Man Visitor Center. There we read about minute man and watched a half hour film about the Revolution and the battle of Lexington and Concord.  When we were done, we left to go to the Rebels, Redcoats, and Homespun heroes program. Our tour guide explained about Colonial rebellion and the British resistance throughout  the Revolution. He then demonstrated how to load and fire a flint lock musket. When we were done, we stopped in for a snack at Frank and Yolanda's grandparents house.  They gave us a snack and showed us around their house and explained the history behind it, including different styles of architecture and the history of past inhabitants in the house. Finally, we settled in to the hotel, went out for dinner, and returned for a quiet(or not so quiet) evening in the hotel.

By: Yolanda and Emma