Teacher & Student Blogs
There is Plenty of Pi in the Forest!
Mike Scott, consulting forester, assists a student with a Biltmore stick. (see full posting below) K Robbins
About This BlogThis is a space for Windsor Central Supervisory Union teachers and students to share stories about their place-based learning adventures. The National Park is partnering with local teachers in a program called Park Research that allows teachers and students to go deeper in strengthening their connection with their public lands and community through curriculum based learning. Local student's essay wins contest addressing next generation forest stewardship
March 15, 2013
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A local Woodstock Union High School student's essay wins contest addressing next generation forest stewardship. 7th Grade Winter VisitThe entire Woodstock Middle School 7th grade class took a field trip to visit the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and the Billings Farm and Museum. The focus of the day was teamwork and problem solving. There’s Plenty of Pi in the Forest!Mrs. Hagenbarth's Accelerated Geometry class from Woodstock Union High School took to the woods this month to learn about how pi is a crucial number for forest management. Students met with Mike Scott, a consulting forester to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. Science Class in the Real WorldThis was WUHS’s third year doing the Mercury Project in conjunction with the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Stevens High School, Dartmouth College, schools in Maine, the National Park Foundation, and Acadia National Park. Sustainability is about making choicesAt the park, students engaged in conversations about choice, resources, decision making, and limits. They eagerly explored different systems that the park has installed with an eye toward becoming more self-reliant and reducing fossil fuel use. At each stop, students took photographs that helped them define what made the system sustainable, or not. Finally, some reflected on decisions that they make in their own lives and what factors influence these choices. Frost, Dickinson, and WUHS students in Dialogue on the TrailMartha Perkins' American Lit students have been studying the poetry of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson with a goal of learning to trust in his or her own mind to play with the imagery, diction, syntax and punctuation a poet presents in order to make meaning or sense of the truth a poet conveys via his/her poem. In addition to learning about the poets individually, students have been thinking about how these poets might converse with each other. Mercury write-upAs an incoming freshman to Woodstock Union High School, I am truly looking forward to the Mercury Project. The Mercury Project is a service-learning collaboration between my school, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, and Dartmouth College. Mercury Monitoring through PartnershipsEnvironmental Science students from both Woodstock Union High School and Stevens High School (in Claremont, NH) are participating in a joint research project funded by the National Park Foundation and supported by Dartmouth College, the Schoodic Education and Research Center, and Saint Gaudens and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Parks. How Healthy is the Pogue?Students used pond water sample to determine concentrations of dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, phosphate, pH, and temperature. They worked on refining their titration and measuring skills, which is tricky business in the field! In addition, students made sensory observations about the pond ecosystem, complete with sketches and area maps. Day at the PogueMrs. Stainton's Integrated Environmental Science classes took a field trip to the Pogue. While there we spent time collecting dragonfly nymphs for a several month long science experiment about mercury in our environment. What better place to learn about the forest ecosystem than in a forest!On two separate visits to Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park, Barnard Academy fourth graders learned about tree identification, stewardship, decomposition, and forest succession. WCSU Sixth Graders Are Putting it All in Perspective81 students gathered for 4 days this fall at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park to explore how lenses expand our knowledge of the Universe. They used microscopes, hand lenses, cameras and telescopic images to examine and better understand the "pieces, patterns, and processes" of how our world functions, from the microscopic to the cosmic scale. Students discovered the curious similarities and differences between these worlds. 
Students journaling about their experiences J Haley Students discovered the vastness in a drop of water, the pinprick size of Earth in Space, and the curious similarities and differences between these worlds. J Haley
Teacher Blogs Previous Posts
For the past couple of years local environmental science students have been involved in mercury monitoring projects at the park. Read more about how these High School science students have shared the results of their research at Dartmouth College. Read More
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Science students
Salamanders
Sustainability
Did You Know?
As a teenager, Laurance S. Rockefeller toured Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde with Horace Albright. Later in life, Laurance would donate lands to create Virgin Islands NP and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP. He was the first conservationist to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.