BCS Communications
A.C. Reynolds Middle School sixth-graders were on top of the world at a recent field trip to Purchase Knob. In what's become an annual tradition, students spent the day in the woods, digging in the dirt, and exploring nature.
"We have gone on these trips for the past 5 years and have enjoyed taking the students to these wonderful places," said science teacher Jennifer Williams. "At Purchase Knob, the students do studies on macroinvertebrates and soil and nature journaling. This trip is wonderful because it exposes the kids to the beauty of the mountains but also gives them a taste of what it feels like to be a scientist."
Steven, a sixth-grader, said he loved finding macroinvertebrates like insects and spiders in the leaf litter and looking at them under a microscope at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center (located on the mountain).
“We found stink bugs, spiders, millipedes, and caterpillars,” he said. “We got to see them really close up. It was cool.”
Alexis, another sixth-grader, agreed.
“It was really interesting,” she said. “Some of the bugs were so small they were almost clear.”
Students also spent valuable time working together to gather samples. They focused on teamwork and collaboration with the mountains of WNC as their classroom.
"When we were eating lunch and gazing at the mountains, one student marveled at how she was learning about [the scenery] in art. What I saw was atmosphere perception; that is how giving our kids these experiences shape their education," said Williams.
