The Wilderness Classroom's latest educational adventure, the North American Odyssey, will begin on Earth Day, (April 22) 2010. The Wilderness Classroom team will paddle 1,400 miles by sea kayak from Seattle, Washington to Skagway, Alaska during the first stage of their 11,700 mile journey across North America.
The Pacific Northwest is teaming with life above and below surface. We plan to study a variety of animals including Orca Whales, Gray Whales, Seals, Sea Otters, Black Bears, Grizzly Bears, Salmon, and Bald Eagles.
The ecosystems we will explore include giant kelp forests, inter-tidal zones, and temperate rainforests. The Pacific Northwest consists of the largest temperate rainforest eco-zone in the world! We will also be looking at several environmental issues and how they impact the region, people and history of the area. For example, as we approach Skagway, our studies will turn toward glaciers. The shrinkage of glaciers serves as an indicator of global climate change, affecting the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the world. We will be updating the website from mid-April through the end of the school year!
WildernessClassroom.com overhaul this summer!
We are giving the Wilderness Classroom website an overhaul this summer!
Next year the remodeled Wilderness Classroom website will provide classrooms with tons of educational resources focusing on the Pacific Northwest, as well as the Amazon Rainforest and beyond.
I encourage you to check out the website we are developing for the general public www.northamericanodyssey.com. This will provide you with basic information about the North American Odyssey, and will be a place for adults to engage in the North American Odyssey and learn about the importance of protecting our waterways and natural resources.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Keep Exploring!
Dave Freeman
312-505-9973
dave@wildernessclassroom.com
Follow progress as we travel by dogsled along Hudson Bay. We will explore one of the largest polar bear denning sites in the world. We will also learn about the variety of Arctic and Sub-Arctic animals as well as how climate change is affecting the top of the world.
We hope you will join us for daily updates from the Bahamas from March 22nd through March 30th. We will be posting videos, photos, and lots of other information about our Iguana Research in the Bahamas.
Please take a few minutes to explore our Bahamas library to learn about many of the amazing plants and animals that live in the Bahamas.
The Wilderness Classroom is teaming up with the Shedd Aquarium to study Marine Ecology in the Bahamas again this July. WCO and Shedd staff members will be joined by 20 high school students on the Shedd's research vessel, the Coral Reef II. Make sure to log on for an adventure that is sure to make a huge splash!
The team made it to mouth of the Amazon River on November 17th! Thank you for joining us for the Trans-Amazon Expedition. We hope you will continue to explore our site and join us for future learning adventures.
The expedition team is glad to be done, but we already miss the rhythm of our paddles, the sounds of the rainforest, and meeting new people. We certainly learned a lot about the animals and plants of the rainforest. We learned about new cultures and lifestyles. And we spent time thinking about ways to make this a better world.
We want to find out what you learned from the expedition! What did you learn about the Amazon? Did you learn about a new culture or country? Did we inspire you to get outside and explore new places? What will you take away from The Trans-Amazon Expedition?
Is there anything that you will change about your lifestyle or habits to be more environmentally-friendly? What are you doing to make our planet better?
Answer to yesterday's dilemma:
Wow! You had tons of ideas for things we should bring back. We were not able to get everything you mentioned, but we able to find some pottery, a bow and arrow, coins and money from Brazil, and some clothing from Brazil. We will bring as many things as possible with us when we do school visits.
See you then!
Dave, Amy, Eric, Anne, Jay, and Tony
What is your favorite part of the Trans-Amazon Expedition?
A tortoise. This is a yellow-footed tortoise. Unlike turtles (which you might find in or near the water), tortoises spend all of their time on land.
Macaws are not only some of the most beautiful birds in the rainforest, but they're also some of the loudest. During one of our first trips into the rainforest, we were hopeful that we would get a glimpse of a macaw in the wild. It didn't take long before we heard a group of over 30 macaws loudly squawking. We were able to follow their loud cries and watch them before the whole group flew off to another fruit tree.
Macaws are the largest member of the parrot family. Macaws are brightly colored, and can be red, green, gold, blue, and purple. They build their nests very high off the ground (over 100 feet), where they lay their eggs and search for food.
Macaws need huge areas, or ranges, to live in. They spend most of the day flying from tree to tree in search of food. The rainforest's trees offer macaws plenty of their favorite foods: fruit and nuts. Their incredibly strong beaks are able to crush hard nut shells. Their feet are very strong and graceful, which allow them to climb branches and grab fruit.
We'll continue to keep our ears and eyes out for macaws. With their loud cries, they should not be too hard to find!
For more information on macaws, check out the following web pages:
Use Trip Tracker to look at our daily photos, gather daily statistics, and follow our progress on an interactive map.
If you are unable to see the map try using a different internet browser. We recommend Firefox, which you can download for free!
The Wilderness Classroom expedition team sincerely hopes that you have enjoyed learning about the Amazon Rainforest during the Trans-Amazon Expedition. Throughout the three stages of the expedition we have all been able to study plants and animals of the rainforest,...
Read this week's Notes from the Trail!
Wow! Completing the Trans-Amazon Expedition has always seemed like something that "will" happen. The end has always remained something for the future. However, we've done it! It's bittersweet to have finished. Going back to our regular lives will take some...
Read more!
Throughout the Trans-Amazon Expedition, all of us have been thinking about ways we are going to change our lifestyles once we get home. We would like to change our lifestyles to reduce our impact on the earth and its resources....
Cast YOUR Vote!
11/21/2008 Eco Tip In order to save water, keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. This beats the wasteful habit of running tap water to cool it for drinking. Just doing this saves 200 to 300 gallons a month.
