Our field trips are opportunities to use our senses to observe the diversity of life on the mountain. We record our observations on data sheets. Sue shares her knowledge about the animal and plant life; she teaches us about the relationships that connect the plants and animals. I provide some time on each field trip for a “solo,” a 10-minute time to sit alone and sketch and/or write. We share our solo work with each other. Follow-up art projects and written work reflect our favorite moments.

Each student is compiling a Mount Jumbo book. The book consists of field trip observations and sketches, journal entries, art, and research projects.

One unique aspect of this unit is sharing information with Japanese students. We are video-conferencing with a school in Japan. My students share the information they’ve learned about Mount Jumbo while the Japanese students communicate the information they’ve learned in a seasonal insect study.

I know my students are making a special connection to Mount Jumbo. It is evident in their careful attention to detail while sketching animals and plants. I see their excitement when they identify the state grass, recognize the meadowlark’s song, and tell a story about tracks they’ve found in the snow.

Our mountain explorations will continue in April and May. I hope my students’ appreciation of the mountain will last a lifetime.

Kathy Owens, teacher

PAUL HAWKINS The scenery was nice.

HEATHER PHILP The weather was gray sky with a speck of blue and snow.

AURORA RUMMEL-LINDIG I put a ladybug on my hand.

JOSIE GRIGSBY We heard a cedar waxwing.

MOLLY STARK-RAGSDALE and RAPHAEL HAGEN video conference with students in a Japanese school.

ZACH EDDY: We went to the university zoology lab. Dick Hutto showed us animal specimens from Mount Jumbo. I sketched a jumping mouse and a shrike. I like the mountain lion and everything else. I learned the jumping mouse liked seeds. It was fun.

NIC KOLBERG: We went to the university zoology lab. Dick Hutto showed us animals.

ADRIENNE PRATT: I looked in the microscope at chipmunk and red squirrel jaws. I learned that voles are active in the winter. But they like to hide out in their runways.

WALKER CONYNGHAM: I sketched a kestrel and a jumping mouse. I looked at a mountain lion and a couple of skulls. I liked the young mountain lion. It was fun looking at all the animals. I learned that a pocket gopher has pockets in its cheek. I always thought that it stood for underground pockets. A kestrel male has blue wing tips.

HEATHER PHILP: I sketched the meadowlark. I looked at the squirrel skull in the microscope. I like the vole.

KADIN MULLA: I sketched a jumping mouse. I liked the flying squirrel and the jumping mouse. I learned flying squirrels lived in Missoula. It was fun.

MOLLY STARK-RAGSDALE: I sketched the magpie and the mountain lion. It was fun. I learned about the flying squirrel. They live on Mount Jumbo and they only come out at night.

PAULY HUTTO: We went to the university zoology lab. My dad, Dick Hutto, showed us animal specimens from Mount Jumbo. I sketched a flying squirrel. Voles are active in winter but they like to hide out in their snow runways.

WE LEARNED:

The jumping mouse has a long tail. It likes to eat seeds.


Chipmunks hibernate underground in winter. They have stripes on their faces and bodies.


The magpie likes to pick insects off horses and cows.


The Columbian ground squirrel burrows underground for the winter.


The kestrel flies south for the winter. The male has blue wings. It likes to eat grasshoppers.


The crossbill can pry open pine cone seeds with its crossed beak. The male is red.


The western meadowlark migrates south. They eat mostly grasshoppers.


White-tailed deer like riparian areas. They like the water.


Voles are active in winter, but they like to hang out in their snow runways.


The deer mice like to climb up the knapweed and eat the fly larvae. They also eat seeds.


The flying squirrel only comes out at night. They like to nest in the holes in old trees.


The great horned owl is around all winter. It likes the broken snags.


The pocket gopher has big cheeks that are like pockets for storing seeds. They can pull plants underground

VISIT TO MOUNT JUMBO March 13, 2003

PAUL HAWKINS: We went to Mount Jumbo. It was a nice day. We saw a buttercup, a grasshopper, a spider, an animal hole. I drew some fungus.

DILLON JOHNS: We saw anthills. We saw a waxwing. The weather was sunny. I learned that the magpie nest is made of large sticks. I sketched the mountain during solo time.

AURORA RUMMEL-LINDIG: Location: below the saddle of Mount Jumbo. Weather: warm, sunny. We saw: anthills, deer scat and ladybugs. I sketched a mountain.

AMZI JEFFS: We were below the saddle. It was windy and warm. I saw an anthill, a weird fungus and chewed pine cones. I sketched a raven.

RAPHAEL HAGEN: We saw waxwings, bear scat, meadowlarks, magpies, bluebunch wheatgrass, Kentucky bluegrass, coyote scat, tons of spiders, chickadees and more bugs.

JOSIE GRIGSBY: We were below the saddle. The weather was warm and a little windy. We saw a waxwing, chickadee, bear scat, deer scat and a buttercup, woolly mullein, Kentucky bluegrass and bluebunch wheatgrass. I sketched the mountain during the solo.

ELLIE SHACKLETON: My group saw one anthill, some Kentucky bluegrass, some bluebunch wheatgrass, a grasshopper, a bunch of ravens, a few animal holes in the ground and a few pine cones.

ANA GRIGSBY: We went below the saddle. The weather was warm and windy. We saw the first buttercup and woolly mullein. There was bluebunch wheatgrass and Kentucky bluegrass and a butterfly. I sketched some pine needles during the solo.

Weed specialist Morgan Valliant shares his knowledge.

DILLON JOHNS sketches during a solo time.

A grasshopper captures the attention of parent teacher Sue Reel and the students.

The yearlong study of Mount Jumbo included a visit during winter months. Photos courtesy of Kathy Owens