Our study of the seven natural wonders of North America has brought us to Yellowstone National Park. Students are learning that it was the first national park in the world and is located mostly in Wyoming. Much of this park is located on a dormant volcano with many warm springs, bubbling mud pits, and geysers. We talked about the most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful. This past December there was a strange phenomenon that took place due to the extremely frigid temperatures. When the geyser erupted it sent hot water into the air which then vaporized and turned into a cloud. The cloud was so heavy with participation that it sent down snow. Old Faithful actually looked like it was spewing snow. Students watched a fun video of this event and then played a throwing game that was supposed to represent the snowing geyser. They continuously tossed white balls across a net to the opposite side using an overhand throw. On the word "stop" we checked to see which side of the geyser had the most snow.
Thursday and Friday we talked about the black bears and grizzly bears that live in Yellowstone National Park. We discussed the differences between the two bears and watched a short video on hibernation. We then played a tag game called "Grizzly Bear."
