CHESTERTON | Seventh-grader Kelsey Scott kicked some snow against the lean-to of downed branches and leaves, then received a high-five from classmate Rachel Enright.
The two were among 160 Chesterton Middle School students Thursday learning about winter outdoor life in Indiana Dunes State Park.
"It's cold, but that's part of what makes it fun," Scott said.
The layer of snow on the improvised shelter could act as insulation in winter survival situations, Scott explained. Earlier, her team had learned how decomposition in a wetlands area acts as below-the-surface heat engine. Later, the team would practice compass and mapping skills, hike the park's Mount Jackson and hear how flora and fauna adapt to winter.
The field trip was sponsored by Save the Dunes as part of its No Child Left Inside program to promote environmental literacy.
Volunteers from Save the Dunes, Chicago's Field Museum and the national lakeshore's Dunes Learning Center staffed five learning sites across the park.
CMS science teacher Samantha Hayes, who helped organize the event, said that besides teaching state science standards, the field work had the benefit of getting students outdoors.
"Kids don't get out enough," Hayes said, noting four students in one class of 34 had never visited the park before.
Young people are taught to engage with technology, but not so much with nature, Hayes said. But having contact with the natural world enhances the health of the mind and body, she said.
Besides, the park is lovely in winter, Hayes said.
Cheryl Chapman, a Save the Dunes volunteer, led groups of students on tours of a swamp area. She displayed a sponge, coffee filter and starry pillowcase to explain how park wetlands absorb flood run-off, filter air pollutants and serve as a resting place for migratory birds.
Chapman's groups also went silent for two minutes to listen for the calls of blue jays and catbirds.
"I just want them to slow down and listen and observe," she said.
And hopefully learning about the workings and importance of the natural world will inform the students' adult decisions, Chapman said.
