Forest Value Explorations and Hike

Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited and the International Appalachian Trail Newfoundland and Labrador have entered into an agreement which provides protection for five areas of western Newfoundland where the trail network plans to expand. These areas will see trail development rather than timber harvesting. We will explore the different values of forests and how decisions about the use forest areas are made. We’ll invite a speaker from the International Appalachian Trail Committee to present to classes to discuss the agreement. Each class will plan a hike on a section of the Appalachian Trail, develop inquiry questions about forest values and the trail, and write up the results of their inquiry to create a guidebook based on research and on items of interest on the hike. Students will have opportunity to present the results of their work to others.

This lesson will be written up and shared with other schools in the district.

Update (April 20, 2011)

On March 25, students from three grade 5 classes at Humber Elementary undertook a snowshoe trip in a unique partnership between the school, the Newfoundland and Labrador International Appalachian Trail Committee, and College of the North Atlantic Adventure Tourism Program.

Students from CNA Adventure Tourism students guided three Grade 5 classes from Humber Elementary School in Corner Brook on a 3-hour snowshoe trek to the Hummock - a trail about 1/2 hour's drive from Corner Brook. The adventure had started one week prior to the hike, when grade 5 students practiced putting on the snowshoes and played some games on snowshoes.

The hike began at 10:00am after a 30-minute bus ride from Corner Brook. After donning their snowshoes - some for the first time, the group of approximately 70 students, parents, teachers, and guides headed for the Hummock, a 1,000ft (310m) round hill on the IATNL route between Benoit's Cove and the Blow-Me-Down Mountains.