Grade 8 Field Trip

May 25-26th 2011

Brad

Title pageTable of contentsLearning about the Red River Water system: pages 3-6Oak Hammock Marsh: pages 7-9Fort Whyte Centre: pages 10, 11St. Leon Wind Mills 12-13Summative evaluations 14, 15

Table of Contents

LEARNING ABOUT THE RED RIVER WATER SYSTEM

Pembina River

Red River

Soil of the Red River- Most of the Red River area is surrounded mostly by thick clay. This soil affects the flooding in Manitoba because this type of soil does not soak up water nearly as well as dirt. With clay the water just sits on top and doesn’t leave until there is a way to drain away, when the river goes down.Watershed- A watershed is the area around a lake or river where all of the water on that land runs into the body of water.

Red River

Pembina River

Lock and Dam

St. Andrew lock and Dam is located on the Red River at Lockport Manitoba. 27 km north of Winnipeg. The Proper name is St. Andrews Lock an Dam. (SALD) The City of Winnipeg owns the lock and dam. It was built to flood Lister Rapids to a depth of 2.74 m (9 feet) to allow passage of deep draught vessels. The idea was brought to in 1880, and was officially opened in 1910. SALD is a unique “Camere” style dam using moveable curtains consisting of narrow horizontal strips of wood hinged together, which are raised or lowered to control water flows.

Red River FloodWayThe Floodway is on the east side of the city, travelling all the way around the city, then entering the Red River again just before St. Andrews Lock and Dam. The Purpose of this floodway is to take water from the red river, before the city and have it travel around rather than through the city an flooding it. The flood way works because it is lower than the river so some water flows in, it takes away so the flow of the river is not so high. The water can move at a speed of up to 2,550 meters cubed/second.

MY THOUGHTSThese technologies have helped Manitoba greatly this year! The floodway took tons of water away so the city would not flood when the river was so high. The dam helped let more water through. The floodway to me does not really have much negative effects other than it may flood outside of the city. The dame has a negative effect because it makes the water move slower.

Oak Hammock Marsh

HISTORY AND PURPOSE

The area of Oak Hammock marsh was drained during the early 1960’s. It was drained to use as more farm land. There was a concern because there would not be the same animals around as when the marsh was there. So they would not be able to get food like birds as easy. They began to remake the area in 1987. The role of Oak Hammock marsh in the eco system is to have an area for animals to live and also for water to be cleaned, by plant’s in the area. Animals in the area such as badger, coyote, muskrats, rabbits, pelicans, geese, mallards, red winged black bird, snowy owl, wood pecker, turtle, and garter snake.

Programs of My learning&

My Thoughts

We went canoeing, star gazing, and explorer program while we were there. The first activity we did at oak Hammock was the canoeing. This was a little bit scary, but when we go out on the water it was fun! The star gazing program was very interesting. I learned about the constellations that i never knew much about. The explorer program was also interesting. Although we had done this one before, it was still interesting to go around and look at everything again.

Fort Whyte Centre

History and purpose of Fort WhyteIn the 1950’s workers started noticing geese and that many Winnipeg people were picnicking. Then the clay mine was turned into a naturist centre. The building we were in was built in 1980. The purpose of the Fort Whyte centre was to give animals right in Winnipeg a place to live, Wetlands to clean water, and plants that take carbon dioxide out of the air and give back oxygen. 10 different species that live there are; foxes, mink, geese, ducks, grebes, pelicans, deer, coyotes, cat tails, muskrats.

Programs for My learningWe participated in water testing and walked the trails while learning watersheds, and conserving water. The best time of year would be to go in the spring. When all the animals are just arriving back at the centre, and animals are coming out of hibernation.

St. Leon Wind Mills

Information QuestionsEach turbine costs around 2.5 million. A leasing agreement provides the farmers with an annual payment of around $4000 per turbine.St. Leon area is now producing 99 mega wats of electricity.Wind turbines are considered to be better than energy produced by coal because it doe not release as much carbon dioxide.Turbines turn around 14 rounds per a minute.The wind needs to be at least 10km/hr for a turbine to turn.If the wind is over 94 km/hr the turbine will rotate to fast and will shut down.The blades of a turbine are made of balsa wood.The problem with the turbines in storms is that the blades are the highest point around so the lightning will mot likely hit it. To help solve this problem each tip off every turbine has copper on the end.The power from these turbines goes underground to a Manitoba hydro grid.Another source of electricity in Manitoba is hydro dams. I liked seeing close up to the wind mills the best about the St. Leon stop.

SUMMATIVE EVALUATIONMy 2 favourite activities were the field trip and the water sustainability field trip. The field trip because it was cool to go see all those places and stay overnight at oak hammock marsh. The water sustainability PowerPoint because it was very fun making the power point and getting the money for winning. It was fun to go to the meal and also to get to stay in a hotel for free! things I think to improve on would be to not do the oak hammock marsh explorer program because we had already done it and it wasn’t as fun. Also for the River watch sheet to be easier to understand and do.

From river watch I learned how to test waters, turbidity, speed, water testing, and using the sond unit. This was very interesting and also interesting to see how the water changed over time. The power points were fun because I learned who do conserve water, and plus we got some money.. The web quest on the flooding was also interesting. I got to see lots of pictures of flooding that I never even knew were. It also gave information to the kids in India about what its like here. The wiki flood watch was also interesting. I learned even more about the flooding. To me it was interestign to see and learn about the sand bags. I was surprised there was that many in manitoba.

It was also interesting to learn about what rivers were going to flood and if they were how they are trying to stop them. The field trip to me was the best part. It was very fun because I have never seen or done a lot of the stuff we did. The windmills were cool because I had never been that close to one or inside of one. The Museum was interesting, mostly to walk through because it gave all of Manitoba's history. The buildings in the museum to me were the best. The lock and dam was cool. I had never been there or really even known about it. To me it was very interesting to see how much water was flowing through it, and how big the rapids were. Oak hammock marsh was interesting. But not as much because we had already been there before. Then Fort Whyte. It was also very interesting because we got to walk the paths in and around trees. The cool part was how close the ducks and geese were to everyone's feet. Also seeing turtles that close was cool. Swimming!! This was my favourite part. It was very fun to go as a class and to jump off the huge diving boards. Subway and DQ was also very good. They had good food. Then the bus ride home was very fun. We played card game all the way home. This experience was very fun and interesting. And I had a good time with it.