Our essential question in language arts this week is, "How can experiencing nature change the way you think about it?" This is a fascinating question that has led to many interesting discussions! We are reading narrative nonfiction texts about the nature experiences of Henry David Thoreau, President Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Jane Goodall, Jacgues Costeau, Eugenie Clark, Rachel Carson and other famous naturalists. We'd love to hear about an experience in nature that changed the way you think about it! Tell us about it in a comment, please! (For commenting tips and expectations, check out the commenting guidelines.) How has an experience in nature changed the way you think about it? Leave us a comment!
40 Comments
Luke
10/17/2018 10:49:35 am
One experience I had with nature was when I was running through the grass with no shoes or socks on. Then I stepped right on a bee and I got stung. That changed how I thought about bees and I should look where I’m walking. I hate bees!
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Greyson
10/18/2018 08:39:39 am
One time the same thing happen to me in New Hampshire.
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Ella
10/19/2018 09:33:27 am
I dislike bees too!
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10/20/2018 05:29:24 pm
I'm allergic to bees and so sometimes they scare me, but they belong here, just like us, and have a big role in pollinating flowers, making honey and more. I don't think they ever mean to sting us. It's just a self defense mechanism, an automatic response, like our swatting at them when they land on us. It's just instinctual. Nonetheless I try to steer clear of them and try to keep an epi-pen nearby when I go hiking. I hope you had a fun outdoor weekend Ella! Can't wait to hear about your recent adventures. See you soon!! Love, Uncle Pete.
Sarah
10/19/2018 09:46:05 am
I can relate. I feel your pain.
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Ella
10/23/2018 08:15:40 am
I agree
Micah
10/17/2018 10:54:28 am
One experience I had in nature is when I was playing outside and saw what I thought were a bunch of flies. I didn’t see anything around so I bent in closer, and I realized They were wasps around an underground nest. That’s when I felt the sting. I sprinted around the house, screaming in panic and ran inside. Ever since then, when I see a bee I stay as still as possible.
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Sophie
10/17/2018 10:58:27 am
I went to Colorado, Arizona and other states around it. I was amazed how there could be so many beautiful national parks in one spot!I loved all of them! I especially liked Grand Canyon it was so beautiful. I loved Grand Canyon so much we even got to walk on it! All sorts of rivers go through it and it was such a nice view. This changed how I think about nature because I learned nature doesn’t have to be plants or trees it can be rocks, rivers, or views. That is an experience I had with nature.
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Kinsley
10/17/2018 10:59:06 am
Once I was swimming at Misquamicut beach. The waves there are usually huge! One time the waves were coming in pretty slow and were kinda small so I went to play in the water. All of a sudden the waves got even bigger than they were ever before! They ran me over so many times because there were so many. I felt lots of pain all through my body! That day certainly changed my mind about my experience about nature.
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Abby
10/18/2018 07:20:38 pm
That also happened to me and it was horrible.
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Cricket
10/17/2018 11:35:23 am
One time we were on the boat and my dad said ‘’do you want to go see the seals?’’ We said ‘’what seals?’’ So he took use to these rocks and there were so many seals! Then when we started leaving a baby seal followed us. The seal was so cute and she followed us for a while. then it started raining and it went back and we had to go home and we were soaked.
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Ella
10/19/2018 10:21:24 am
I love boogie boarding in big waves!
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Morghan
10/17/2018 11:37:41 am
I was in line to go on Superman at Six Flags when a spider fell down from the ceiling and landed on my back. My mom and sister had to swat it off before they told me because I would freak out about that. That changed my experience in nature and that is why I like spiders even less than I did before because I don’t like how they fall or hang down on the ceiling and how their legs crawl around and they are so big when you meet one.
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Dalia
10/18/2018 10:06:39 am
When my sisters went on Superman they lost their whole voice from it and couldn't talk for a week. Hope you liked the ride!
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Connor
10/17/2018 01:29:09 pm
One experience I had that changed my thoughts about nature is when I was doing a hike in the woods. I was walking around a corner and saw a spider up close. It was so scary and gross that I now think of all spiders that way. I hate spiders now.
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Jack
10/17/2018 04:21:23 pm
I saw a pig at the farm. He was so cute. He jumped on me and sat on my lap. I loved it and it made me like nature more.
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Cathy
10/17/2018 06:19:07 pm
In the fall, when I take a walk in the woods, the crunch of the dry leaves under my feet is much louder than when I walk in the woods in the spring or summer. I love seeing the changing colors of the leaves on the ground and of those leaves still hanging from the branches. It makes me think of how trees go through their leaf life cycle every year.
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Sophie
10/19/2018 11:17:33 am
I love the sound of leaves crunching under my feet as well!
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Mr. Salsich
10/17/2018 08:22:27 pm
Two summers ago, I had a minor ankle injury so I couldn't exercise as much as I normally do. It also meant that I had to take slower, shorter hikes than I was used to. At first this bummed me out because I love going on long hikes and getting to beautiful views. After a while, however, I got used to going slow and stopping often while I was hiking.
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Leah
10/18/2018 08:41:23 am
What is your favorite place to go hiking? Do you go hiking with one of your friends?
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Mr. Salsich
10/19/2018 03:28:20 pm
Hi Leah,
Finn O
10/18/2018 08:11:47 pm
What is your favorite thing to look or listen for when you are hiking?
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Mr. Salsich
10/19/2018 03:33:19 pm
Hi Finn,
Jack S.
10/18/2018 08:36:32 am
One time in nature that changed how I think about it is when there was a huge praying mantis on my bike so I had to take it off and then I loved nature even more because it crawled on my hand and I realized nature is beautiful. Another time was when I was over at my friends house and we went to take out the trash and we saw a dead snake with ants crawling out of it that changed my point of view because then I saw ants as disgusting animals. Finally once I was on a hike and found lots of interesting rocks and I thought they were beautiful and I love nature now because of amazing things like that.
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Trent
10/18/2018 08:37:21 am
One time, a few years ago I was going to bed during a rain-storm and all of a sudden, *BOOM*
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Lily
10/18/2018 08:39:32 am
An experience I had in nature was that me my dad and my two brothers we were outside and then my dad flipped over a rock and a bees nest was under the rock. We sprinted to our house and ran inside then the bees followed us inside and my dad had to kill the ones in the house. I got stung 5 time my dad 7 and my two brothers got stung 3 and 2.
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Collin
10/18/2018 08:39:49 am
One experience I had in nature was this summer was in my house playing video game with my dad then my cat goes outside and we don't see him for two weeks and he never came back to us.
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Allison
10/18/2018 08:40:21 am
One time I was riding down the street with one of my friends. As we were riding down there was a praying mantis. It was very scary to see a mantis and we were all screaming because it was scary. Now i’m really scared of praying mantis’.
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Abby
10/18/2018 08:42:25 am
An experience that changed my view of nature was one time I was in the Galapagos with my family and we saw Marine Lizards all over beaches. Our tour guide could talk to seal lions and the male seal lion started talking back because the male seal lion thought our tour guide wanted to steal his woman! One other thing that our tour guide could do was do a bird call and then have birds swarm around him, it was really cool!
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Gianni
10/18/2018 08:42:58 am
A long time ago I was going home from my grandparents house an hour away. We were going over a bridge in dead stop traffic and there was super loud thunder and giant lightning and i got very scared because i was only 4. So that made me scared of lightning but i’m not really scared of thunder anymore.
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Avery G.
10/18/2018 08:43:42 am
Once, I was at a sleep away camp and we did outdoor cooking. As we were waiting for the muffins to bake, I decided to sit down. I sat down on a log. Shortly after sitting, a few boys started hurling logs. One log hit my back. I started crying. The next morning I woke up and my face was itchy with red dots all over! I had gotten poison ivy! That same day I went home. My mom said in the morning my eye might be swollen shut. Luckily, when I woke up it wasn’t swollen. A few days after that, I went on a white water rafting trip (I still had a mask of poison ivy). I had lots of fun! That changed my view of nature because now I know to be careful when I am with nature.
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Dalia
10/18/2018 10:08:36 am
One day i went to the aquarium and saw a lot of snakes. Then one day I was playing with my ball, then it went in the bush. When i tried to get it i saw a snake! it was huge. I ran out of the yard as fast as my little legs can carry me. I hated snakes ever since. Now every time we go to the aquarium and i see snakes they look cool but i get scared and back away.
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Nico
10/18/2018 10:11:21 am
A time I had in nature is the time when we went on a clamming trip and we got to use these big rakes that have spikes on them, When we were raking we found a dead crab (we named it "Jerry") and two dead moon jelly (also "Jerries").We buried them… This helped me understand why there is rules to hunting jelly fish and clams. (By the way every animal that we found that is dead we call Jerry or something like that. I learned that from a friend of mine.)
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Greyson
10/18/2018 10:12:32 am
I had a traumatizing experience in nature one time. One day in my old backyard i was playing on some sharp rocks when i tripped and fell on a point. I was wearing a Kylo Ren mask when i fell. I wonder what would have happened if i wasn't wearing it.
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Hamilton Salsich
10/18/2018 04:28:13 pm
Dear students and Mr. Salsich
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Liz Trebilcock
10/18/2018 07:18:39 pm
Hi class! What great stories! I used to love hiking and I walked all the local trails to see the different seasons. In October of last year I was walking through a field when I came to a stonewall. Normally I would jump over without looking at the other side, but something made me stop this time. I slowly peered over the stonewall and there on the other side was a huge black snake stretched out in the sun. If I had jumped the stonewall I would have landed right on it! This taught me to "look before I leap", and now I always check before I step. Nature is beautiful! I was lucky to see such a magnificent creature on my walk.
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Trent
10/26/2018 08:18:49 am
Hello mom, i enjoyed reading your story. in fact that actually reminds me of when we were in canada. Over the summer, my family went to Canada. we saw Niagara Falls and even got to ride a boat up to 50ft from the falls! seeing Niagara falls really made me love nature a lot more because it doesn't have to b dangerous for it to be beautiful.
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10/19/2018 11:50:20 am
This past weekend I was surfing in San Diego, California. It was a beautiful sunny day and the waves were big. I was sitting on my board behind the break when two large dolphin surfaced for air right in front of me. I could hear them exhale through their blowholes as their dorsal fins broke through the surface of the water, we made brief eye contact and then they gracefully glided back down beneath the surface of the sea. They were so calm and graceful. It reminded me that we share this big beautiful planet with so many different species and that we are all beautiful and amazing in our many different ways.
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Louie (Mr. Salsich's nephew)
10/30/2018 07:54:45 am
when we went kayaking on the river i realized that so many animals depend on the river. i never knew that.
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