6th Grade Outdoor Education

From the time students enter kindergarten at Glenbrook they look forward to the day that they become 6th graders and are able to go to "camp."  Each year our 6th grade students have 2 opportunities to attend an outdoor education experience at Camp Duncan in Ingleside, Illinois.

 http://www.ymcachicago.org/duncan/

Our first trip is just a short daytime trip which has a focus on team building and cooperative group work.  These are essential skills for students.  

Here students use PVC pipes to create words. The winning team is the team that creates the longest word out of the same amount of piping as the other teams.  

PVC pipes were also used to build free standing structures.  The goal? How high can you go? The bottom structure wasn't tall, but it certainly wins points for creativity!












How can this many people stand on a blanket and flip it without stepping off?  Strategizing, teamwork and careful planning does the trick!

This challenge is much harder than it seems!  The students need to get in and out of the box, one at a time in an alternate pattern. The first person goes over the top, the next under, the next over, the next under and so on.  Sound easy?  Now, try getting out the same way?  It's a tight fit too!

You really need to learn to trust your team members in this challenge.  Student "take a risk" and fall into the waiting arms of their classmates who promise to catch them and save them from harm. I'm proud to say the students were all right to trust one another!

Many of the activities involved using strategies, teamwork and problem solving. This was tough!  So many students wanted to just "jump right in" and not "make a plan" or "talk it through" as a team. Lack of the above skills made for lots of failed attempts before a solution was found. What  great learning experience!      

                        

In the end the groups all came together at the center of camp to celebrate the day.  The students can't wait for the spring when outdoor education will focus on science skills and be an extended day program. It will be a great way to wrap up our 6th grade year!