Fourth grade students from Wiscasset Elementary School enjoyed a day of outdoor learning with Melanie Collins at Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson. The students learned about winter adaptations by looking for chickadee food in the woods and creating structures to keep "animal blood" (liquid red jello) from freezing. They also created, then presented an animal with adaptations to survive the winter. 

Students then played a game called “Oh Deer” to learn how overpopulation of deer leads to scarce resources and then the population of deer dips. They learned that predators are essential to regulate animal populations. 

The students were exuberant learners, even in the cold. They practice moving like animals to create track patterns. Once they learned how to bound, hop, waddle, and perfect step, they set off to find tracks in the fresh snow.