Hirundo Summer Adventure

Each of the last three summers we have brought students to Hirundo Wildlife Refuge in Alton to do work to recover credits from their school year. We spend time in and on the water, looking at macroinvertebrates, paddling in canoes and kayaks, wandering the forests in search of anything we might find and so on. Students may earn up to a full academic credit for the work that they do. They journal, they draw and paint, they present skits, and they discuss the many things we see on the refuge. Our staff then assesses their work and gives them feedback about it. Students earn credit in English, science, art, and social studies.

Macroinvertebrate Sampling

Group Work at Hirundo

Activities:

  • Macroinvertebrate sampling

  • Making sunprints with photosensitive paper

  • Canoeing and Kayaking

  • Bioblitzing (seeing how many forest organisms we can find)

  • Yoga and Mindfulness Activities

  • Building solar ovens

  • Hiking

  • Quiet time/Journaling

  • Group Work

Birchbark Canoe

Topics to learn about:

  • Wabanaki and other historical context of Hirundo

  • Assessment of water quality and the importance of water in Maine

  • Identification of trees and other plants

  • Insect Diversity

  • Proper rocedures for moving on the water

  • Wildlife identification

  • Mushroom and other fungi identification

  • Water safety and woods wisdom

  • Proper and low-impact use of natural places

.......and much more.

Assessment of learning takes place through evaluation of artifacts produced by the students. For English, this includes examining journal entries for content, proper grammar and sentence structure, capacity to convey imagery through writing, whether in poems or more technical writing, and the ability to make a successful argument from evidence gathered during a given activity. Group presentations of learning through skits is one of our summative evaluations. Studnets also produce works of art that are interpretations of their learning for the day. For science, they may need to express an objective for the activity undertaken, then propose explanations for things they observe and/or use data to back up or refute suppositions. This is authentic learning in a beautiful place and time of year in Maine and we are glad we have this to offer our students.

For more information feel free to reach out. To register a student for the program, have them visit this link: Hirundo Summer Adventure Registration