Gorman's Mill

What an absolutely fantastic field trip this was!  One of the things that Samuel has been studying is BC Resources, so together with some other 5th and 6th graders from our co-op, we headed off to Gorman's Mill.  We learned so much the production of wood and the way the entire mill functions.  This was really a great trip.



An entire load of logs right off the back of a huge logging truck.  Incidentally, it was about -15 this day!  Our guide said it was definitely the coldest trip he'd ever done.



The technology in the mill is amazing.  The computer does a scan of each log that comes through and, in a second or two, decides what width boards to cut the entire log into with the least amount of waste.



Papa came on the trip with us.  He's standing by the huge saw blades to give us an idea of their size.



Our guide was great.  Here he is showing and explaining to one of the groups the different things that get caught in wood and that have damaged the saw blades.  Any metal is usually detected, but some things, like rocks can grow within a tree and cause damage.  The blades must be changed immediately.



The work ethic and expectations at the mill were very impressive.  The production expected is 100%.  What they are doing every minute is posted across from them where they can see.  They don't let the employees stay at any job for more than two hours so that they don't get tired, unproductive or dangerous.



Some of our motley crew in full safety gear with their sample boards.

Barkerville and the Gold Rush

Barkerville was such a fantastic part of our Gold Rush study.  We're almost finished this study; and this was such a great way to have the whole study come to life.  It was SO much fun, and we learned an incredible amount of history.  



Everyone in the entire town was in full costume and character.  The Theatre Royal show was so much fun and we were greatly entertained!  They even got Jason up on stage which was hilarious.  The kids were laughing so hard that the elderly couple a little to the front left, kept peeking back and them and laughing at the kids.



What gold rush, 1860s experience would be complete without a stage coach ride?!  Of course all the kids wanted to ride outside while the adults were in the coach.



This guy was showing the kids about hard rock mining and trying to sign them up for the job.  He told them he'd pay them a dollar a day for a 10 hour day.  They weren't willing. 



Judge Begby, "the Hanging Judge", confiscating all of Samuel's "weapons" before heading into court. 



The merchants would each fly the flag of their country over their store or establishment.  The school house had a British flag and a few others, but when Barkerville was first built up around Billy Barker's claim, it didn't really "belong" to anyone but the natives.  Governor James Douglas quickly declared himself governor over the entire region and saved British Columbia from being annexed to the United States!





Oh yes... the school house.  We spent an hour in the school house where we were all between the ages of 6 and 16.  It was long enough to really get an idea of what it would have been like in that time.  We were instructed before entering how to sit, address the teacher and respond... standing when called upon and answering in full sentences, ending in "mam".  We all agreed that we would not have wanted to be in school there.  And Teigan and I had to wear bonnets as not to distract the boys with our "lovely tresses".  My Dad used to dip the girls braids in the type of ink wells that you see in front of Teigan!  He went through a one room school in rural Ontario similar to this one.



This amazing piece of machinery, while we all agreed looked like a medieval trebuchet or catupult, was really used to pulverize rock.



The Cornish Waterwheel was really something to see in full swing.  It was used to bring water from the creek, while another part took miners 52 feet down under ground and brought up buckets of rock and dirt to put through the large sluice box.  Of which Liam is about to open the gate on. 





We spent the later afternoon every day exploring the river for neat rock specimens, and of course panning for gold.















We did find flakes of gold in the river, but the big treasure for the kids were these big old fashioned jaw breakers from Mason and Daly.  It felt very Little House on the Prairie.  I half expected to have Mrs Olson come out and scold us for loitering on the front porch. 




This was such a fantistic experience.  I would recommend it to anyone, whether studying the gold rush or not.  It was so much fun and such a great way to learn about history.  The kids wanted to do another day on top of the two full days that we had already spent there.  And we easily could have.

Fire Hall

We learned some great history of old town Penticton and how they used to have to call the fire brigade. I'm sure they lost a lot of homes back then!

Liam trying to get the jacket on that was way too big!
Teigan, getting a little help from a friend.
This trip was really neat because they showed us (and let us try) the oxygen that they use when they are in fires. They also explained how their suits work to keep them cool (er) even though a fire can be above 400 degrees!
Samuel and I got to try on the entire suits and gear. It is actually much heavier than I realized, and not very easy to walk in. Of course it may have been easier if the gear actually fit me!
Teigan was too little to try the gear on, but she was pretty happy in the hat.

Fort Langley and the Voyageurs

While the weather wasn't the greatest, it didn't dampen any enthusiasm or excitement. This was a great trip with some great friends.

Teigan helped with the flag as the parents sang God Save the Queen.

We got to feel and check out lots of different furs that would have been traded and hauled up the rivers for the fur trade with Europe.
Boxes of course would be harder to move so fish, cranberries and other supplies were packed in crates. The kids all tried their hand at barrel rolling. Girls vs. Boys!
My littlest voyageur. Notice the rain drops on the river! And of course the high fashion black garbage bags. (Some things were authentic.)
Samuel digging in on the 20-20-20. We learned different strokes and songs that the voyageurs used.
Liam working hard. Some of the kids just gave up on hats and keeping their heads dry.
The voyageur's salute!
A really great trip! The next day was bright and sunny, but Samuel thought that this day was more authentic to what the voyageurs would have experienced more often than not. Great attitude.

Back yard Archaeology!

What a fantastic afternoon this turned out to be! We are studying explorers and right now we are looking at the Vikings. We were reading about the settlement that was discovered in Newfoundland and how the archaeologists uncovered it, proving that there was a viking settlement there right about a 1000 years ago. So today we set up our own dig, and pretended that we were looking for evidence that people had once lived in this area. What fantastic artifacts we found.

Ariana sifting through the dirt, being careful not to damage anything.
The dig site and archaeologists from above.
In Ariana's quadrant she found what everyone decided was one of the most important discoveries. A coin showing that the people who did live in this area had some kind of money system.
Each archaeologist dug in their quadrant and recorded what they found. Then we all got together and shared what each one found, speculating over what something may have been or what it was used for.
Teigan carefully cleaning the dirt off one of the found "artifacts".
Liam and Ariana, finding one of his treasures to share about.
Teigan filling in the rest of her grid, while Ariana is showing her the exciting coin!
Samuel showing Liam one of the finds so he can draw it into the proper quadrant.
This whole activity took about two hours and the kids were right into it the whole time. What a great afternoon!