My classroom has moved... After making our way west across Minnesota into the prairie of South Dakota last Wednesday and Thursday, we arrived in the Badlands. I have read, completed assignments related to my college cousework, and prepared for tests while absorbing the geography and history in the most amazing locations.
After setting up camp in Badlands National Park, we biked, sipped tea while watching the sun dip behind the rock formations, looked through a huge telescope at Planet Jupiter set up near the park's lodge after darkness fell, and listened to a presentation on nocturnal animals at the park's amphitheater. The ranger explained that animals work different shifts just like people do at their jobs. Nocturnal animals work the night shift sometimes having to work overtime to complete their work (finding food). What a perfect way to explain this concept to children by relating it to their parents' work schedules! The next morning we were accompanied by a ranger on an 8:30 guided hike for an up close and personal view of the rock formations to learn how they were formed.
I just couldn't resist taking a photo of the stark contrast between the ridiculously gigantic motor home parked across from our campsite in the Badlands and another camper staying in a super tiny tent driving a teeny tiny electric car... only in America.