The Rocky Mountains gave spectacular views all through the park. 

STUDENTS:

• Predict: Mountain Ranges to their Continent

• Google My Maps: Add each mountain range to the map.  

• Dig Deeper: Choose one other mountain range in addition to the Rockies. Research both. Create a Venn Diagram of comparisons/contrasts.

Think Sheet 

Huckleberries are common in the Pacific Northwest. Experts believe bears can eat as many as 200,000 huckleberries in a single day! I only managed one scoop of huckleberry ice cream! 

If you see huckleberries on a trail or roadside, be extra bear aware when in these mountainous regions!

Check out the Canada pages as we spotted TWO bears roadside in the berry patches!

The landscape here is perfect habitat for grizzly and black bears. The park advises to carry bear spray to use as a last resort in the event of a close bear encounter.

There are other strategies to consider first. Be observant. If you see evidence of a bear (scat, tracks, sighting), avoid the area. While hiking it is also important to make noise so  you do not surprise a bear in its own environment.

Grizzlies have a large hump across their back indicating strong shoulder muscles. As a result, they can dig into the side of a hill up to eight feet deep and create a nook to hibernate in while black bear need to seek out a cave or natural shelter. 

This is just a few seconds of one view at Logan Pass within the park. Logan Pass is the highest part of the Going to the Sun Road. 

The name of the road comes the Blackfeet who told a story of a spirit that came down from the sun to teach them how to hunt. 

STUDENTS:

What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

Look how clear that water is! Those pebbles are what gives this lake it's nickname: The Rainbow Lake of Glacier National Park. The red and maroon rocks have more iron in them than the greener rocks.

The water was cold, too! Because the water is fed by glaciers it's temperatures are usually below 50°F. Brrr! 

As tempting as it might be to take one of these beautiful rocks, it is illegal to remove anything natural from a National Park. 

I was curious about all the dead trees in this area (St. Mary's Lake) of the park. At first I thought it might be due to an invasive beetle species, but I was wrong. I talked to a park ranger about it. He said it is due to fire back in 2015!!! Re-establishing a forest takes time and certain environmental conditions. Droughts have increased due to climate change, and wildfires are happening too close to each other because another one came to this same area in 2017 which is why this area has not yet recovered.

STUDENTS:

• Use this National Park website to identify the four years of significant wildfires mentioned. For each year, also find the number of acres damaged. 

• Create a graph (bar or line) to display the information. Be sure to include a title and label each axis properly. 

Why are they so blue?!

Glaciers sit atop rocky mountains, and they move (advance or recede). When this happens, it crushes the rocks on the mountains. This creates a fine powder called Rock Flour. Then, when the glacier begins to melt, the rock flour flows down and ends up in lakes. This fine powder of rocks doesn't sink; it suspends in the water. This causes the sunlight to reflect in a different way back to our eyes causing us to see this bright turquoise color. 

STUDENTS:

• Choice A: Fill in a flowchart with at least 6 steps that cause glacial-fed lakes to appear bright blue. 

• Choice B: Draw a diagram illustrating and labeling the process of what causes glacial-fed lakes to appear bright blue.

This view was totally worth this "extremely strenuous" rated hike! 

 In 1850, this glacier covered 700 acres. By 1993, it was only about 200 acres. Since then the glacier has been losing 2-3 acres per year. 

As we arrived at the glacier, we spotted 4 bighorn sheep, and this one snuck in my photo!

STUDENTS:

• Using the numbers above, can you predict when Grinnell Glacier might disappear? - What will happen to the turquoise-blue glacial-fed lakes once the glaciers are gone?

• After the discussion, view the film: Losing Blue 

When we came to this section of the trail, a waterfall was flowing right over the edge onto the trail. We had to traverse the wet rocks, the drop-off edge, and the freezing water! I got soaked because I chose the route across that was closest to the wall to avoid the edge, and that  is where the heaviest stream of water was falling. 

This really tested my courage because I am afraid of heights!