Bears and Salmon

Yesterday our homeschool support group met for a field trip at the park. The children played some games designed to show them the differences between the life of a bear and their own lives, how bears have to eat lots to ready themselves for winter, and how to tell a brown bear from a black bear (yes, apart from the colour)! The park interpreter had a challenge on her hands - a group of individuals of varying ages and varying interest levels who didn't know how to be quiet and attentive all at the same time.

The most successful activity was probably this onewhere the kids could do some running around looking for "food" and burn off some of that energy. I'm not sure how much "education" was done in that hour and a half, but as I said afterwards at the playground, I don't go on field trips just for the kids to learn facts - it's the whole experience of seeing our friends, getting out of the house and away from the computer/playstation, getting exercise and fresh air.

The interpretive centre had an excellent display - an indoor stream and lots of information about spawning kokanee salmon and other local wildlife.
The local bear who is hanging around this particular regional park really loves apples and salmon. We saw a huge pile of what looked like applesauce which was actually bear poo and of course the spawning kokanee in the creek are a temptation for the bear too. It would have been exciting to have seen a real bear, but alas it was not to be.