On October 29, 2001 Mrs. Garrett's 4th, 5th, and 6th grade gifted class and the 6th grade talent pool class went to the Mann Museum in Opelika and the Tuskegee Forest National Park. When I got to school, I went to my class to check in and then headed down to the gym, because there were 59 kids that were coming. Then we went to the bus and headed out. The drive to the forest was about forty-five minutes, which was a nice naptime, which I took thankfully.

At the forest the park ranger told us about streams and how they branch off. He also talked about how a lake forms and how you need to have pH-balanced water for life to live. He showed us a polluted puddle of water. He also showed us a beaver dam.

I thought the Mann Museum was tight. The drive there (from the forest) was only about 20 minutes. Mr. Mann said that every animal there was real and was killed only by bow and arrow to preserve the body and skin. After he talked we ate lunch, of course I wasn't hungry though. At the picnic tables there were deer in a fenced cage. It was actually a family of deer. I think I saw a 9-point male deer. There were also peacocks and wild turkeys there. The deer would just push the ducks aside and hog all the water. Then when the 6th graders were done we got to go into the museum. There all kinds of bears, goats, lynxes, cats, wolves, fish, birds, hogs, extinct animals and fossils, and skins of deer and other animals. They also had a gift shop witch I thought was over-priced but it was cool. I got a popper, suction ball, and this gooey, slimy, gel stuff.

On the ride back I tried to take a nap, but Reeve kept bugging me. When we got back we some how got all 59 of us into the classroom. Then we had time to go down to the nature trail to discuss our trip. Over all, my rating of this field trip (1-10) is a 9.4. Now that was a cool field trip.

Jake