Marquam park field study

On our trip to Marquam park was accompanied by Dave and Michael.

We took the Trimet bus to downtown, there we made a transfer for another bus. We all fit perfectly into this bus, unlike the first bus we were stuffed inside there. People sitting down would have some one's backpack in their face. Anyway, the second bus drove us to the Marquam park water tower. We set down our bags, and went on a search for rocks with holes in them, ones without or any other rock we thought was interesting. We shared our rocks, then walked up to Marquam park. Frank told us to make something creative with the things we found in nature like leaves, sticks, rocks, etc. The leaves were all the colors of the rainbow, (except blues and purples) and everything was wet from the rain. We all took the time to go around and look at every one's creations.
When everyone was done, we split into our walking groups(each group had ether three or four people.) for a hike. Group one went first, they would have note cards and write down each native plant they saw. Here's a list of what was out there.

Douglas fir
English ivy
Big leaf maple
Vanilla leaf
Oregon grape
Holly
Maiden hair fern
Sword fern
Duck foot

*A helpful fact is the difference between Holly and Oregon grape (since a lot of people get them mixed up) is the Oregon grape leaves are flatter and have smaller spikes. The holly spikes stick up and down and are bigger.*
It was really amazing to be on the trail. It was quiet, and a very lush green. Only about twice did we come across a little creek. The trail was along the edge of a slope. You could barely see down the slope, there were too many plants and trees. We didn't see any wildlife except slugs, tons of slugs. The end of the trail lead back to where we ate, we sadly had to leave. We took all our bags and trash and walked down to the bus stop. We waited at least five minutes for the bus. Back downtown we got off the bus early because there was someone in a wheelchair, and there wasn't enough room for everyone. We walked to another bus stop not too far away. We got on the bus, after that we didn't have any more detours. We arrived at school shortly.

Post by,
Isabel :)