A Wonderful Trip

After returning home, I hit the ground running with "back to school." Another school year has started and I can't wait to share my trip and new knowledge with my students. I took over 400 pictures and will be arranging several presentations to show my students. One presentation will focus on weathering, erosion, and deposition, a large part of the 5th grade curriculum. I will also be making a presentation to the elementary campus lead teachers in science for my district as well as the teachers at my school.

I would like to thank Fund for Teachers for this opportunity. I am excited about this school year and can't wait to share all that I have learned.

Tidal Bore Rafting!!!

Today I traveled to Maitland, Nova Scotia to the Shubenacadie River. This point in the Bay of Fundy has the World's Record for the highest tides ever, fifty-three feet. This river is also great for tidal bore rafting!! I don't have any pictures since I could not take my digital camera. As soon as I can get my water-proof camera pictures developed, I will post them on here. In the mean time, check out this website and video to see what tidal bore rafting is all about. It was definitely the most fun I have had so far on the trip!!!

http://tidalborerafting.com/2007/index.html

Here are the pictures from the tidal bore rafting trip:

This is me standing in the middle of the river during low tide waiting for the tide to come in. When the tidal bores hit all of these sand bars, it creates large rapids. Once the tide came in, this sandbar was about 20 feet under water!!

HOLDING ON!!!

I almost fell out twice, but managed to stay in by gripping the ropes behind me!

Parrsboro and Joggins, Nova Scotia

Today I have spent the day as a geologist. The area of Nova Scotia where I am visiting is located at the top of the Bayof Fundy and is well-known for the fossils that have been found there. I started the day by touring the Fundy Geological Museum where I learned alot about fossils in general and the different eras and periods of geologic time. Over on the right side of the screen you can see an archaeologist working in the lab located at the museum. It was really cool to watch him slowly work the dirt and rock away from the fossil.

Next I drove on a very scenic route to Joggins, home of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs. (See a video of the drive on the right) This site is famous for the fossils of the first known reptiles that lived 100 million years before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. I spent several hours searching for fossils and "rock-hounding." Check out the video on the right to see what the rocks look like at the fossil cliffs.

Oh, I think I may have found some fossils, but I am not sure. I will have to reasearch them on the internet.

The Coast of New Brunswick

Yesterday was a busy day. I packed up and left Saint John for a day trip along the coast of New Brunswick as I traveled to my next destination, Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. My first stop along the coast was in the Fundy National Park. Since I got lost on the last trails I hiked, I decided to just stop at the lookout points this time. Here are some beautiful pictures from Fundy National Park. Notice the dried river beds. Once high tide comes in, they become flooded with water.

Next, I stopped at Cape Enrage. This lighthouse is one of the oldest in New Brunswick. However, now that lighthouses really are not needed, this lighthouse and the surrounding buildings were abandoned. In the early 90’s several high school students and some sponsors decided to save Cape Enrage. They found financial sponsors and the high school students restored all the buildings. Now, high school and college students run the buildings, which include a small restaurant and gift shop. The Cape is called “enrage” because when the tides come in, the rocks at the bottom of the cliffs cause the water to swirl and turn violently, giving an enraged look! Here are some pictures from the area:

The last stop was at the Hopewell Rocks. This is one of the main tourist attractions of the Bay of Fundy, and you will see why from the pictures. This area of red sandstone has been easily eroded away over millions of years, and still continues to erode today. Check out the pictures of the remnants from the large-scale erosion:

Saint John, New Brunswick

Today I toured Saint John, the city which has been my home-base since my arrival. I have been staying at a great place called the Homeport Inn. The Homeport was built in 1858 by a family of prominent ship builders and has an awesome view of the Bay of Fundy!

I spent the first part of my day at the New Brunswick Museum. This museum has a great marine and geoogy section. The display I found most impressive was that of the whales. Check out these pictures:

Whale Baleen

(The hair like structure that filters food from the water)

Skeleton of a Whale

Skull of a Whale

While at the museum, I also saw some really cool fossils. Here are some of my favorites:

Stenosaurus (Jurrasic Crocodile)



Fern Leaf

Trilobite

(This is not a fossil, just a model)

My day ended with a visit to the Reversing Falls. This is was an awesome tour where I learned why the Saint John River actually reverses its flow of water during high tide. My tour guide for this boat tour was a middle school teacher, so we had lots to talk about when it came to comparing schools!!

Check out the videos to the right labeled "Reversing Falls."

St. Martins, New Brunswick

Today was a fun-filled trip to a small village called St. Martins. This tiny town has rich geologic treasures that are absolutely amazing. The first formation I visited was the sea caves. These caves were created from the power of the waves crashing into them during high tide over thousands and thousands of years. Here are some pictures of the caves:

The beach at the sea caves is made up of smooth, rounded rocks; another sign of the tremendous amount of erosion that takes place at the Bay of Fundy.

Here you can see how the rocks erode from the large wall of conglomerate rock.

(Click on pictures for a lrger view of the image)

I also visited the Fundy Trail. This newly created trail has lots of hiking and biking trails. The most interesting formation is the "Flower Pot" rock. The rock all around the flower pot has eroded away leaving just this part still standing, probably because of the roots embedded in that section of the rock. Check out these amazing pictures:

Here is a picture of me walking for miles and miles down the road to find my rental car after getting lost on the Fundy Trails. I definitely got my exercise for the day!!

Discovering St. Andrew's, New Brunswick

Today I started with a trip to Minister's Island in St. Andrew, New Brunswick. There is a huge mansion called Covenhoven on the island and I enjoyed learning about the history of the home. However, the main reason I wanted to visit was because you have to drive across the ocean floor to get there. Of course, you can only drive across the ocean floor during low tide. Here are some pictures of the drive to the island and of me walking on the ocean floor:

After about six hours, here is the same area I had once driven across to get to Minister's Island:

Next, I traveled farther into St. Andrew's to take a chartered boat ride to "Old Sow." Old Sow is the largest whirlpool in the western hemisphere, the second largest in the world - second only to the Maelstrom Whirlpool of Norway. The whirlpool is called "Old Sow" because of the sounds that are heard from the churning waters. I learned that a whirlpool is not what everyone thinks it is. When you picture a whirlpool in your mind you probably think of a huge twirling cyclone of water. This is actually not true. Basically this whirlpool is created when several bodies of water are fighting against the rising tides. During this time there is lots of churning in the water that should be calm. There is also lots of bubbling up of water and churning twirls of water. Here are some pictures from my experience: