Written By Field Instructor, Caroline Paul

The Aspens at Golden Gate Canyon State Park put on a show for AXL Academy’s 8th graders last week. The first field day of the school year kicked off with beautiful fall colors only 25 minutes west of Golden, CO. This 8th grade class is particularly special because 85% of the class are students who loved CAP so much, they took it again!

One of the new faces in class is the CAP instructor –  Harmony Esqueda. Ms. Esqueda spent the morning getting to know her students by playing team building games and an all time favorite, Camouflage. She even showed off some of her own skills by teaching students how to safely sample rosehips. The red berries taste lightly of tomato – but be careful of the urticating hairs (hairs that cause an itching and burning sensation similar to that of stinging nettle or the hairs on a tarantula).

The second half of the day was spent at Kriley Pond where students sampled water for Macroinvertebrates, aka “water bugs”. Around the edges of the water near the wetland grasses live all sorts of water bugs. 8th graders found crawfish, mayfly nymphs, and whirligig beetles. Rangers later came by and taught students that the presence of these creatures are an indicator that the water does not contain much pollution. Off in the corner of the pond however, students noticed some slimy murky muck which sparked an important conversation about blue-green algae and the effects of it on the ecosystem and the danger it presents to dogs and wildlife.

All in all, students learned a lot and enjoyed a day of fresh mountain air!