The greenhouse effect may be one of the primary drivers of global warming, but did you know that it can also make delicious solar cookies? 

Last month, New Vista CAP students gathered at Eben G. Fine park near downtown Boulder for the second field day of the year and the first week of fall. After a rousing game of Poison Dart Frog, we started off the morning searching for plants and decoding the clues that would lead us to our first challenge of the day: using recycled materials, students engineered solar ovens to see if they could capture the sun’s heat to bake cookies and s’mores.

While our marshmallows roasted and our chocolate melted in the midday sun, we hiked down to the river to play a spirited (and challenging!) game of camouflage. As we ate our lunch (sushi, by popular request) students lounged on rocks and guessed at each other’s best anti-jokes as Boulder Creek babbled peacefully by.

With time seeming to slip by faster than the current, we spent the afternoon taking our lessons from class into the field as we learned more about water and water quality. Where does our water come from? What affects its health on its journey? How does that impact our own water here in Boulder Creek? Students made observations and predictions before dispersing across the banks to take samples at different sections of the river. We were surprised by the results that our creek was actually pretty healthy!

We closed out the day diving into our gooey s’mores and mostly baked cookies as we shouted out our secret pals and shared what we learned. The changing autumn leaves fluttered in the trees above as we said goodbye at the end of another great day exploring the outdoors in our backyard!

Written by CAP Instructor Chelsea Tossing