We began our day in opening circle discussing the realities of wilderness survival, reviewing the Survival Rule of Fours (ask your daughter what the four survival priorities are and in what order... and ask her why deep breathing is so important in a survival situation). On this day we focused on the survival priority of shelter, learning how imperative a properly insulating shelter is for surviving even a single night in the woods. We discussed the many ways and reasons one can become cold: conduction, evaporation, convection, and radiation (see if your gal remembers and can explain these four types of heat transfer).
Our first focus was to put on shelter eyes, traveling up the trail and seeking nooks and crannies that could be or become a shelter for different sizes and types of animals. After a snack and instructive shelter story from Tom Brown, we took a cue from the squirrels, who build nests with sticks and insulate them with leaves, and let their designs inspire our own natural shelters, which were built in the classic "debris hut" style. Our community dwellings sprung up from the forest floor, and within a few hours we had three deluxe shelters! On this super cold day, building shelters kept us warm, and that was a big bonus. With the bit of time remaining, we took a home tour of each shelter, assessing each on their ability to withstand wind and rain, retain body heat, and remain safe from any nearby blowdowns. We also asked the builders some questions, including:
- If the squirrels were critiquing/assessing this shelter, what would they say?
- Would you spend the night in it?
- What more would you do if you had time? Remind them we aren’t going for perfect construction this day, just to put the knowledge in their heads! “What’s in your brain is more important than what’s in your pack”.
- How does the wind serve as an ally for shelter building? Brings down materials!
- Why wouldn’t you want to use an existing shelter, if there were one? Why is it better, if you have time, to put energy into building your own?How does building process help you/us if we were truly lost and had to spend the night outside?
Reflecting on the season past, we ended our final shared day of fall by creating the Web of Life from things we'd all connected to this season: herring, Salish Sea, rain, medicine club, birds, mud, moss, cedar, salmon, one another. We agreed that humans are connected to every aspect of this web, and have tremendous power to impact it in both positive and negative ways. This underlines our GEC motto All Things Are Connected, and helps us understand that whenever one thing in the web is altered, it affects all the other aspects. We reiterated that GEC is all about strengthening the web of life, as well as the bonds between each other.
Next time you take a walk through the Hundred Acre Woods, see if your own "shelter-seeking eyes" can detect these artfully constructed debris huts- they are truly impressive, and almost invite one in to spend the night...
Our words of the day? Shelter, Tion-ies, and Shquirrels!
You may view the slideshow from our day here.
EC MOTTOS that came into play today: Many Hands Make Light Work, All Things Are Connected, LIBK, Be Prepared, Get Dirty! Leave No Trace
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