It was another beautiful fall day for the annual Lyman Intermediate School students and teachers on Sept. 30, when they took their annual fifth-grade Bridger Lake field trip. At the request of the teachers, the Uinta County Conservaction District organizes this outdoor field trip each year as an opportunity for students to get hands-on learning experiences in Mother Nature’s classroom. 

Students were more than excited to engage in learning as they rotated through four educational stations around the Bridger Lake Campground in the Uinta Mountains south of Mountain View. U.S. Forest Service employees Ben McDaniel and Sarah Smith took the students on an educational bike ride and taught them about coniferous forests, tree anatomy, and tie hacking.

UCCD Natural Resource Specialist and Biologist Grant Redden taught the students the importance of adaptations in fish species as the students ‘Fashioned a Fish’ of their own with adaptations to fit a specific habitat. The students learned about predator/prey interactions among Wyoming wildlife species as they played a game of “Quick Frozen Critters” and examined fur specimens of Wyoming mammals with UCCD Education Coordinator, Katie Lott. LIS teacher Lance Perkins discussed the importance of benthic species as an indicator of water-quality as the students collected visible and microscopic macroinvertebrate specimens among the rocks and moss on the edge of Bridger Lake.

This field trip would not be possible without the interest and support of the Lyman Intermediate School teachers, principal and bus drivers, as well as the help of volunteers from the U.S. Forest Service and resources from the Wyoming Game and Fish.

Conservation district officials said they hope to continue providing this great outdoor experience to the students at LIS for many years to come! For more information about educational opportunities through the Uinta County Conservation District, please visit us at www.uintacountycd.com.