Intensive Learning @ MFS
The World At Your Fingertips
The day started off with an hour-long bus ride to the Batsto Village. We started at the museum that preserved the life of people in the Pine Barrens. We looked at all the interesting things that we could for a bit (including some great facts about the history of iron-working in the Pine Barrens),...
Continue readingToday on our final excursion for the 2017 Pine Barrens Intensive Learning, we visited Pine Island Cranberry Company. Pine Island Cranberry Co. is a 14,000 acre stretch of land in the Pine Barrens that includes cranberry bogs, forests, and wildlife. We first watched a presentation on the history of the company, what jobs they...
Continue readingWith our prior knowledge of the Pine Barrens, today, we took a guided hike with John Volpa, the education director of Pinelands Adventures. Throughout the five mile hike, he described the ten necessities of hiking, went in depth about the ecological and historical background of the Pine Barrens, justified the name behind the “Pineys,”...
Continue readingToday is the third day of the Pine Barrens Intensive Learning. We spent the whole day at Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford, NJ. There we learned about the multitude of animals that live in the Pines from: turtles, snakes, owls, hawks, crows, deer, and a raccoon. Some of the animals were even albino...
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Our day started by watching a short film on the myth of the Jersey Devil. While a little cheesy, the clip did explain the history of this myth and then we set out for the hike – Apple Pie Hill in Tabernacle. When we arrived at the trail, we first checked out the Carranza...
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Today was our first day of adventure to the Pine Barrens. We began our journey in Batsto looking at the museum in the visitors center. Batsto was an industrial village in the Pines that centered around a blacksmithing forge and then later became known for making glass. After this we went on the four...
Continue readingOn the final day of our journeys through the Pine Barrens, our group visited the Pine Island Cranberry Company in Washington, NJ. Once there, we learned about the history of cranberry farming in New Jersey. We were welcomed by employees of the company, including Stefanie and Mike Haines, and learned about the beginning of...
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Today was quite the day for the Pine Barrens Intensive Learning group. At the start of the day, we learned a bit about the legend of the Jersey Devil, who is said to be from the Pine Barrens. Then, we left school for Wharton State Forest. At the state forest, we broke off into...
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Today was day 3! We went on a fun hike in the Pine Barrens. When we got to Pineland Adventures in Shamong, our tour guide John Volpa gave us an overview about the Pine Barrens and the history about the bog iron industry that developed there. Then we took a bus to the starting...
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On day #2 our group at the Pine Barrens went to the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge with our tour guide Erin. We took a hike down the white trail and learned about the fauna of the Pine Barrens. We learned about sphagnum moss and teaberry leaves (which tasted like mint). Also, we learned the...
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Today was a very adventurous day hiking in the Pine Barrens. First, we walked around a museum exhibit about pinelands ecology and industry at the Historic Batsto Village. We learned about the history behind the Pine Barrens, like the glass mills and factories. Also, the group learned that iron and glass was produced in...
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Welcome to the Pine Barrens 2016 IL Blog! We met as a group today to discuss our week’s activities, which will include: guided hikes through the Pines with resident ecology experts, a visit to a cranberry bog, a visit to a wildlife refuge, and so much more! We asked our group what they would...
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As we wrap up a great week for our Pine Barrens trip, we are reminded of the many wonderful experiences we had. We are grateful to all of our hosts: John Volpa at the Black Run Preserve, Stefanie and Bill Haines at Pine Island Cranberry Co., and Erin Kiefer at Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife...
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Today we stayed on campus to present what we learned throughout the week to the fourth grade classes here at MFS. Since they will be going to Camp Ockanickon in April, we wanted to give them an idea of what their experience would be like. In the process, we also gave the fourth graders a...
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Today was the fourth day of the Pine Barrens Intensive Learning program. This morning, after a short bus ride, we arrived at Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge, where we were greeted by Erin, our guide. She led us on a trail through the Pine Barrens and pointed out some of the interesting plants along...
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