Today we finished up research projects in the morning, had some choice time in the afternoon (cross country skiing or art time) and then students presented their findings in the 2017 Teton Science School symposium. Students did a fantastic job with the research.  They took it seriously, asked excellent questions of one another and drew connections between each of the projects.  Last but not least, the mountains were out in all their glory!  The clouds lifted on this last day and we were able to get spectacular views of the Tetons.  Also – we saw wolf tracks!!  See below.

Today was research day!  Students divided into 3 research groups and gathered data to try to answer their scientific question.  Students questioned gait and sinuosity differences in predators and prey in riparian communities, did some snow science to determine which ecological community was best for subnivian life, and tracked fox tracks to compare activity levels close to residential areas vs wild.  They present their results Friday night.  The night was capped off with our first clear night sky of trip.  We had a special treat of an astronomer joining us for the evening with a huge telescope and a wealth of information to share.    

There is 7 feet of snow over here at Bradley Taggart! 

Lunch break!

Sawyer leans down to smell the urine – is it fox or coyote?  

Marshall helps orient the group by finding where we are on the map.

There was a winter storm warning today.  The Tetons disappeared in a cloud of white.

Going down hills on cross country skis takes practice!  What a supportive group.  

Go Christina!

Exploring the ecological communities of this area.  In this picture we’re making our way to the riparian area from the sagebrush community.  It’s hard to know there are sagebrush plants around because they are buried under 5 ft of snow!  

Jover and Sawyer wearing big smiles – the whole day long!

Doing the penguin walk up-hill.

Hunter took off his ski, stepped into the snow and this is what happened!

This crew is doing an experiment. Hot tea was poured into a small container.  Their task – using only the outdoors (snow, a bush etc.) design a place to put the container so it will lose the least amount of heat in 10 minutes.  This group placed their container in the air space at the base of a shrub for their 10 minutes.  They’re waiting for their results now.

Resource time – using watercolor to illustrate the views!

Visiting the Murie museum on campus.  what a special place!

Jessica taking on the grizzly bear role as her group worked on their species account. Teams of students created species accounts just as Olaus Murie did.  

More pictures to come from this day!  Stay tuned!

We arrived! 

The Tetons are just fine for the four Principia faculty – Kristin, Lynne, Ross, Charley (L to R).

Trying out cross country skis!  This group was impressive!  

Gretchen and Emily are skiing experts.

Chuy is a natural on his skis!

This was the caterpillar ski game in action.

Cicely and Hannah were amazing on the skis.

After dinner dish duty – thanks Jessica, Hawthorn and Emily!

Our first evening program focused on “Mindful Communication”

We played a few team building games to help us practice our communication skills.