Day 3 Personal Reflections

Today our day started with a delicious breakfast. We then had morning E-stations, then gathered into our groups, got into a van, and left the campus. We went to the base of the Tetons and went on a snowshoeing adventure. We had a great day.
-Shane Jimenez

The highlight of my day was when we sat down at the lake after our long hike. Our guide Jamie asked us to be quiet. We just sat there and reflected about our day and our experiences while looking across the vast expance of the frozen lake which reached up to the base of the mountains that towered over us. It really put a lot of things into perspective for me.
-Pat Griffin

Today we took a snowshoe hike at the base of the Tetons. As we hiked we discussed how the mountains were formed: tectonic plates crashing into each other causing them to rise and then glaciers cutting into them to form the features. Our group also made a song that included many of the themes we discussed today such as positive negative/feedback loops and self-organization. We will perform the piece for the group tomorrow; it will blow their minds.
-Andrew Carey

Today we talked about forest fires and how they are important to the area. We also talked about the carbon cycle and how it is important to understand it in order to move towards improving our Earth. We hiked a lot and had a blast in the Tetons. I can't wait for tomorrow's adventures.
-Alex Grunerud

Today we took the vans over to the base of the Tetons for some snowshoeing. I learned that the town of Jackson is not actually in "the hole" at the base of the Tetons. We snowshoed up through the trees and learned about the different layers of the snow and ate lunch. Overall, it was a fun day.
-Mathew Kestle

Today we went over to the base of the Tetons for snowshoeing. Snowshoeing was a new great experience for me. I also learned about the different layers of snow. Snowshoeing showed me how much work there is to it. Overall, snowshoeing was a great experance.
-Chris Leither

Today we strapped on our snowshoes and set out on an adventure. We learned about the relationship between positive and negative feedback, self-organization, and bifurcation; we also learned their relation to our week's topic, sustainability. Our group, the Cupine Crew, made a song and did experiments in the snow to test our knowledge of these aspects. Overall, another great day.
-Matt Brzowski

I think the Cupine Crew is having the most fun (no offense). Our instructor Jedda is teaching us everything, and it's really easy to learn from her. She taught us about the states of energy, including: anti-entropic, dynamic equilibrium, and entropic. Out in nature we found examples of this different energy and it is easy to focus and open your mind out here. We made a map of our cross country trip, and made a song today about what we learned. Collin Yoshi is playing the ukulele and we are singing (and rapping) to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," pretty clever.
-Stephen Strehl

The Blick group is doing really well and having a lot of fun. Today we drove closer to the Tetons and snowshoed. Our group was the only group that was able to go to the lake which was frozen over. We took ten minutes to just take in the sights and nature. It was really calming and relaxing. We also learned about anti-entropy, entropy, and mainting dynamic equilibrium. We also learned a lot about positive and negative feedback loops. It was a lot of fun snowshoeing. I can't wait for more.
-Tyler Perry

Today team Dwight had lots of fun. We snowshoed up the side of a lateral moraine and dug a snow cave. After we made the snow cave we found the different layers of the snow, such as the surface hoar and the depth hoar, and then looked at it under a microscope. Under the microscope we could see lots of different types of snow crystals depending on the layer of snow we took it from. This was my favorite part of the day because I saw a perfect snowflake from the surface hoar layer. After we all finished snowshoeing we went back to the camp, had dinner, and then told some ghost stories before going to sleep. It was a lot of fun snowshoeing, and I can't wait to go to the Elk Refuge tomorrow.
-Alex Baker

Team Dwight is having a great time. We learned a lot about glaciers and the land formations that they make today while we were snowshoeing. The coolest thing about where we were snowshoeing was that the forest of pines was really dense. We also saw five moose on the way back and it was really cool.
-Thomas Hanlon

The Grand Tetons set a fantastic backdrop here at TSS. We had another great day trekking around in the beautiful (and cold) wilderness. Lucky for us we have some really cool team leaders teaching us how to cross-country ski, how to snowshoe, and all about ecology. Today we snow shoed up the base of Grand Teton National Park and learned about glaciers and all the terminology. On the ride home we saw SEVEN moose, unlike the other van :'( Can't wait for tomorrow!
-Camille Overmoe

I'm definitely learning a lot. "The Cupine Crew's" team leader, Jedda, really knows her stuff. Today we learned: how to judge if a snow pack is safe to ski on, about glacial movement and terminology, and how biotic and abiotic factors effect an ecosystem. We got to get up close and personal with the Tetons and the surrounding lakes; it was another beautiful day. The group also found the time to come up with a sweet rap abouth the Tetons with Collin Yoshinaga on the ukulele. I'm excited to rap and show of my sweet MC skills. Tomorrow will be a pretty good day.
-Marcel Gaztambide

The scenery here is breathtaking. There has been great weather so far. Today we went to Grand Teton National Park and snowshoed up a hill to learn about snow and glaciers. I much prefer cross-country skis to snowshowing. The skis are so different than downhill skis though...making it a little tricky. "The Dwights's" team leader, Josh, has taught us a lot. He also is great at cheering us on if we fall or don't know an answer. I have learned a lot so far and have had so much fun. I'm excited to go to the elk refuge tomorrow.
- Sam Simpson

I am really glad I came here. At first there was the thought in my mind about how many days there were left until we leave, but that mind set changed today. After snowshoeing through the forest, we came upon a lake, frozen over by the cold air and barely touched by any people. Our group came aross it and we relaxed and reflected on this trip. We sat at the mouth of the Tetons on a beautiful lake while snow lightly fell onto our faces.
-Davis Pope

Yesterday, after a long day of snowshoeing, we learned about LEED Certification. LEED Certification stands for Leadership Energy Environmental Design. We were put into groups of four and were instructed to design our own LEED Certified residential building. We had a list of environmentally friendly materials to make our buildings with. However, each material had a price and we had a budget of $150,000. Each material had a certain amount of points as well. The more points you had, the higher level of LEED Certification you had. We had to figure out the highest amount of points we could get while staying within our budget. One group came up with a house that looked like a castle with a garden in the front yard and an orchard in the back so they could grow their own food. They also used wind as their source of energy. Another group built a house on a river. They used the water from the river as their source of energy. The other buildings included a school, a dome house, and many other creative designs. One thing that every building had in common was the recycled materials they used for furniture, for example, tables made out of sea glass and chairs made out of ski lifts. This relates to sustainability, our theme of the week, , in many ways. An example of this would be saving and reusing resources for future generatations. We all learned a lot from this project.
-Caitlin Edmunds & Ellen Sliwinski

Ask us what we did yesterday; just ask us. That's right, snowshoeing. We're what you might call professional snowshoers. To start the day we had a nice breakfast with the group as a whole. From there, we migrated over to Teton National Park to hike up the Grand Teton. While still having fun of course, we had to keep an eye out for wildlife and the prints they left behind. As we stood on top of a small moraine, we studied the majestic glaciers standing tall in front of us. "Dig a hole" our instructor Jedda said, "make a mural of the Grand, show me what it looked like before these towering peaks were formed." So we did. We dug into the suface hoar and passed through the many layers of snow until we hit the ground about four feet downward. Each layer of snow holds different temperatures: the further down, the warmer the snow is. Who knew this white winter land had so much to teach us? As the day went on, so did we, down the Grand and back to our stations. With such an exhausting day came a Teton song, made by yours truly, The Cupine Crew (Rachel North, Katie Lanzl, Stevie Strehl, Marcel Gaztembide, Andrew Carry, Collin Yoshinaga, and Matt Brzowski). A short "Over the Rainbow" tune/rap to present to the group and staff. Was it a hit? Let's just say, TSS won't be the last time we hear this song.
-Rachel North & Katie Lanzl