On the 21st of April P3 were treated to a exploration up the Ochill Hills with a team from Tilhill Forestry. We set off with our parent helpers and our guide Rob, who safely led us up to meet the others. Our journey was steep and winding and the Children started to notice all the sights from the hilltop views. it was really exciting to be so high up and to see how far we had climb by seeing where the school was now. Once at the top we split into two different groups for different activities.

The first activity introduced us to the hills and the planting that has been done on the sight so far. In six months they said they had planted 1.3 million trees. We could see lots of the plots from the view we were standing at. We were told that the trees would be growing for 40 years before they will be used to make furniture or build houses as well as other thing. We worked out that all the P3 children will be 47 or 48 when that happens. Scary!

We also learned about the effects of precipitation. through an activity we learned that with heavy rainfall and nothing to collect it the ground below a hill can become flooded, this is something that happened in 2012 in Menstrie. Now with the planting of trees the precipitation can be slowed down because the trees can collect some of the water for themselves and bind the soil together better.

A well earned break was needed so we stopped at the top of the hill for a snack before switching activity.

 

The second activity was really hands on and we worked in pairs to plant some trees. We helped to plant some Birch and Oak. we safely used a spade to dig two lines into the patch. Once we did this we could pop the tree roots in between. We then secured it in place using the soil and out foot to press it in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to start heading back to school. This time the journey was a lot easier because we were going down hill.

We made one more stop off. We learned lots about the age of trees. We learned that you can tell by the rings inside but if you can not cut it down you can give it a hug. One hug roughly equals the same as 100 years old. We also learned that the oldest tree in the United Kingdom is 2,900 BC. WOW!

 

 

It was a fantastic adventure and we were very tired once we got back to class that day. Thank you to all our helpers on the day and to Tilhill Forestry for letting us take part in such an interesting and fun trip. We cannot wait to go again.