ONSC

Ozark National Science Center. In 5th grade the kids are able to go to ONSC for an overnight science camp. Ashlee's teacher asked for volunteers to go- I volunteered and was able to do it! After I started packing and thinking about all the snakes, spiders, and bugs I was definitely wondering what I had gotten myself into though!

We were assigned cabin Tyson. The girls were REALLY well behaved and we didn't have any issues- except a couple had not the greatest hygiene..

Ashlee and I weren't in the same hiking groups, so I only saw her a couple times. The first day was a 4 hour hike. The kids were able to look for and mark animals and things they found in their books. They also did a solo hike, much to my relief no one got lost!:) 

 I think hands down the favorite part was the night hike. The guide had a flash light and then gave me one because I think she could see I was a little nervous. It was pitch black, but were able to hike about 15 minutes and look at stars and listen to animals. We also put Lifesaver Wintogreen mints in our mouths and watched them spark. I am realizing I am the only adult in the world who didn't know they did that!

At around 10 pm we got back to cabins for showers and lights out. The girls were all sound asleep by 12:30- the adults in the cabin were sound asleep by 11:30!:)

The second day was only a three hour hike, Ashlee's group came to the same "cave" we were looking at. I was happy to see her and snap a quick picture of her. She has a fake smile in this picture because right before they met up with us she tripped and banged her knee up pretty bad. They said she was a trooper through it, and continued on.

One of the other things they stress at ONSC is "Take what you need and eat what you take." They have an ice cream bucket for all the food waste after each meal. The goal is to have an empty bucket each time. The first two meals the kids only had about an inch and a half of food waste- the other two meals the bucket was almost completely full- not so good. It was a great visual for the kids (and me) to see how much we take for granted and waste.

Mr. Lyon's and Mrs. Brooks classes