Berry Picking

Berry picking is a huge past time in the Fall here in Kotzebue. Most of August is prime blueberry picking time, and September is for cranberries. If it is a nice evening, you can look up on the hills and see quite a few people hunched over picking the tundra berries. Although small, the blueberries are actually quite good. In my kindergarten class, we are doing a unit right now called "Bears and Berries." So, I figured what better way to study berries than to go out berry picking! I took my 20 kindergarteners out to the tundra, where we spent about 30 minutes picking berries. Of course, most of my kids were much more experienced berry pickers than I am, so they showed me which ones to pick and where to pick them from. We also had a couple science lessons when we came upon a couple spiders; and my kids swear they found a couple squirrel holes. It was my first time really walking on the tundra, and I was quite surprised at how squishy it is. It is basically a bunch of ground-cover and roots woven together, along with the berry branches. Just one Alaskan experience after another!
Here is a picture of me picking... rubber boots and all.