Newts

Newts are incredible animal because their look is strange. The adult newts’ tail is flatter than the kid’s tail. The newts’ body is like a salamander’s body but with thinner skin and four weak legs.


Newts are weird animal. Newts breathe with gills but in time they grow lungs. When newts grow lungs they go on land and when newts go on land people start calling them eft. The newts live on land for seven years then go back to the water to breed.

Newts eat insects, worms and mollusks for breafast, lunch, and dinner. It may seem disgusting to eat the same things all your life but newts love it and they don’t care how long they eat the same food.

By Junior

Chipmunks

Did you know that chipmunks live on the ground not only on trees? The chipmunk it is a very cute animal. We are going to tell you about chipmunks. The chipmunk is a small, striped animal that lives in burrows (tunnels). The chipmunks are actually a part of the squirrel family, which is a part of a larger rodent family.

Chipmunks hide in trees when they see something or hear someone. If there isn’t a tree nearby, they hide underground or in a crack in the ground.

Chipmunks eat nuts, seeds, and bread. The chipmunk uses its pouches in its cheeks to carry nuts and seeds to its burrow. The chipmunk lives on this food during the winter. They eat by holding a piece of in their small, slender front teeth. Chipmunks sleep through much of the winter, but they may awaken on warm winter days and eat some of the food they stored

Male chipmunks must compete for the female’s company and this can be a very noisy competition. Sometimes a male chipmunk will climb to the top a bird feeder, if you have one. Here he will create such a scene, sitting on his back legs and chattering at the top of his lungs, so that no birds will come near. After a few days the chipmunks mate.

Baby chipmunks live with their mother for six weeks and then go on their own to find a home in the trees or on the ground.

By Natasha and Lindsey

Cougars

I am going to tell you some information about cougars. Male cougars weigh 125 pounds and female cougars weigh 100 pounds. Cougars are the biggest cats found in North American mountains, deserts, forests, and swamps. Their life span is 12 to 13 years. They eat small animals like rats and birds and also deer.

By Erika

The Food!

When I went to Mountain School the thing I liked most was the food. The first night I was there I had three bowls of salad because it tasted better than salad at home or at school. It is the best salad in the world. Chef Charles makes great breadsticks too. For breakfast the pancakes were wonderful. I ate two. The eggs were good too and so were the strawberries. Everybody got to have seconds if they wanted. My favorite dessert was the Rice Crispy Treats with chocolate chips on them. The dining room was quiter and cooler than our cafeteria. by Jhoni

Mountain School Poems by Room 9

Ravens

Black birds
Noisy, fun, wild,
Flying up in the sky
Gliding down to earth,
Curious!

By Jose


Cutthroat Trout

The Cutthroat Trout,
Glistening across Diablo Lake
Scales sparkling like the blazing sun
Eating...
One small stickleback fish.

By Avery



The Step Lichen

Grows a new step each year,
and with each step a new personality.
It’s 1,2,3,4,5
grows a new step each year.

A plant can be old can be new
can be orange can be blue,
but this plant you see, is so extraordinary
and grows a new step each year.

By Aubrey



Cougars

Soft, brown and sleek
Hard like a rock
Fast, quiet and sneaky
Smart and clever
Hunting carnivore
Cougar!

By Erika

Ground Squirrels

Ground Squirrels are all over the world except Australia and Antarctica. Ground Squirrels are mostly found in the open country such as grasslands and tundra. They are striped or spotted rodents. Scientists say that Squirrels started 63 million years ago.

Ground Squirrels have more than one nest because if one gets destroyed they have a second one for protection. The nests are mostly needed in the summer and winter.

Ground Squirrels have lots of predators. Some of the predators are hawks, cats, foxes, weasels and snakes. They reach up to 10 to 12 years of wild but many die because of the predators.

Ground Squirrels eat seeds, nuts, fruit, buds, shoots, bark, sap, insects, eggs and fungi. With the squirrels good sense of smell they can find the food they have hidden during the winter. They hide the food under ground, under fallen leaves or in stockpiles near the nest to defend it from any danger.

By Jessica

Waterfalls

There is an extraordinary amount of waterfalls located in the North Cascade Mountains. Even though many are visible to people from the highway, there are still many waterfalls just waiting to be discovered by those who travel in the backcountry.

The Cascade Mountains are in fact, named for the many waterfalls they contain. Well actually for the many cascades they contain. A waterfall is the same thing as a cascade except, usually it is much wider and shorter. Many of the waterfalls are quite spectacular and beautiful.

One of the many waterfalls is the Gorge Creek Falls. Just below Gorge Creek Falls is Gorge Creek. Then Gorge Creek runs into the Skagit River that the goes through the Gorge Dam, the most western dam on the Skagit.

By Aubrey

The Black Bear

The Black Bear is one of the most common species of bears. It occurs through 39-50 states. One of those states is Washington. Right now there is an estimation of 600,000 black bears. There use to be 2 million of them before people started building cities the size of New York and electrical power plants.

If the bear charges and stops half way, it is trying to make you run away. If the bear charges and does not stop you must fight back. You have to use everything you have with you.

Black bears can weigh from 125-500 pounds. They eat mice, squirrels, fish, ants, bird’s eggs, lambs, pigs, acorns, berries, fruits, nuts and honey.

By Jason

Carnations

Carnations are the most beautiful flowers on earth. They can come in pink or other miscellaneous colors. Carnations are used for extraordinary occasions and they are very universal. All carnations are appealing. Carnations are approximately like roses but they’re shaped differently. They have a lovely scent. Carnations are an insignia of truth. They go glowing in garlands of roses, daisies and Venus flytraps.

By Jamie

Barred Owl

Have you seen a barred owl? You can see barred owls in the eastern half of North America, from Canada, south to Mexico but now you can see a few in the Pacific Northwest. The barred owl has dark eyes and dark rings around the eyes. An adult can grow to 44 cm long with a 112 cm wingspan.

The Barred Owl hunts by swooping down on its prey. It hunts at night. They catch mice, voles and others small animals. Other things that barred owls eat are mostly small mammals, but they may also capture birds, reptiles, crayfish, worms, insects, rabbits, and rats.

By Jose

Bonneville Cutthroat Trout

I have been doing research on the Bonneville Cutthroat Trout and I am going to tell you what I have learned.

The Bonneville Cutthroat Trout's average length is about nine inches long and weighs half a pound. It eats bugs and smaller fish. Its predators are larger fish, bears, hawk, and ospreys.

The Bonneville Cutthroat lives on small river and streams that flow into the Snake River. They also live in lakes and rivers in the North Cascades.

By Ryan

Sockeye Salmon

Do you like fish? Well if you do you should listen because I’m going to tell you about my favorite fish, the sockeye salmon.

Did you know that the sockeye salmon changes colors? Before the sockeye salmon spawns, the male is bright silver and lightly blue tinged. When the male spawns, the head, tail, and belly are light green. The rest of fish is bright red. Also when the sockeye salmon spawns it forms a hump on it’s back.


The sockeye salmon spends 1-4 years at sea. It spawns in the mid-summer. When the sockeye salmon spawns the fish lays 2,000-17,000 eggs. This fish can grow 24 inches long and can weigh 25 lbs. The sockeye eats insects and water organisms called.




By Avery