Seventh-graders from Cortez Middle School visited Moab, Utah on May 3-5 for an educational trip that blended science, social studies and language arts learning, trip sponsor Melanie Cook said.

Twenty-four students camped in tents on the three-day, two-night trip. They hiked to Delicate Arch, explored Negro Bill Canyon and rafted the Colorado River.

“The students were able to appreciate the wilderness and learn outside the classroom,” said Cook, who teaches math at Cortez Middle School.

It was the inaugural trip of what Cook, along with co-sponsors Kate Ott and Toni Broughton, hopes will become an annual tradition involving the entire seventh-grade class. Cook engineered the trip to align with the earth science curriculum students have studied throughout the year.

“Experiential education puts what we do in context,” Cook said.

The trip involved lots of “firsts” for students, Cook said. Many had never been camping before, and some had never visited Moab, she said.

It was seventh-grader Miguel Estrada’s first time visiting Utah’s adventure capital. He said he learned some survival skills hiking in the harsh desert environment.

“It was pretty exciting, and we had fun,” he said. “You learn a lot when you do it yourself.”

Students learned about the geological history and makeup of the area, observing how erosion carved the landscape over thousands of years, said student leader Rachael Burson, an eighth-grader.

Estrada said they also learned about the area’s social history, discovering the culture and traditions of Native Americans in the area. Students learned that natives create small models, or effigies, of animals before embarking on hunting trips as a sort of good luck charm, he said. Estrada said he also learned how to use an atlatl, a Native American spear-throwing weapon.

Seventh-grader Cole Gropp said students on the trip were required to keep a journal in which they wrote about their experiences and chronicled their adventures.

“It was awesome,” Gropp said of the trip. “It was cool to see it all.”

As a student leader, Burson said she helped cook food and supervise the tent area in the camp. She took geology as a seventh-grader, so she got to re-learn some things on the trip, she said.

“We had lots of cool experiences but it was very educational,” Burson said. “We had a hands-on experience seeing the geology and the effects of massive erosion.”

Ott and Broughton said they were impressed by the way the students supported each other, especially when doing activities that they weren’t used to, such as hiking near cliff edges and rafting on river rapids.

“It got kids out of their comfort zone,” Ott said.