6th Grade Community Mapping Project

The Marion Cross sixth grade has been involved this year (2003-2004) in a Community Mapping Project on the Fire District land along Beaver Meadow Road. This has been a community service project in collaboration with the Norwich Fire District Land Management Council, the Norwich Trails Committee, the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, and the Norwich Recreation Program.The Community Mapping Program, a collaboration of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and the Orton Family Foundation, has provided the technical support for this project, assisting with all of our data collection field trips, and providing the GPS units, GIS technology, classroom support, and technical advise for this project to be successful.

The purpose of the project was to create an informational map of a proposed multi-use trail system, which had been initiated with the collaboration of the aforementioned town and regional groups. The map was to be created using GPS and GIS technology, and to include, not only the proposed trail, but interesting features of the property, both natural and man-made. The goal was that this information would be useful to the trail designers in their final choice of trail layout, as well as introducing the public to some of the more interesting aspects of the property. It is our hope that local people will be inspired to use the trails, notice the things that make this place special, and have a greater understanding of the history, both human and natural, of the landscape.

Our approach has been multifaceted.

• We learned how to locate our position on the land using satellite signals and GPS receivers

• We explored the woods and the old cellar holes

• We talked to local people who know about the land.

We have been delighted by discoveries of things that have persevered for perhaps 200 years, and things that have come and gone in the night. It has been a pleasure to walk on this land and learn about it, and it is a privilege that all of us in Norwich have the opportunity to do the same. We would like to encourage everyone to take advantage of that pleasure and privilege.

The project was financially supported by The Wellborn Ecology Fund and the Mascoma Savings Bank Community Foundation. Many people gave their time and expertise, including parent volunteers, members of community organizations, and MCS school staff. Many thanks to all of them.