For The Spring FMN Basic Training Students, DIRT Was a BIG Deal!

Photos: Provided by the 2025 FMN Students in the Spring FMN Basic Training Session – Riverbend Field Trip

If the purpose of a field trip is to provide students with a hands-on, experiential learning opportunity outside of the classroom, then the May 5^th trip to Riverbend Park was certainly a success.

The park, located along the Potomac River in Great Falls, provided an opportunity to learn about the geology of the Potomac Gorge. Riverbend was a uniquely suitable site for the students to explore and observe the concepts presented in the Geology/Soils portion of the training. The FMN Instructors and field trip leaders, Geologist Cynde Sears – Geology, and Soil Scientist Dan Schwartz – Soils, are both very accomplished and skillful guides, who can take the classroom curriculum to the field in a way that was engaging, relatable, and at times, exciting. This was certainly the case when it came to understanding the formation and composition of soil. Cynde Sears explained how over millions of years, rock, composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, is broken down into soil by the chemical processes of lichen. Dan Schwartz described how soil is composed of varying amounts of sand, silt, clay and a surface area of rich organic material forming layers or horizons.  The class took soil samples from a low-lying moist area away from the trail. For these students, dirt was a BIG deal, and their energy was fun to share. The attached pictures are a testament to their enthusiasm and understanding of the concepts.

The lighter, grainier samples are from the deeper sections of the samples (containing more sand and silt), whereas the darker, thicker samples are from the upper layers (containing more clay and organic material).