Stave Falls Field Trip

Stave Falls Field Trip Recount 

The Stave Falls field trip last Friday was interesting and helped me understand more about electricity and hydroelectric dams. The field trip first started with a short movie about the water cycle and how water is turned into electricity. We were than split into 2 groups grade six’ and sevens. The small groups allowed the tour guides to talk and answer our questions more easily. The grade six tour guides name was Janice, she was very friendly and knew a lot about Stave Falls’ past and how the dam works. She encouraged us to look at many different displays. One of the displays contained possessions and information about the man who created the dam, his name was Mr. Milner. It was cool because Milner was our tour guides great grandpa. The next activity turned out to be the highlight of my day. There was a whole area of interactive displays for us to try. Some of the things the displays demonstrated were that gas and water could be turned into electricity and another is if you take one big step near a fallen power pole you would get shocked. At the end of the activity we were shown a very unique demonstration on how electricity is formed it is called the Tesla coil. 

All the grade six’ then followed Janice to the generator hall where we found a huge bridge crane, turbines and generators. She explained how generators, turbines and bridge cranes worked. 

Janice also gave us a quick history lesson about the actual building of the dam. The builders of the dam had to live in tiny cottages at a nearby town called Stave Falls so they could be right by the place they worked. We made our way outside and Janice pointed out that the big brown tubes are called penstocks. It was neat to see an actual penstock instead of seeing it drawn on a diagram. This field trip was my first trip to the Stave Falls Power House and with so much to look at and learn I would definitely make a return trip. 

By Cassidy