My GUS-Inspired Field Trip to Hawaii
For a GUS student, field trips are a quintessential part of the experience at our beloved school.
This summer, I had the chance to go on what felt like my very own GUS field trip! No photograph or National Geographic article could have prepared me for the sights, sounds, smells, and the heat of an erupting volcano – but this is exactly what I got to experience on my journey in July of this year to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, with my husband, Todd. Through this experience, I was reminded of how important experiential learning is to our students.
Last winter, I began following Kilauea volcano’s activity with GUS fifth graders, when the volcano began erupting almost weekly. The last major eruption was in 2018. Kilauea is the most active volcano in Hawaii and one of the most dynamic volcanoes in the world. Would we get to see Kilauea erupt on this trip? Only time would tell!
On our first day in the park, Todd and I hiked along Devastation Trail, a landscape formed by the 1959 eruption of Kilauea. The trail lives up to its name: jagged fields of dark volcanic rock, known as tephra, stretch across the land. And yet, life finds a way to exist in this seemingly barren place. The first plant I noticed was the brilliant red ‘Ōhi‘a lehua, the first flower to grow on new lava flows. Believed to be sacred to Pele, the Volcano Goddess, these flowers close their stomata in the presence of volcanic gases—an incredible adaptation. The vivid blossoms stood in stark contrast to the black rock, a reminder of resilience and renewal. On this hike, we saw Kilauea, which was emitting gases from steam vents, indicating that magma (molten rock) was right below the surface.
The next day, we hiked Maunaulu, meaning “growing mountain,” formed between 1969 and 1974. Maunaulu is a lava shield created in Kilauea’s east rift zone, where magma pushes through weakened areas of the volcano. The hike was a true adventure: the maps didn’t match many trail markers, but after 25 years of marriage, Todd and I were used to navigating challenges together. Along the way, we discovered lava trees, formed when fast-moving lava once engulfed whole forests, leaving behind hardened bark patterns in stone. We also encountered cinders, frozen gas bubbles from past eruptions, and strange, otherworldly shapes of pāhoehoe (a type of lava flow). At the edge of a crater, too deep for us to safely approach, we marveled at the ‘Ōhi‘a lehua blooming defiantly on the rim, while white-tailed tropic birds (Koa‘e kea) dipped gracefully into the depths.
On our third day, we woke at dawn and checked the Kilauea webcam. To our amazement, it was erupting! We quickly gathered our gear and joined fellow volcano-watchers on Devastation Trail. As lava fountained up to 300 feet in the air, U.S. Geological Survey geologists – an all-women team – explained how recent debris had clogged vents, lowering the eruption height but spreading the flow. Then, as if nature wanted to add a final flourish, a rainbow arched over the eruption while a flock of nēnē (Hawaiian geese, also unique to the islands) soared overhead. That image will be with me forever.
On our final day, we explored the Hawai‘i Tropical Botanical Garden and OK Farms in Hilo, which grows coffee, cacao, macadamia nuts, spices, and an astonishing array of tropical fruits. It was incredible to see firsthand the huge diversity of plants that grow in the fertile volcanic soil of the Big Island.
My experience in Hawaii deepened my understanding of how dramatically and continuously land can be shaped. Changes in land in New England are pale in comparison to the landscapes I observed that are constantly altered by thermal energy within the earth. I look forward to incorporating these observations into our studies of land in 5th grade. On the Big Island, I was struck over and over by the resilience of plants and animals that survive, and even thrive, in landscapes remade by destruction. That lesson is one I want to carry back to my students: in the face of challenge, life finds a way. This idea is deeply tied to the Hawaiian spirit of aloha – love, compassion, and living in harmony with the land and one another. I felt it everywhere in Hawai‘i, and I hope to bring that spirit into our fifth-grade stewardship projects and into the broader GUS community.