Roots on the Canyon Rim Trail

A Hike Along the Canyon Rim

1On a warm spring morning, Ranger Ortiz led a group of fourth graders along the rim of a wide desert canyon. Before they started, she held up a small glass tube. "This is a thermometer," she said. "Therm means heat, and meter means measure. It tells us how hot the air is." The thermometer showed that the air was already hot, so she reminded everyone to hydrate. "Hydr means water," she explained. "Take a sip from your bottle every time we stop."

2Soon the trail curved toward a rocky lookout. Far below, a thin green river wound between red and orange cliffs. Ranger Ortiz told the group that a geologist studies the earth. "Geo means earth, and ology means the study of something," she said. "Geologists read the layers in these cliffs like pages in a book." Each stripe of rock had formed over a very long time.

3At the lookout, a long telescope stood on a tripod. "Tele means far, and scope means to look at," said Ranger Ortiz. Amara peered through it and spotted a bighorn sheep standing on a narrow ledge across the canyon. Her friend Wes pulled out his camera to take a photograph. "Photo means light, and graph means to write or draw," the ranger added. "A camera uses light to make a picture."

4On the way back, the group passed a biologist kneeling beside a small cactus. She was counting the insects that visited its yellow flowers. "Bio means life," Wes whispered. "So a biologist must study living things!"

5At the visitor center, each student earned a junior ranger badge. Amara asked Ranger Ortiz to write her autograph on the back of Amara's trail map. Auto means self, so an autograph is a name that people write themselves.