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K-12 EnvironmentalEducation in theNatural Reserve System

Photo by David Gubernick

K-12 EnvironmentalEducation inthe United StatesIn the late 1990s, the North AmericanAssociation for Environmental Education and theEnvironmental Literacy Council commissioned asurvey of kindergarten through high school(K-12) teachers concerning environmentaleducation in the United States. The report,entitled “Environmental Studies in the K-12Classroom: A Teacher’s View,” appeared in 2000.From this survey, we learn that 61.2 percent ofthe 1,505 teachers who responded to the mailedsurvey included environmental topics in theircurricula. Some two-thirds of the respondents(62.9 percent) taught about the environment fewerthan 50 hours per year, a fifth taught 50 to 100hours, and less than one in five respondents(17 percent) taught more than 101 hours.Overall, over 60 percent of teachers ofenvironmental topics were trained inenvironmental studies and/or ecology, eitherbefore or after they became teachers. The mostcommonly used teaching materials were textbooks(79.1 percent), the library (75.9 percent), andnewspapers (74 percent). The specific topicstaught by these teachers are tabulated in Table 1.Table 1Environmental Topic# TeachingTopic (n=920)PercentageRecycling and wastemanagement 803 87.3Endangered species 710 77.2Conservation of energy 688 74.8Forests and wetlands 598 65.0Air quality 580 63.5Global warming andthe ozone layer 348 37.8Acid rain 310 33.7Population growth 300 32.6Other topics 74 8.04

K-12 Environmental Educationin the NRSSchools are major users of the University of California’s NaturalReserve System sites. The K-12 environmental educationactivities supported by the NRS both enable and reinforce indistinctive ways the education offered in the schools.Moreover, because of the very limited amount of time dedicatedin the schools to environmental education, field trips to NRSsites represent a significant fraction of students’ exposureto environmental studies in a school year. Because of thedramatically effective, hands-on activities that K-12 studentsengage in at reserves, even a brief visit may leave deep andlasting impressions, lessons that are never forgotten and caneven be life-changing.Environmental education represents a major and valuable activitythroughout the Natural Reserve System. Each year, more than10,600 children participate in a wide variety of programs at NRSreserves, always under the guidance of University faculty andstudents, reserve staff, docents, and other public volunteers. Formany children, their visit to an NRS reserve gives them their firstinsights into the functioning of the natural world. This reviewprovides use statistics for 2003-04, the most recent year forwhich compiled data are available, and highlights programs withspecial features offered in 2004-05.Educational programs take many forms at NRS reserves. Innercity students in Los Angeles might take a daylong field trip tothe Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve to explorea chaparral ecosystem. Latino students from north of SantaBarbara might be given the opportunity to visit the SedgwickReserve throughout the school year to restore an eroded creekbed. For students from Mammoth Lakes, a weekend might bespent planting a native landscape at the local junior college underthe guidance of a reserve educator. For high school studentsnear Lake Tahoe, an intensive, six-week summer course at theSagehen Creek Field Station fosters their leadership skills andmastery of English.ÑWhat is the role of the NRS?The role of the NRS in environmental education is integral to the University’s mission of teaching,research, and public service. In many cases, NRS reserves are the only UC presence in large areasof the state. This is obviously true on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the remotereaches of the Mojave Desert, and on the isolated Big Sur Coast. But it can also be true in areasnearer to a campus, for the reserves have a special ability to reach out to specific student populations— English language learners, Native Americans, and other underrepresented populations — to capturetheir interest with the beauty of nature and the fascination of science, and to open up their worldviewsto the possibilities of attending the University.6

Statistics of Reserve UseTwenty-one of the 35 NRS reserves have active K-12 education programs. The following charts representsuch use for fiscal year 2003-04, the most recent year for which complete data are available. The firstchart includes eight reserves that support more than 600 user days per year.K-12 Outreach Use 2003-04 • Sites with >600 User Days3500300025002000150010005000HastingsSagehenSanJoaquinMarshStuntRanchCoal OilPointSedgwickVESR: SNARL& ValentineCampThe thirteen reserves whose use is documented below have smaller (less than 600 user days per year),but still significant, K-12 education programs. Many are located in remote parts of the state, far fromlarge population centers, or lack adequate facilities to handle large numbers of students. The remainingfourteen NRS sites that do not support K-12 use are closed to the public due to ownership concerns,environmental sensitivities, or absence of facilities and onsite staff.K-12 Outreach Use 2003-04 • Sites with

ÑAdventure, Risk, & ChallengeSummer Literacy and LeadershipProgram (ARC)Participating Reserve: SAGEHEN CREEK FIELD STATIONFunded by: PRIVATE DONATIONSAdditional Information: Transect 23: 2 (Autumn 2005): “Summer at Sagehen Reserve transforms teensthrough program of Adventure • Risk • Challenge” (pages 7-13). A PDF of thisarticle can be accessed at: .Based at the Sagehen Creek Field Station, this intensivesix-week summer program combines outdoor adventureand leadership activities with English and scienceinstruction. Serving at-risk tenth- and eleventh-gradeEnglish Language Learners (ELL) whose first language isSpanish, ARC has dramatically improved its graduates’performance on the English portion of the California HighSchool Exit Exam.The program aligns closely with California StateStandards, and all key ARC instructors are credentialedteachers. Program director Katie Fesus holds an M.A.in Education from Stanford University and a Californiateaching credential from Mills College in Oakland.Most ARC students are drawn from the local Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District, where 25 percent of thedistrict’s students are designated as ELL. Ninety percentof these ELL students are achieving below grade level, and60 percent drop out before graduation. Each year Fesusworks with school faculty and staff to identify eight to tenELL students who have both leadership and academicpotential, but who are struggling with English. She thenmeets with the students and their families to determinetheir interest in participating in the program.The ARC curriculum consists of a series of outdoorexpeditions interspersed with academic time spent atSagehen. Each program component has been designedto gradually build the students’ confidence and selfsufficiencyuntil, by the end of the six weeks, they arecomfortable with spending twenty-four hours on their ownin the wilderness, teaching younger students basic scienceconcepts, and reading their poetry in public.The program’s tone is set on the first day when thestudents head into the Desolation Wilderness for an eightdaybackpacking trip. Because most of the participantshave no camping experience, ARC instructors carefullyguide this trip, ensuring student safety while teachingbackcountry survival skills. During this trip, participantsbegin to establish their group culture as they takeresponsibility for essential day-to-day chores.12

Following the backpacking trip,the group comes to Sagehen tofocus on language arts, science,and leadership/physical fitness.The language arts curriculumincludes reading groups,vocabulary and grammarexercises, writing projects, peersharing, and public speaking.By the end of the program,each student drafts, edits, andpublishes three major writingassignments.The science curriculum isorganized around the localschool district’s “TeachingTahoe” standards, introducingthe students to the naturalworld and environmentalconcepts. Students research anatural history topic and createa bilingual interpretive trail on their topic. They then leadtours for young students from the local Boys and Girls Club.The leadership and physical fitness curriculum challengeseach student to take on groupwide leadership and supportroles as they prepare meals, clean their campsite, facilitatedaily group meetings, and maintain a camp log. Thiscurriculum also teaches wilderness medicine, healthynutrition, and building physical strength through runningand other exercise.Time at Sagehen is interspersed with new expeditions:sea kayaking on Lake Tahoe, river rafting, rock climbing,ROPES courses, an environmental service day, andadditional backpacking trips. Each successive adventuredemands a higher level of self-sufficiency from the studentsuntil, by the final trip, they are completely in charge ofplanning and carrying out a wilderness trip that includes atwenty-four-hour solo and an off-trail peak ascent.In the first year of the program (2004), all of the studentsimproved dramatically on post-program Englishexaminations. Four of five students eligible to take theHigh School Exit Exam passed on their first try. Equallyimportant has been the dramatic improvement in thestudents’ self confidence and willingness to explore newopportunities. As 2005 participant Israel Carillo wrote:Climbing these mountainsIs teaching meThat every difficult obstaclecan be overcome if I believeIn myselfjEnvironmentaleducation has to comeout of the universitiesand academicinstitutions, downto a grassroots levelestablishing a directcontact with its targetgroups.ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION:GLOBAL TRENDS AND LOCAL REALITYUlf Carlsson and Strike Mkandla.United Nations Environment ProgrammeOnline Colloquium, October 19-30, 1998This resource provides an informal review of thelessons learned from the first twenty-five yearsof efforts in the field of environmental educationby the United Nations Environment Programand other internal organizations. It includes alist of ten suggestions to direct environmentaleducators to focus on some important aspectsof environmental education through improving itsrelevance and efficiency.13

ÑCamp Kalawashaq’Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission IndiansKids Summer Camp Program 2005Participating Reserve: SEDGWICK RESERVEFunded by: SANTA YNEZ BAND OF CHUMASH INDIANSParticipating Institutions: Camp Kalawashaq’ is a joint effort supported by the Santa Yneztribal Elders and Education Committees, the Sedgwick Reserve, the UCSB Office of CampusOutreach Initiatives, and the UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.Additional Information: Videos of the 2004 and 2005 camps are available from the Education Office of the SantaYnez Band of Chumash Mission Indians: (805) 693-8155.In 2003, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians EducationCommittee partnered with UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) to establish asummer camp to build their children’s awareness of tribal culture andthe natural environment, and to spark an interest in attending college.To achieve these goals, the Chumash education staff worked with theoutreach team at UCSB’s Sedgwick Reserve to design an annual sixweekprogram that balanced learning and fun. Serving students from sixto sixteen years of age, the program has grown steadily in its first threeyears of operation, from eight to ten children the first year, to more thanforty in 2005.Camp activities incorporate tribal culture and history, with hands-onscience activities at UCSB, Sedgwick Reserve, and such other locations as regional parks, a local naturalhistory museum, and the tribal hall. Tribal culture activities range from building and maintaining a traditionalChumash ap (house) at Sedgwick, to learning the Chumash language, which until recently was on the verge ofdisappearing. A number of experts come to the camp to share their knowledge:Ñ Joe Dabill, a talented survival specialist, visited Sedgwick to present a workshop on Chumash Lifeways,including flint-knapping, fire-making, cordage-making, use of hand drills, atlatl-throwing, archery, use ofnative plants, and hands-on crafts. Dabill has taught classes for the Santa Cruz Mountains Natural HistoryAssociation, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, and the California Academy of Sciences.Ñ Mark Mendez came to the reserve to lead activities in Chumash music and games, teaching the childrento make clappersticks, deer-hoof rattles, and other regalia. Mendez has presented workshops at numerousschools, pow-wows, and museums, including the Sherman Indian School Museum, the Huntington Library,and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.Ñ Marcos Lopez, a founder of the Chumash Maritime Association, showed the students how to build a tomol(wooden plank boat), explained how the tribe used the boats to travel out to the Channel Islands, and gave thechildren an opportunity to paddle a tomol. Lopez has participated in the building of four tomols and has twicepaddled in channel crossings from the mainland to Santa Cruz Island.Ñ On an overnight trip to Santa Cruz Island (site of original Chumash villages), noted Chumash storytellerJulie Tumamait-Stenslie introduced the students to traditional tribal lore. Tumamait-Stenslie is descendedfrom a long line of culture bearers, people dedicated to preserving traditional Chumash stories, songs, dances,and medicine.14

ÑÑThe science curriculum includesinteractive lessons in environmentalscience, marine life, geology, botany,and biology. Activities include:A trip to UC Santa Barbara, wherethe students tour the Marine ScienceLaboratory, the Bren School, and themarine touch tanks, followed by afloating-laboratory excursion aboardthe marine research vessel CondorExpress.Interpretive hikes at Sedgwick ledby volunteer docents who introducestudents to the area’s native animalsand plants. Other reserve activitiespopular with the students includebuilding fish tanks, designing aquaticrobots, and participating in anenvironmental restoration projectwhere they remove invasive flora andreplace them with native plants.Ñ The camp ends with a closingceremony at the reserve, where parentsand tribal elders gather to celebratethe students’ accomplishments and towatch them perform Chumash dancesand songs. For many students, this istheir first public opportunity to use thetribal regalia and gear (clappersticks,deer-hoof rattles, and shell rattles)they created earlier in the program.Formal and traditionalenvironmental educationmust be strengthened, but itmust also be complementedby nonformal and nontraditionalapproachesto reach out to importantgroups in society.—Carlsson and MkandlaENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION15

ÑExploring California BiodiversityParticipating Reserves: ANGELO COAST RANGE RESERVE,HASTINGS NATURAL HISTORY RESERVATION,SAGEHEN CREEK FIELD STATIONFunded by: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONAdditional Information: The primary goal of the Exploring California Biodiversityprogram is to inspire in urban children an appreciationfor the rich diversity of life and a recognition thatbiodiversity is not confined to rainforests in exotic places,but extends to their own schoolyards. Perhaps the mostinspiring experience for any child is direct observationof life, and from this experience comes comprehensionof life’s diversity, along with an appreciation of variation,adaptation, and the potential for biological evolution.This National Science Foundation-funded programdevelops a learning community among graduate studentfellows, classroom teachers, and their students thatfocuses on understanding the natural environment.Eight graduate fellows associated with the UC BerkeleyNatural History Museums (BNHM), along with eightundergraduate associates, work with middle and highschools in the San Francisco Bay Area, using thefacilities and resources of the BNHM and UC BerkeleyadministeredNRS reserves. Theprogram involves field trips, thebuilding and studying of naturalhistory collections in the K-12 schools,additional study of BNHM collections,and the use of interpretive tools.Students in the program come fromhigh schools and middle schoolslocated in minority-dominated urbanareas. Each year these students visitthree NRS reserves — Angelo CoastRange Reserve, Hastings NaturalHistory Reservation, and SagehenCreek Field Station — to learn aboutthe diversity of organisms that live inCalifornia and techniques for studyingthis diversity. Among other activities,the students learn how to capture (andrelease) and identify animals, collectand preserve plants, observe animalsin the wild, navigate using a compassand GPS unit, and maintain accuratefield notes.16

Ñ“Inside the Outdoors”Wild Wetlands ProgramParticipating Reserve:SAN JOAQUIN FRESHWATER MARSH RESERVEFunded by: ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOLSParticipating Institutions: Orange County Department ofEducation’s “Inside the Outdoors” and University of California, IrvineAdditional Information: Environmental educationmust initially concentrateon the local environmentaround its target groupin order to effectivelyreach the audience.Educators must be ableto translate broad globalimperatives to suit localrealities.—Carlsson and MkandlaENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATIONEach year the Orange County Department of Education(OCDE) brings 2,000 to 4,000 second- and third-gradestudents to the San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserveas part of its “Inside the Outdoors” environmentaleducation program. These students come from more thanfifty schools across Orange County for workshops thatlook at the role of animals and plants in the marsh, theimpact of pollution, and wetlands ecology.The students take advantage of a marsh section recentlyrestored under a grant from the California CoastalConservancy. Reserve staff prepared special wildlifeviewing and teaching sites by clearing zones throughdense cattail stands, pumping water to create convenient,flooded aquatic habitat, and mowing the adjacent uplandbuffer zone. Upon arriving at the marsh, studentsengage in a variety of hands-on activities: bird watching,studying the impacts of pollution through a food chaingame, creating a model of the marsh, and touching a livemarsh animal.Each half-day workshop is taught by“Inside the Outdoors” staff members,who have carefully designed theprogram to conform to the CaliforniaScience Content Standards and theScience Framework for CaliforniaPublic Schools. The overall goalof the program is to empowerstudents, teachers, parents, and thecommunity to explore natural areasand to expand their environmentalunderstanding.Note: This program has been suspended for the2005-06 school year due to concerns about WestNile Virus. Discussions are now underway to bringthe program back to the reserve for the 2006-07school year.18

ÑKids in NatureParticipating Reserve: SEDGWICK RESERVEFunded by: UCSB FACULTY OUTREACH GRANTS, BELLA VISTAFOUNDATION, SANTA YNEZ BAND OF CHUMASH INDIANS, UCSBWOMEN’S FACULTY CLUB, DENNY GOODCHILD KIDS IN NATUREMEMORIAL FUND, AND PRIVATE DONORSParticipating Institutions: UCSB Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and EcologicalRestoration, and Sedgwick ReserveAdditional Information: Transect 21: 1 (Spring 2003): “Kids in Nature Trains the NextGeneration of Earth’s Caretakers at Sedgwick Reserve” (pages 12-14). A PDF of thisarticle can be accessed at: .Kids in Nature (KIN) is a year-long program that introduces underservedfourth- to sixth-grade students in northern Santa Barbara County toscience and the environment. Now entering its fifth year, the programbrings the students on regular trips to the Sedgwick Reserve and the UCSanta Barbara (UCSB) campus for activities that interweave science, thearts, and technology. Depending upon funding, anywhere from 135 to 240students participate each year.KIN targets elementary schools that feed into low-performing high schools.These schools tend to score low on standardized tests and serve higherpercentages of underserved and underrepresented students. All KIN schoolsare in the federal Title I program for economically disadvantaged schools.The program’s goals are to excite these students about science, teach themto care about the environment, and encourage them to consider attendingcollege. All KIN activities are designed to help students meet grade-levelCalifornia Science and Visual Arts Standards.The program features six field trips spread throughout the school year: fivethree-hour sessions at the Sedgwick Reserve and one three-hour sessionat UCSB. An additional general campus awareness visit to UCSB is alsooffered, when funding is available. During their visits to the reserve, thestudents work in groups of four to six under the guidance of a speciallytrained KIN docent. This docent remains with the group throughout theyear, providing students with a strong mentor.Each group is challenged to restore a 25-square-meter plot of land alongFigueroa Creek, using native plants grown in the reserve’s onsite nursery.During their first visit, the students tour the nursery to learn about thedifferent plants.They then work together to design their restoration, prepare the site, andput in the plants. Part of each subsequent visit is spent tending the plotsand recording plant growth, using digital cameras and other tools. Duringeach visit, the students also take hikes to explore other aspects of thereserve’s ecology or geology. On each hike, the docents provide binocularsto encourage the students to make observations and broaden theirunderstanding of the interrelatedness of all aspects of nature.20

On their visit to UCSB’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversityand Ecological Restoration, students investigate plantstructure and function and participate in handsonlaboratory activities that teach them how to usemicroscopes and other laboratory equipment. They alsovisit the herbarium, restored natural areas on campus,and the bird and live reptile collections to learn moreabout native plants, animals, and habitats. Lessonsthe students learn on these field trips are reinforced byclassroom activities back at their schools. Each KIN classreceives microscopes, prepared slides, software, and othermaterials to study plant structure. Each student getshis or her own KIN journal to record field and laboratoryobservations throughout the year.The KIN experience culminates on Celebration Day,when students from all the schools come together todisplay their reports, writings, artwork, and multimediaproductions to parents and the public. As well aspresenting their own work, the children are also treatedto a wildlife presentation and a barbeque lunch.Sedgwick ReserveDocent ProgramOne major key to the success of theSedgwick Reserve’s environmentaleducation programs is the dedicationand creativity of more than 100docent volunteers. The docentprogram was established in 2001to help the reserve director expandeducational opportunities. Thedocents’ primary function is tointerpret the landscape, ecology,and research activities for both K-12students and public visitors. Throughthe years, they have introduced morethan 10,000 visitors to Universitylevelresearch, as well as the area’snatural history. Docents involvedin the Kids in Nature program workwith the same group of students foran entire school year, forming a closeintergenerational bond that facilitateslearning.Each fall the reserve presentsa training course of seventeensessions for new docents. Thesesessions cover a wide range of topics,from geology and oak biology toenvironmental dance and movement.The instructors include field researchscientists, local experts in specificfields, and faculty from UCSB, theSanta Barbara Museum of NaturalHistory, and the Santa BarbaraBotanic Garden. Current docentsalso take regular refresher courseson a monthly basis.21

Program ResultsLead teacher Mark DiMaggio gauges the success ofhis program by the impact it has had on individualstudents. Here are six student stories:• Michael Glinski pursued a career in wildlife artafter experiencing the outdoors at Santa CruzIsland (SCI).• Keith Miller is currently studying environmentalscience as a result of his experience on SCI.• Joey Reti is studying anthropology andarchaeology at UCLA and has been to Africatwice, since being introduced to outdoorfieldwork on SCI.• Sophie Pierzalowski is planning a career inconservation biology, after a summer week onthe island.Why use NRS sites?NRS sites are ideal for this typeof experience for high school fieldbiology classes, because:ÑÑjThey are widely distributedthroughout the state and arewithin reasonable distancefrom most any school inCalifornia.NRS sites are a naturallaboratory where ecologicalprocesses can be observedand studied.• Rashell Ralston spent an entire summer as anintern on the island and went on to pursue adegree in biology at UCSB.• Mark Lawler pursued a degree and a careerwith the National Park Service after beingenchanted by SCI.ÑÑÑNRS sites offer the likelihoodthat university scientists orgrad students will be on hand,conducting their research,and will either need assistanceor can share their expertisewith the students.NRS sites often need volunteerhelp on a wide variety ofprojects. This gives studentsthe opportunity to becomeinvolved in real science.The staff at NRS sites havealways been very helpful andeager to help high schoolstudents and to assist inarranging visits to the reserve.Santa Cruz Island Reserve offers allthese benefits, plus the additionalHUGE advantage of being an island.This opens up the chance for studentsto learn about the unique biology ofislands and brings in the wonderfulsense of adventure that being on anisland includes.j—Mark DiMaggioEarth Sciences and Biology TeacherPaso Robles High School23

ÑStunt Ranch ReservePublic EducationParticipating Reserve:STUNT RANCH SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS RESERVEFunded by: PRIVATE DONATIONSParticipating Institutions: UCLA, Mountains Restoration TrustOnline Information: Transect 20:3 (Winter 2002): “Educational Programs Thrive at Stunt RanchReserve — Even with Sky for Roof and Earth for Floor” (pages 8-11). A PDFof this article can be accessed at: .Each year more than 3,000 students fromdozens of elementary and high schoolsthroughout the greater Los Angeles areavisit the Stunt Ranch Santa MonicaMountains Reserve for programs in thenatural history of chaparral and oakwoodlands, local geology, and the historyof the Chumash people. The program,coordinated by the Cold Creek Docents,has been running continuously on the sitesince 1977.The three-hour school programs are oftencustomized to meet the needs of individualteachers. In most cases, classes of sixtyto seventy students arrive by bus and aredivided into groups of ten to twelve. Eachgroup then takes a 1.5-mile hike throughseveral plant/animal communities toexperience those communities firsthand,while a docent explains relevant ecologicalconcepts. The latter part of the programis held in the reserve’s educational zonewhere students take part in a rotationof activities that includes discussingChumash village life, examining preservedanimal specimens, grinding acorns,experimenting with “cave wall” painting,playing Native American games, andwatching tool-making demonstrations.Located in a relatively undisturbedwatershed of the Santa Monica Mountainsand surrounded by 1,500 acres ofprotected open space, the Stunt RanchSanta Monica Mountains Reserve providesa perfect place to introduce local studentsto the environment.24

The diversity of animal and plant life along thestream and the proximity of a number of differentnatural communities offer a rich environment forexploration.Most of the students who visit the reserve are fromthe inner city. They have grown up in an urbanenvironment, and this is often their first experiencewith a natural area. Some are uncomfortable withthe mountains and chaparral. Many worry aboutrattlesnakes and mountain lions. But under thecareful guidance of the docents, the studentsgradually become familiar with the outdoorenvironment. They leave the program with a senseof accomplishment, as well as an understanding ofthe importance of resource conservation.This program is a collaboration between UCLA,the reserve’s administering campus, and the ColdCreek Docents, the educational component ofthe nonprofit Mountains Restoration Trust, anorganization dedicated to preserving, protecting,and enhancing the Santa Monica Mountains.jThe Cold Creek DocentsFor over a quarter century, the ColdCreek Docents have persevered throughwildfires, earthquakes, torrential rains,and landslides to provide an awardwinningenvironmental educationprogram to schools throughout thegreater Los Angeles area.Each year new and continuing docentsspend two months in weekly trainingcourses conducted by experts in suchareas as wildlife behavior, ecologicalprinciples and communities, geology,aquatic resources, and Chumash/Tongva culture. In 1993, the group wasrecognized with the Governor’s HistoricPreservation Award for their uniquearchaeology education program. In 1995,they received a Take Pride in Californiaaward from the California Department ofState Parks.25

ÑValentine Eastern Sierra ReserveOutdoor Science Education ProgramParticipating Reserve: VALENTINE EASTERN SIERRA RESERVE (VESR):SIERRA NEVADA AQUATIC RESEARCH LABORATORY (SNARL)AND VALENTINE CAMPFunded by: MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN SKI AREA (SCHOOL FIELD-TRIPPROGRAM), STUDENT FEES (SUMMER CLASSES)Additional Information: ,Transect 23:2 (Autumn 2005), “Kid Vid Plugs Bugs” (page 14), and Transect 16:1(Spring/Summer 1998), “SNARL’s Successful Public School Outreach ProgramContinues with the Addition of a Library Component” (pages 4-5). PDFs of these articlescan be accessed at: .The Outdoor Science EducationProgram (OSEP) at the ValentineEastern Sierra Reserve (VESR) inMammoth Lakes is designed toprovide the elementary and middleschools in Inyo and Mono countieswith meaningful, hands-on scienceeducation and enrichment. Schoolsin this isolated, sparsely populatedportion of the state travel up to90 miles to participate in theseworkshops.OSEP programs take place at bothVESR sites — the Sierra NevadaAquatic Research Laboratory andValentine Camp — as well as inthe local schools with two primarycomponents. The field trip componentis the largest part of the program,hosting approximately 2,000 studentsper year from twelve schools in sixdifferent school districts. Field tripsfeature a two- to three-hour, handson,age-appropriate lesson that hasbeen carefully aligned with regionalschool curricula. Some typical lessonspresent ant ecology with ant trackingand food-preference experiments;aquatic invertebrate identification andclassification; introduction to forestmammals (with skulls and furs); andconifer identification and forest fireecology.26

Many lessons include simulation games with graphing anddata analysis. The primary instructors for the programare VESR Education Coordinator Leslie Dawson, a formerpark ranger who holds three teaching credentials and amaster’s degree in Education, and Sherry Taylor, whohas ten years of environmental education experiencewith Dawson. The schools provide transportation to andfrom the reserve, supervising teachers, and chaperones.This part of the program is offered through the generoussupport of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.VESR also offers a summer school program — one- andtwo-week summer classes for up to 120 students (tenstudents per class) in grades one through nine. Youngerstudents study habitats, insects, bats, or trees, whilethe older students may study life skills of early man,natural history, forest ecology, or art in nature. Theprogram employs up to nine teachers with a wide varietyof specialties and is fully subscribed each year. Theinstructors in this program range include classroomteachers, graduate students, and biologists withgovernment agencies. A trained volunteer docent assistseach teacher. Many students have taken every classoffered and are now serving as teaching assistants in theprogram. Several alumni of the program are now enrolledin universities as biology majors; two alumni have receivedteaching credentials and returned as instructors in theprogram. This part of the program is self-supportingthrough fees charged to the students.Reserve instructors also bring the OSEP program to theclassroom through pre- and post-field trip lessons, EarthWeek activities, and through the Native Plant Project.The Native Plant Project, co-sponsored by the CaliforniaNative Plant Society, is an in-class unit designed to teachMammoth Elementary fourth-grade students about lifehistory, propagation, and restoration using native plants.27

ÑLos Angeles Conservation CorpsUCSB-LACC Natural ReserveScience Education ProgramParticipating Reserve: SEDGWICK RESERVEFunded by: THE FREDERIC E. STECK FAMILY FOUNDATIONParticipating Institutions: Los Angeles Conservation Corps, UC Santa BarbaraOnline Information: Established in 1986, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps(LACC) is a community-based nonprofit dedicated toproviding at-risk young adults and school-aged youthwith opportunities for success. “Corps members” learnnew job skills, explore educational opportunities, gainwork experiences that focus on conservation and service,and discover the diversity of southern California’s naturalresources. In the course of the program, they experiencepersonal growth, while making important contributions to thegreater Los Angeles area.Launched in the spring of 2005, the UCSB-LACC NaturalReserve Science Education Program brings inner city youthto the Sedgwick Reserve for weekend programs that integraterestoration fieldwork, environmental science education, andcollege preparedness training.The weekends are followed by a two-week summer internshipin July for selected students on the UC Santa Barbaracampus. Program goals are to:ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑIntroduce participants to a range of natural sciences in contextual settingsEducate participants on environmental science careers and college opportunitiesEncourage interactive learning and intellectual curiosityEncourage excitement about the environmental sciencesDevelop an understanding of applied science in a natural reserve settingIdentify students best suited for University of California summer internshipsAssist students to develop skills that will enhance their opportunities for college.While at Sedgwick Reserve, students are guided by volunteer docents who have received extensive training in thearea’s natural history. They then conduct a project at the native plant nursery, investigate propagation techniquesfor native plants, collect seeds for future restoration projects, meet with scientists conducting research at thereserve, take cross-country hikes to learn about the area’s natural history, enjoy a star-viewing session withastronomy experts, and hear a presentation from the UCSB Campus Admissions staff on preparing for college.Program participants are high school freshmen and sophomores selected from the LACC’s “Clean and Green”Program. Fully 94 percent of the participants are nonwhite and 31 percent live below the poverty line. Three tofour LACC team leaders accompany each group to assist with the program. Piloted in 2005 for 60 students, theprogram will be expanded to include 100 students in 2006.28

Additional ProgramsThis brochure highlights nine of the many unique K-12 and publiceducation programs going on throughout the UC Natural ReserveSystem. Other programs include:“Drawing from Nature,” a monthly children’s feature that appearsin the Los Angeles Times and is written by Carol Felixson, theDirector of Education and Community Outreach at UCLA’s StuntRanch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve and the Mildred E. MathiasBotanical Garden. Each article features an animal or a plant found atthe reserve or in the garden. The articles are illustrated with artworkcreated by children and include instructions to readers for how to dothe art at home. Transect 23:1 (Spring 2005) features this programin “Young Readers Explore the Art of Nature” (pages 6-7) and can bedownloaded at: .A number of reserves host public lecture programs that givethe public in remote parts of the state an opportunity to hear fromthe University’s top field scientists. These include the McLaughlinNatural Reserve () nearClear Lake, the Sagehen Creek Field Station () north of Truckee, the Sierra Nevada AquaticResearch Laboratory () south ofMammoth, and the Hastings Natural History Reservation () in Carmel Valley.The development of the Internet has also opened up a numberof new science education opportunities for NRS reserves. Each day3,000 to 4,000 people log on to the James San Jacinto MountainsReserve’s Web-based environmental observatory () to follow the development of chicksin nest boxes or observe bird-feeding behavior. Likewise, the publiccan watch trout moving upstream via Sagehen Creek’s underwater“fish cam” () or watchdevelopments in an owl nesting box at the Hastings Natural HistoryReservation site (). While all of these Internet-accessible projectsare primarily designed to aid ongoing scientific research on site, theyare also inspiring a new generation of prospective scientists andengineers.In addition to conducting its own programs, the NRS lends supportto the science education efforts of other University programs:The UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science Research Camp forHigh School Students program () uses both the Sagehen CreekField Station and the Bodega Marine Reserve.School trips to the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution ofOceanography regularly visit the nearby Scripps Coastal Reserve,while visitors to the Seymour Center at UC Santa Cruz’s LongMarine Laboratory often include a visit to the overlook at YoungerLagoon Reserve.Faculty in the California State Summer School for Mathematics& Science Program (COSMOS) ()bring high school students to the San Joaquin Freshwater Marshnear UC Irvine and the Younger Lagoon Reserve near UC Santa Cruzto conduct field investigations.jLearning isnot compulsory...neither issurvival.—W. Edwards Deming(1900-1993)29

connecting young students withscience&theenvironmentUC Natural Reserve System

Environmental EducationOnline ResourcesÑHistory of Environmental Education: Four Fundamental DocumentsDownload the following four United Nations documents on the landmarks in theevolution of environmental education at the international level:(1) The Belgrade Charter (1975) A Global Framework for Environmental Education(2) Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education (1977)(3) International Strategy for Action in the Field of Environmental Education andTraining for the 1990s (1987)(4) Agenda 21, Chapter 36: “Promoting Education, Public Awareness andTraining” (1992)Ñ The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)“The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) is a network ofprofessionals, students, and volunteers working in the field of environmental educationthroughout North America and in over 55 countries around the world. Since 1971,the Association has promoted environmental education and supported the work ofenvironmental educators. There are many environmental interest groups, and manyorganizations dedicated to improving education. NAAEE uniquely combines andintegrates both of these perspectives, and takes a cooperative, nonconfrontational,scientifically balanced approach to promoting education about environmental issues.”NAAEE Thirty Years of History. 1971 to 2001.Environmental Studies in the K-12 Classroom: A Teacher’s View.Prepared by Survey Research Center, University of Maryland College Park, December2000. Ñ The Environmental Literacy Council“An independent, nonprofit organization, the Council gives teachers the tools to helpstudents develop environmental literacy: a fundamental understanding of the systemsof the world, both living and nonliving, along with the analytical skills needed to weighscientific evidence and policy choices.”Ñ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment“The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is designed to meet the needs of decisionmakersand the public for scientific information concerning the consequences ofecosystem change for human well-being, and options for responding to those changes.The MA focuses on ecosystem services (the benefits people obtain from ecosystems,like food, water, and climate regulation), how changes in these services have affectedhuman well-being and how such changes may affect people in the future. It also focuseson the responses that might be adopted at local, national, or global scales to improveecosystem management and contribute to human well-being and alleviate poverty.The MA was launched by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001 and wascompleted in March 2005.”Ñ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Teaching CenterInformation for teachers on many environmental issues:NRSUniversity of CaliforniaNatural Reserve SystemDivision of Academic AffairsOffice of Research1111 Franklin StreetOakland, CA 94607phone (510) 987-0150http://NRS.ucop.eduNRS StaffAlexander GlazerDirectorChen Yin NoahAssociate DirectorViolet NakayamaCoordinatorMike DorwardMgmt. Services OfficerSusan Gee RumseyPr. Publications CoordinatorJerry BoothSr. Science WriterCarole GalassiAdministrative SpecialistThe NRS is a network ofprotected natural areasthroughout California thatsupports university-levelteaching, research, andpublic service.The mission of theNatural Reserve Systemis to contribute to theunderstanding and wisemanagement of the Earth.If you would like to obtainadditional copies of thispublication, please contactSusan Gee Rumsey at(510) 987-0154.MANAGING EDITOR: SUSAN GEE RUMSEYSCIENCE WRITER: JERRY BOOTHGRAPHIC DESIGNER: CAROLE GALASSICOVER INSET BY: AMANDA DEUTSCHÑ Links to Discipline-Specific Glossaries on Environmental SubjectsPrinted on recycled paper

University of California • Natural Reserve SystemDivision of Academic Affairs • Office of Research1111 Franklin Street, Oakland, California 94607April 2006 • K-12 Environmental Education • phone (510) 987-0150 • http://NRS.ucop.edu