EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) -- Poster on Earth Science Outdoors

Description
Richard Louv, the author of Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, wrote that ¿[a]n environment-based education movement-at all levels of education-will help students realize that school isn't supposed to be a polite form of incarceration, but a portal to the wider world.¿ University City High School is located across the street from Rose Canyon Open Space Park, which contains rare Southern California habitats such as coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and a sycamore-dominated riparian zone. Rose Canyon also teems with wildlife such as rabbits, coyotes, hawks, and raccoons. We utilized the proximity of the school to this exceptional urban park to create a series of Rose Canyon-based activities for two 9th grade Earth Science classrooms. Our goal was to make Earth Science relevant to processes occurring in students¿ own environments, introduce students to scientific observation, and to bring the wonder and complexity of the natural world into the classroom.