Outdoor Education Part One: Getting Ready

One of the reasons that I remained at the sixth grade level for most of my teaching career is because the sixth grade classes participated in a week at science camp each year. Most of my science curriculum was centered on the week at camp. There was also lots of science camp centered reading and writing lessons. Raising money for camp was a real learning experience. And, we had to prepare the parents to give up their children for a week.

The Outdoor Education program that we called Science Camp was centered around hands on experience. Our students would spend a full week in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They would hike in the coastal redwoods, hike to the buckeye grove, to the pond, and though other forest trails. Each group would do a night hike where they experienced the stars and the quiet of the evening. They would also spend a day checking out the Pescadero Marsh, Pebble Beach and the tide pools. Students and teachers would sleep in rustic cabins at the camp, and eat in the cafeteria.

Most of my science curriculum was built around what we would learn at science camp. I would start out by discussing how living things were alike and different. We studied plants and photosynthesis. My students learned that we actually eat the sun since plants convert the suns energy to the food which we and other animals must eat in order to live. We learned that plants were the only living things that could produce food. I would ask my students, “Is there anything that you eat that does not come from plants?”

Someone would always answer, “Hamburgers don’t come from plants.”

“Where do hamburgers come from?” I would ask.

“Cows,” was the usual answer.

“And, what do cows eat?”

“Grass.”

“And, what is grass?” We would go through several foods and see that you could always trace the source of the food back to plants.

We also learned that plants give off the oxygen that we and other animals breathe in. And, that animals give off the carbon dioxide that the plants must have.

We studied the water cycle, precipitation, condensation, and evaporation. We talked about the necessity for water conservation and how there were often years of drought in California. We studied the food chain and how every living thing contributes to the over all food cycle. We learned that all living things depend on each other.

We did a long unit on the solar system studying the different planets, their distance from each other and their distance from the sun. We also study the galaxies and the different constellations in our Milky Way Galaxy.

I assigned readings on the redwood forest, the chaparral, the marshlands, and the tide pools. My students wrote summaries of their readings, and we discussed these areas in class. We also did a lot of vocabulary work looking up and discussing words that would be used at camp like, ecology, eco system, photosynthesis, food web, and many more.

I had my students pick an area of specialization that they would become an expert on. They would look up information of the tide pools, marsh, redwoods, solar system, and other science camp oriented subjects. The would what a written report on the subject and then present a oral report to the class and answer question on their area of expertise.

As we got closer to departure, I had my students write a fictional story about their week at science camp. And, we discussed their expectations. I stressed that their week at camp would be whatever they made it, that each student would have a different experience.

As we got still closer to time for our week at camp, I put my students in trail groups of ten to twelve students each. We practice walking to the park in straight quiet lines. At the park we looked for living things. Students found bugs, and worms, and bird nests. We studied the small plant life and trees in the park. We sat in circle groups and discussed or findings.

After two or three trips to the park, I would have students spread out and sit in silent meditation for five minutes or so. We discussed what they experienced with their eyes closed and their minds silent. We listened to the wind, and felt the sun on our faces. I pointed out the cardinal directions, and made sure my students could pick them out.

In order to help with the cost of science camp we sold chocolate candy bars each year. The teachers at my school voted to use the funds to pay for any students who could not afford to go to camp. What was left over we split evenly among all students who participated in the sales.

Selling candy was a learning experience for our students. I taught my students to say things like, “Would you like to send a student to science camp?” Instead of saying, “Would you like to buy a candy bar?” I had student volunteers take charge of counting the money, keeping the record of sales, and wrapping the coins.

One of the learning experiences that the students would have at camp was that of meeting new people and learning to get along. I tried to have each student have a least one friend share his or her cabin. We could suggest students who should be paired in cabins, and students who should not be placed together. Most of the time the camp officials followed our recommendations.

Convincing some parents that their children would be safe away from home for a whole week was sometimes a difficult job. Many my sixth graders had never spent a night away from home. I always told my parents that the week at science camp was a part of our curriculum, and there was no way a child could make it up if he or she didn’t attend. I stressed that the naturalists were well-trained and really caring people. I explained that a high school counselor would supervise each cabin. I informed the parents that we teachers would be patrolling the sleeping areas after dark, and that we slept in cabins near by.

We held a parents’ informational meeting a week or so before camp. At the meeting we showed slides about the camp, answered questions, and discussed what the students should bring to camp. We also explained that things like gum, candy, and radios, are not allowed at camp. At Mountain View, we shot for one hundred percent participation in the camp experience, and most of the time achieved that level.

Science camp was one of the best experiences of sixth grade. Often when students came back to visit me, there first comment would be, “Do you remember science camp, Mr. D.?”