By Audrey Wong
FAIRFIELD -- Textbooks are fine for teaching children about
ecology and other sciences. But nothing beats nature itself
to instill the lessons in young minds, said Carolyn Garcelon,
a Dover Middle School teacher.
Garcelon and her students were part of 122 Dover sixth-graders
who are participating in a five-day field trip at a residential
outdoor school on the coast. The students are applying their
science lessons during hiking trips and other activities.
"When they study outdoors they will probably remember
it for the rest of their lives," she said. "When
they read it in a chapter in a science book, they are more
apt to forget it. This way there's more meaning."
The outdoor school, called Exploring New Horizons, is run
by a nonprofit group among forests and beaches 15 miles south
of Half Moon Bay.
"Our classrooms are the redwoods, oak woodlands and
the ocean," said Tad Drake, principal of Exploring New
Horizons.
The students arrived on Monday and will return to Fairfield
Friday. Dover students have been coming to Exploring New
Horizons for eight years.
On Tuesday students broke into groups and trekked to different
eco-systems. One group hiked to the beach where they saw
seals and learned about erosion and geology on the coast.
Another group went to the redwood forest where they observed
mushrooms and banana slugs. The third went to the oak woodlands.
The students paused periodically to figure out interactions
between animals and trees, Garcelon said.
Some students have never been to the beach or forests and
this field trip provided them the opportunity, she said.
"Some of the kids were sitting at the edge of a meadow
and four deer came out and ate lunch with them," Garcelon
said.
The students have been learning geology and ecology, Garcelon
said. But they have a chance to learn astronomy during one
night hike when they will go stargazing. Another night the
students will engage in a mock planning commission meeting
where they will discuss an environmental issue.
Activities are structured so students can also practice
team work and develop self-esteem, Drake said. Boys and girls
stay in separate cabins, are supervised by high school counselors
and teachers, and guided by naturalists during their hikes.
It costs $220 for each students to attend the field trip.
Classes raise money for the outing by selling candy bars
and teachers try to collect funds for students who can't
afford the price.
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