Mission Bay High School and San Diego Youth Science are collaborating to conduct field research with 3rd-5th grade students from nearby Crown Point Elementary Junior Music Academy (CPJMA). The school’s proximity to both Kendall-Frost Reserve, within walking distance, and the Pacific Ocean makes learning about the watershed and the potential for human impact highly relevant and accessible. Record-breaking rainfall last January generated many questions from our CPJMA elementary students regarding watersheds in general, the effect of precipitation on the Rose Creek Watershed and Kendall Frost Reserve’s chemistry/toxicology, organism diversity, and overall human impact. Examining these student-centered questions will afford students meaningful opportunities to engage in the process of science through exploratory and hands-on learning which is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and incredibly important to this population of local students. The field trip will occur over two different days, with the four classrooms of elementary students in total participating. On day one two of the elementary classrooms will engage in the 2.5-hour field trip, and on day two the remaining two classrooms of elementary classrooms will participate. During the 2.5-hour field trip, the two classrooms of elementary students will be further divided into small groups to rotate through stations led by a total of ten MBHS students and two Science Educators from San Diego Youth Science. During the field trip approximately ten MBHS IB Marine Science students (Lyndsey Campbell’s classes) and AP Environmental Science students (Echo Jacoway’s classes) will help run stations for the elementary classes to conduct on-site field research of water samples and mud transects, as well as using binoculars and hand lenses to observe living animal and plant life within diverse sections of the Reserve. Building on prior science learning of field ecology and conservation, this field trip is intended to leverage student interest to better understand the role of humans in the health and fitness of ecosystems and lead to an enhanced understanding of actionable environmental stewardship.

Approved