The Junior Land Stewards have been busy in the field, as each school has taken its second field trip of the school year- combining open space history, ecosystem learning and journaling observation!

Students from Hatch and King's Mountain came to Wavecrest Open Space where they explored the 50 acres and participated in 4 journaling activities. These included: I notice, I wonder, It reminds of me; My Secret Plant; Ecosystem Inspection Circles; and Sound Mapping. Students discovered that life is flourishing in the coastal prairie from the pacific tree frogs to the new indigenous plants that are coming up after the rain.

El Granada students hiked up to the quarry floor at Quarry Park with a guided tour by Barbara Dye who taught them all about the history of their community, school, the Ocean Shore Railroad, as well as how Quarry Park became a protected open space. They then listened to the sounds around them and translated that into a sound map in their nature journals. Their final activity was My Secret Plant where they had to find an object in nature to draw in enough detail that their fellow classmates could find it by only looking at their drawing.

At Farallone View, 4th graders had special guests Christian Trujillo and Karen Offereins from the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy lead them on a guided hike through the GGNRA. Along the way they learned about the endangered red legged frogs, coyotes, rare indigenous plants, and the SF garter snake. They listened to an interactive story told by Christian and also participated in the Sound Mapping and My Secret Plant Activities. What a full afternoon!