In the beginning of 2023, we announced the creation of a new outdoor education program aimed at third- to fifth-grade students kickstarted by a generous grant from locally renowned environmental educator Judy Adler.
It’s been nearly a year since that announcement, and we’ve come far.
Not only have we produced several engaging lesson plans with the help of teacher Dawn Lezak, who also serves on Save Mount Diablo’s Education Committee, we’ve begun putting them into practice at Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve.
Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve. Photo by Mary Nagle
Starting in April of this year, we’ve taken several groups of kids to Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve to put our new curriculum to the test.
Each time we’ve utilized this curriculum, we’ve continued to fine-tune it, improving it so that each group of kids will have a better experience.
A Day in the Pilot Program
Journaling in nature! One of the three stations that kids participate in through this program. Photo by Mary Nagle
Recently, we took dozens of elementary schoolers out to our Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve as we continued to put our new curriculum to use. They spent an entire school day outside immersed in nature.
The day started off with an interpretive hike, where kids learned how to identify some of the plants they passed and learned about the many ways that different aspects of nature are interconnected through our “Spheres of the Earth” lesson.
After the hike, they visited three educational stations.
Kids enjoying one of the educational stations. Photo by Mary Nagle
One of the stations was a modified version of the contemplative journaling exercise that we have middle school, high school, and college students complete during our Conservation Collaboration Agreement program.
Kids carrying mulch at Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve. Photo by Mary Nagle
The kids explored and climbed throughout a grove of oak and buckeye trees, before sitting down and journaling about what they could see and feel in nature.
At another station, kids completed the “Shape of Leaves” lesson. They learned about different leaves that can be found on native plants and practiced drawing them.
At the third station, the kids spent time giving back to the preserve by placing burlap followed by mulch over part of the picnic area.
They learned how this will help deter invasive plants without the use of pesticides by cutting off sunlight.
It was both a lesson in land stewardship and an extremely helpful community service project!
Inspiring the Next Generation
Photo by Mary Nagle
Previously, our educational programs were generally aimed at middle school, high school, and college students.
With the creation of these new programs, we’re expanding our impact to younger kids who are at an extremely impressionable time in their lives, a time where it is very important and healthy for them to develop a relationship with nature.
Kids last spring learn how to identify trees through our “Shapes of Leaves” lesson. Photo courtesy of Dawn Lezak
We have some more pilot program work to do to perfect this new program for third to fifth graders, and we look forward to fully launching this elementary school program in 2024.
In the future, we hope to empower more teachers to bring their students to Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve and independently facilitate outdoor education.
