Participating Reserve: San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve
Funded by: Orange County Schools

Participating Institutions: Orange County Department of Education’s
“Inside the Outdoors” and University of California, Irvine

Additional Information: http://ito.ocde.us/

Each year the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) brings 2,000 to 4,000 second- and third-grade students to the San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve as part of its “Inside the Outdoors” environmental education program. These students come from more than fifty schools across Orange County for workshops that look at the role of animals and plants in the marsh, the impact of pollution, and wetlands ecology.

The students take advantage of a marsh section recently restored under a grant from the California Coastal Conservancy. Reserve staff prepared special wildlife viewing and teaching sites by clearing zones through dense cattail stands, pumping water to create convenient, flooded aquatic habitat, and mowing the adjacent upland buffer zone. Upon arriving at the marsh, students engage in a variety of hands-on activities: bird watching, studying the impacts of pollution through a food chain game, creating a model of the marsh, and touching a live marsh animal.

Each half-day workshop is taught by “Inside the Outdoors” staff members, who have carefully designed the program to conform to the California Science Content Standards and the Science Framework for California Public Schools. The overall goal of the program is to empower students, teachers, parents, and the community to explore natural areas and to expand their environmental understanding.

The Orange County Department of Education supports all of the “Inside the Outdoors” programs, including thirteen field sites, sixteen Traveling Scientist programs, and five Orange County Outdoor Science School sites. The program serves approximately 120,000 students per year. As Program Manager Dave Raetz notes:

"We bring science to life. The kids get exposure to science in a fun, hands-on, interactive way that meets the tradition of a school field trip, while also filling the needs of the teachers to teach the standards-based curriculum."

        Participant Feedback

The whole day was wonderful! The students came back so excited after the field trip. I’m thrilled at the information they shared with our class and parents. The program was very informative and educational!
                 
                —Joanne Wilhelm, Holy Family School

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It was wonderful. The students really grew in appreciation of the wildlife. I loved the food chain game, and the snake was very interesting.
                           
                         —Lori Mandir, Chapman Hills

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Environmental education must initially concentrate on the local environment around its target group in order to effectively reach the audience. Educators must be able to translate broad global imperatives to suit local realities.
        
         —Carlsson and Mkandla, Environmental Education

Note: This program has been suspended for the 2005-06 school year due to concerns about West Nile Virus. Discussions are now underway to bring the program back to the reserve for the 2006-07 school year.