Santa Rosa IslandEducationalProgramming& Unit Description

The mission of the CI Santa Rosa Island Research Station (SRIRS) is to advance the interdisciplinary knowledge and natural and cultural resource stewardship of the Channel Islands through long-term research, inquiry-based education, and public outreach. Specifically the SRIRS places students at the center of the educational experience by using experiential learning activities to involve students in real-world data collection, analysis, and problem solving within Channel Islands National Park. The inquiry based research projects at the core of our program enable students to gain perspective on interdisciplinary problem solving in a complex system and change students from passive to active scientists and learners.The SRIRS education program in collaboration with Channel Islands National Park seeks to meet the following objectives:

  1. To create an experiential Channel Islands National Park curriculum that engages students across academic levels and integrates them into the broader scientific community.
  2. To develop and support student knowledge and critical thinking skills through inquiry-rich STEM learning opportunities and successful mentoring relationships.
  3. To use project-based learning activities to involve students in real-world data collection, analysis, and problem solving within the Channel Islands National Park.
  4. To cultivate a community ofChannel Islands National Park stewards across socio-economic groups and age levels by implementing informal scientific curriculum and initiating community outreach projects.

The SRIRS units were designed to collectively provide aneducation program that is intended to be a transformative experience and is founded on the presentation of environmental topics and concepts through the lens of local research and hands-on experiences for students. In designing the SRIRS programmatic units, a progression of learning was intentionally designed to move student learning through the scientific process (i.e. exploration and discovery, gathering and interpreting data, identifying the benefits and outcomes, etc.). Students are provided with the opportunity to work with research tools, experience life as an environmental researcher, and to understand how science attempts to inform the changing human and natural landscapes. After students visit Santa Rosa Island the greater sense of self, place, and community they obtain will make them life-long stewards for the land they inhabit and depend on.

SRIRS Education Program: ExampleUnit Descriptions

Unit / Goals / Summary of Activities / Outputs
Santa Rosa Island
Natural & Cultural Resource Hike / 1. Students will better understand the dynamic nature and condition of ecosystems through time.
2. Students will examine the direct and indirect anthropogenic impacts on natural systems.
3. Students will describe the implication of biodiversity loss to natural systems and human society. / 1. Students participate in a 3-4 hour professional mentor led tour that summarizes 20 million years ofnatural and cultural history.
2. Students observe the land they inhabit and develop future island management recommendations while completing a 3-5 mile hike. / 1. Students become familiar with the fauna, flora and ecological complexity of the California Channel Islands.
2. Students gain an awareness of how geology, geography, climatology, and history shape the distribution and abundance of organisms.
3. Students develop a comprehensive place-based knowledge that enables them to identify the changing natural and human landscapes across the California Channel Islands.
Long-Term Inventory & Monitoring / 1. Students will perform scientific protocols, analyze long-term monitoring data, and report their results and management recommendations.
2. Student will be able to understand the status and trends of resources, natural processes, and threats to resource integrity within Channel Islands National Park.
3. Students will gain direct and sustained access to a variety of local ecosystems and professional support persons. / 1. Sandy Beach Monitoring (1/2 day): Students monitor a sandy beach site with a professional mentor to determine the population health and abundance of common beach fauna and identify relations to the large marine ecosystem.
2. Native Plant Monitoring (1/2 day): Students help determine the long-term changes in distribution and abundance of vegetation communities. Students examine how detecting changes in vegetation community composition can help inform local management decisions and reveal large-scale impacts of global climate change.
3. Tree Demography (1/2 day): Students monitor the population dynamics and health of rare island tree species to help ensure their long-term viability.
4. Photo Monitoring Points (1/2 day): Students collect photos from established monitoring points in a variety of island ecosystems. Students observe and quantify changes to the landscape by comparing their photos to historical photos. / 1. Students collect, organize,analyze, and present information from monitoring activities.
2. Students use the scientific method to monitor multiple ecosystems and contribute to historical baseline data.
3. Students examine park resources and provide reference points for comparisons with other, altered environments.
4. Students recognize themselves as scientists that have contributed valuable information to park management.
5. Students understand fundamental global conservation challenges and measures to address them.
Rapid Research Project / 1. Students will develop and refine their scientific questions and protocol through an inquiry rich learning activity.
2. Students will be able to collect and analyze their scientific data and formally report their results. / 1. Students are immersed in the start to finish process of field science (i.e. scientific question, hypothesis, protocol, collection, analysis, and presentation).
2. Student research teams have 4-5 hours to investigate an ecological process. / 1. Students understand the structure and art of ecological field research.
2. Students experience the importance of functioning as a team while conducting biological field work.
3. Students obtain experience making measurements related to population, community, and behavioral ecology.
4. Studentslearn about experimental design, data analysis, scientific writing, and oral presentation.
Orienteering Scavenger Hunt / Students will be able to incorporate their knowledge of place, self, community, and science to complete an orienteering and riddle based scavenger hunt. / Student teams participate in and complete a 1-2 hour scavenger hunt that requires them to integrate the inter-disciplinary knowledge and field skills they’ve obtained during their Santa Rosa Island trip. / Students experience the importance of communicating and functioning as a team while completing a difficult task.
Environmental Stewards / 1. Students will be able to participate in local environmental stewardship projects.
2. Students will be able to incorporate the knowledge and experiences they’ve gained into a public education project. / 1.Students and mentors attend and support a variety of volunteering opportunities in partnership with local environmental agencies.
2. Student teams translate what they’ve learned into a variety of public outreach projects/campaigns. / Students will understand why and how environmental stewardship opportunities benefit the changing human and natural landscapes.