Introduction

Class Schedule

Expedition GIS Center

Classrooms

Field Reports

Student Projects

Map Library

Chat Room

Video Library

Trail Guides

Members

Search

                       






Camp Internet Teacher Briefing



BackCountry Studies



For the Week of Nov.29-Dec. 3rd



Top of the Week



Monday morning the 29th, we are honored to have Chumash singer and storyteller, Julie Tumamait, joining us for a live chat from fellow Joan Archer's fellow outpost classroom at the Oak View-Arnaz School in Ventura County. Please bring your students to the chat room between 9:30and 11am for an educational session with an important Chumash spokesperson. Video of her presentation will be made available later in the week.

Second live chat of the week is Wednesday, December 1st, 9-11am with Archaeo-astronomer, Dr. John Anderson (see science section below).

Exploration and Alta California

The theme of the next three weeks of study is Exploration and Alta California

In History we will be learning about the first European and American explorers to arrive in California, From Cabrillo to De Anza to Bidwell, from Sutter to Kit Carson to John Fremont - there is an exciting story that will unfold about the daring men and women who came to California and formed the Alta California period. In reading we will look at excerpts from Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona, Henry Richard Dana's Two Years Before the Mast, Joaquin Miller's ballad to Joaquin Mureitta, and the origins of Zorro, the most famous fictional character from Alta California. ( We are postponing the Robert Louis Stevenson section until early January inorder to stay closer to the historical time sequence. ) There will be a culminating Alta California quiz to take in a few weeks, and resources will be added each week to fill out the sections.

In Science we begin studying Astronomy. First we will take a look at how the original Californians, other Native Americans, and ancient cultures around the world practiced astronomy in our Archaeoastronomy section. Our live chat with Archaeoastronomy historian Dr. John Anderson is set for December 1st, 9-11am.

There is also a time line about the history of cosmology and astronomy around the world to study. And then we have contemporary astro-physics to consider - including learning to use the remote access telescope at UC Santa Barbara over the Internet, and taking part in NASA's Mars Polar Lander Mission that is scheduled to set down on Mars on December 3rd. Also coming online will be resources about considering if there is life out there, Winter Solstice stories about the stars from Native America, and some pretty exciting links to star maps and family learning resources. The section will culminate with an Astronomy quiz. We also ask each student to submit one entry to an Astronomy Dictionary we are building online - they will chose one topic from the time line to define and submit to the Camp's dictionary - all student built.

Teacher Training and Mid-Year Reports

Tuesday, November 29th and Wednesday, December 1st are the In-service Teacher Training days that we hope you will be able to attend. Open House for fellow teachers is 4-6pm. Please bring a guest ! Parents, principals and students are welcome to attend. The live chat will start at 4:30 pm.

Mid-year Teacher reports are due December 23rd. An online form is required, and we are also providing a content tracking form in paper that needs to be returned to us before Holiday break. These reports help the Camp track content usage, teacher training interests, and levels of student participation. They are required to qualify for a year-end field trip - plus - are a way for you to create a historical record of your Outpost's learning activities as we go along.

Family nights

Next week we are jammed packed with Family Nights ! Tuesday the 7th we are at Valley View School in Coachella with Jim Jones, Wednesday the 8th we are at Ridgeview in Yucaipa with Brian Bartlett, and Thursday the 9th we are at Victoria in Riverside with August Kraemer. These popular family nights will include a paleo-dig - and as an Astronomy project, will be using digital electronic compass star-finders to look at the night sky with parents and students.