Bureau of Land Management
Environmental Education Homepage

Living In the Rain Shadow

Fifth-grader David Arndt wanted to thank all those who organized his trip to Sand Canyon. In careful handwriting above a picture he drew, he told about his experiences that day. "My favorite station was the archaeology station," he wrote, "because I got to see all the items the Indians used."

The Sand Canyon Environmental Education Program (SEEP), located in a perennial riparian area in California's Mojave Desert, is a three-day program for fifth graders in the Sierra Sand Unified School District. SEEP's central theme is water and living within a sustainable arid ecosystem, and involves a hands-on approach for the students and members of the community.

During the pre-site classroom session, students learn desert safety, Leave No Trace techniques, Tread Lightly, and the environment's effects on desert animals. A favorite activity is constructing a billboard-sized model of a Rain Shadow out of paper bags in order to visualize how clouds release rain as they hit one side of a mountain, causing the valley on the other side to remain dry.

The field day consists of six stations designed to teach students different aspects of existing in a desert environment -Archaeology, Water, Birds, Plants, History and Art. The students use microscopes to see how plants and animals adapt to dry conditions; gaze through spotting scopes to record sightings of western tanangers and flycatchers; and draw water pencil sketches of nature. Throughout the day, students record what they see and learn in their SEEP Field Journals.
Here's What the Students Say:
During lunch, part of the past is brought to life as speakers who used to live in Sand Canyon present a program called "History Alive", recounting what it was like to be a child of homesteaders working for the L.A. Aqueduct.

The final segment of SEEP is a classroom post-session where the children learn how their daily habits affect water consumption in their area, and how they can help conserve water in their own homes. At the end of the day, everybody - students, volunteers, and teachers - pledge to save water in their every day lives.

SEEP hopes to set the stage for a lifelong excitement about the outdoors, and a desire to learn about and care for the environment. By learning what living things need for a healthy environment, students begin to realize how they can positively affect that environment.

The program began in 1992 with one sixth grade class and now serves over 850 students per year. This growth has been possible because of extraordinary support from the community. Local groups volunteer at the activity stations; ambulance companies donate EMT services, the septic company pumps bathrooms at cost, and People Action Community Police remove graffiti. A local high school has even adopted SEEP by cleaning up litter in the canyon and helping out the day of the event. Over a hundred volunteers donate 1,000 hours of their time to this program each year.

"It's magical the way each group has come in with their own expertise. The program keeps getting better and better" says Katie Wash, BLM Wilderness Coordinator.

Partners: Bureau of Land Management, The Maturango Museum, East Kern County Resource Conservation District, The Sierra Sands Unified School District, The Indian Wells Valley Water District, Native Plant Society, Leave No Trace Inc., Audubon Society, and Ridgecrest Historical Society.

Giving back to the community: Equipment such as microscopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, hand lenses field guides, and first aid kits are available at the Maturango Museum to be checked out by Boy Scouts, families, teachers and other members of the community.

Question: SEEP is now in its 6th year and requests keep coming in from schools who want to be involved in this program. We are also receiving more offers for donations of materials and money. For example, there are currently plans and funding to translate the journals into Spanish; produce a video of the history talks; and, as part of the Wilderness Education Project (WEP), incorporate a section on wilderness. However, we are limited by the amount of volunteer time and speakers needed to properly conduct the program. We have increasing pressures to grow, and not to grow. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and found a solution? Please contact Katie Wash at (619) 384-5443 or send email to kwash@ca.blm.gov.

Last Updated: July 15, 2003

For questions about our programs contact Bibi Booth
This site is maintained by Kevin Flynn

Learning Landscapes Feature Archive

Return to BLM Learning Landscapes Home Page

This page was created by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Environmental Education & Volunteers Group, 1849 C Street, Room 406-LS, Washington, DC 20240. Send comments or questions relating to accessibilty of documents to Kevin_Flynn@blm.gov
Number of visitors since July 15, 2003:[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Kids' Privacy Statement This is a U.S. Government Computer System. Before continuing, please read this disclaimer and privacy statement