Tag Archives: Field Trips
What’s the best way to see Beverly Hills? On a Segway!

What’s the best way to see Beverly Hills? On a Segway!

by on 16. Feb, 2012 in Bob St. George

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ride a Segway. Check. One more check off of the bucket list.

I had the opportunity to lead a group of students on a Beverly Hills Segway Tour this past Cultural Weekend. Kara Hooper organized the trip with Another Side Tours and led a group in the morning. I took a group in the afternoon. After a brief training session in the tour company’s parking lot, it was off on the streets Wilshire Blvd. and Rodeo Drive. Students quickly adapted to the feel of the intuitive machine and navigated past pedestrians and obstacles. The students had a great time and enjoyed their moment in the Beverly Hills spotlight as car honked and paparazzi, I mean tourists, snapped photos as we rode past.

We went to Hole in the Wall Burger for a delicious dinner before returning to campus in time to hit the books.

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“Only at Thacher,” he said.

by on 08. Feb, 2012 in Bob St. George, Faculty

I recently went on a mountain bike trip with students, faculty, and friends of Thacher. The trip was wonderfully planned and executed by our Director of the Outdoor Program (and teacher) Brian Pidduck (please see Brian’s blog for pictures and a description of the trip). After riding up to the Ridge from Patton’s Cabin, we stopped for a brief water and snack break and to enjoy a view of the beautiful Ojai Valley and beyond to the Channel Islands. While we were resting, a student on the trip said, “Only at Thacher would I be able to go to a horsemanship competition one weekend with my math teacher and on another weekend go mountain biking with my advisor and my history teacher.”

So true!

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Macroinvertebrates & Biodiversity in AP Environmental Science

by on 15. Nov, 2011 in Brian Pidduck

Students in AP Environmental Science recently completed an assessment of the quality of Reeves Creek (near Thacher) by sampling for the macroinvertebrates that inhabit the substrate. Based upon the relative dominance of the species, students were then able to calculate a water quality index. The field work involves using the kick-seine technique (a lot like what it sounds!), handling of the macroinvertebrates (Stonefly larvae, Caddisfly larvae, Dobson Fly larvae and the common Giant Water Bug!), identification and then calculations. This fieldwork also has the benefit of getting the students out of the typical science classroom and into the greatest science classroom we have – our surrounding environs!

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Calculating Biodiversity of the Chaparral Ecosystem in AP Environmental Science

by on 28. Oct, 2011 in Brian Pidduck

Students in AP Environmental Science recently undertook a field project that involved the quantitative assessment of biodiversity at two sites in the chaparral ecosystem above the Thacher campus. The first site is currently undergoing secondary succession after being cleared by a trail crew

Molly Taylor and Jack Weil identify native chaparral species and record their occurrence and interval length along a 20 meter transect above the Thacher Campus.

last year in order to establish a firebreak.  The second represents an intact ecosystem with higher biodiversity and plant density, having reestablished after a wildfire in the late 1990s.

Data was collected to determine coverage of species, density, frequency and diversity (according to the Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index).  Fieldwork such as this is an invaluable opportunity to apply the ecological theory and dimensional analysis, which is a significant portion of the curriculum in AP Environmental Science.  It is also a great opportunity to make the outdoors our classroom!  I know I enjoy the opportunity to work in the outdoors with Thacher students.  We are blessed with natural surroundings that make conducting fieldwork as easy as walking out the classroom door and into our backyard (which is the Los Padres National Forest BTW!).

The most inspiring example of transects are those conducted by Michael Fay, such as the African Megatransect and the Redwood Transect.

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