Science Camp

At Sky Mountain Outdoor Education Center, we create life changing experiences in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Here, our classrooms are the forests, the waters edge, and the inside of a snowbank. Via this one of a kind classroom, our passionate naturalists facilitate hands-on, student centered, inquiry based learning as we deliver curriculum aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards and the CA Environmental Principles and Concepts and informed by Social Emotional Learning Practices.

Phenomena based learning will change dynamically with the seasons, as we focus our inquiry and investigations on the natural world around us. Lessons and content will be grade level tailored and will focus on ice and snow, the night sky, local flora and fauna, weather and elements, our local river, reservoir and hydroelectric dam and watershed, local fire scars and more. Activities will be tailored to these phenomena again determined by weather and season.

Exploring New Horizons (ENH) engages school groups in overnight outdoor education programs that strengthen school communities while accelerating environmental and emotional literacy. Founded as a nonprofit in 1979, ENH partners with over 100 schools annually, and in our 43-year history we have served more than 215,000 students. Each year, over 7,000 San Francisco and Monterey Bay Area students participate in 3 to 5-day programs at our Sempervirens and Pigeon Point sites.

ENH takes a whole child approach focused on social emotional learning, environmental literacy, health, and the arts. Naturalists lead trail groups in unplugged, place-based lessons concentrating on adaptations, cycles, diversity, interdependence, and more, creating positive associations between learning and the outdoors while sparking students’ interest in science and environmental stewardship. Students also participate in cooperative team building activities in a positive and inclusive environment that solidify relationships with classroom teachers and peers. Our programs also focus on conservation, as students weigh and graph their food waste at the end of each meal, compost food scraps in the garden, try to take a 3-minute shower, and participate in a mock town hall meeting. Learnings are reinforced through reflective nature journaling, art, participatory group songs, dances, puppet shows, and skits, where groups get on stage and act out a concept they learned during the week. A week away from home and the classroom, having fun learning about nature and working as a team outdoors, improves personal, community, and environmental wellbeing.