In-person and at-home learning
If you are new to Discovery: Youth in Nature, welcome! And welcome back to those of you have hosted our in-person program in your classroom in the past. This year, we developed Discovery: Youth In Nature – At Home, a version of our nature education program that students can enjoy wherever they are. This teacher’s page will give you the information you need to run your own Discovery: Youth In Nature – At Home program with your class!
The in-person Discovery: Youth In Nature program takes place during the school year and includes three days of activities and adventure with a Tri-Valley Conservancy educator, including a field trip to Holdener Park. Each lesson is scheduled with the class’s teacher. You can read more about the in-person program and watch our program video back on our Youth Education page!
Our new Discovery: Youth In Nature – At Home program was developed to adapt to virtual learning in the current climate. When it is safe to do so, we will return to our in-person programs and will continue to offer our new at-home program as well.
Virtual lesson plan
Our Discovery: Youth In Nature – At Home website hosts four self-contained lessons with interactive content that you can use in your classroom at your own pace and schedule. Each lesson is roughly 25 minutes long and contains a video introduction, an interactive lesson guide, and a hands on activity students can print or complete online. Students can follow along with the lesson guide online and can complete the activities on their device using the browser extension Kami. If you use Kami in Google Classroom, you can even assign the Discovery: Youth In Nature – At Home activities through Google Classroom.
Although you can run each of the lessons in your classroom independently, we encourage you to schedule a TVC educator to lead the final Stewardship lesson. You can request a TVC guest educator using the form below.
Our lessons are standards-based, engaging, and interactive. These are activities that propel students to get outside and take action to protect and enhance our communities’ climate-action plan. They will feel empowered and connected to a city-wide effort. To continue the impact of the Discovery: Youth In Nature – At Home program, we are also developing TVC Young Steward Challenges. Through the challenges program, students will be able to continue their outdoor adventures and nature education from home even after the program ends. By completing a challenge, students will earn a digital badge and are eligible for prizes! Stay tuned for more details on TVC Young Steward Challenges.
California state standards
The YIN Online lessons support California curriculum standards, and you can use our lessons to supplement your required curriculum. You can see below the ways in which our lessons intersect the state standards.
Regions of California
History/Social Science Standards, 4th Grade
CA.4.1. California: A Changing State: Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regions in California.
4.1.3. Identify the state capital and describe the various regions of California, including how their characteristics and physical environments (e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, climate) affect human activity.
4.1.4. Identify the locations of the Pacific Ocean, rivers, valleys, and mountain passes and explain their effects on the growth of towns.
4.1.5. Use maps, charts, and pictures to describe how communities in California vary in land use, vegetation, wildlife, climate, population density, architecture, services, and transportation
California State Standards for Arts Education: Grade 4
5.3. Visual Literacy: Construct diagrams, maps, graphs, timelines, and illustrations to communicate ideas or tell a story about a historical event.
Watersheds
History/Social Science Standards, 4th Grade
CA.4.4. California: A Changing State: Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development since the 1850s.
4.4.7. Trace the evolution of California’s water system into a network of dams, aqueducts, and reservoirs.
California State Standards for Arts Education: Grade 4
5.3. Visual Literacy: Construct diagrams, maps, graphs, timelines, and illustrations to communicate ideas or tell a story about a historical event
California State Science Standards, 4th Grade
CA.3. Life Sciences: Living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
3.a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by their living and nonliving components.
3.b. Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all
California Next Generation Science Standards, 4th Grade
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
§ Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller particles and move them around. (4-ESS2-1)
Sit Spot
California State Standards for Arts Education: Grade 4
5.3. Visual Literacy: Construct diagrams, maps, graphs, timelines, and illustrations to communicate ideas or tell a story about a historical event.
CA.2.0. Visual Arts: Creative Expression: Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Visual Arts: Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.
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Photo credit: Livermore Valley from Del Valle by Barry Zupan