A Look Back at the Los Angeles County Outdoor School Staff from 2018!
/
staff from Malibu and Wrightwood outdoor science schools
A Message from the Outdoor Science School to our Participating Teachers!
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of the schools who attended Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School in this school year! We know you worked very hard to prepare your students, parents, and cabin leaders for a life-changing week full of NGSS-aligned scientific inquiry, nature exploration, and community building. We hope your week at Outdoor Science School was a highlight of your school year. It was a pleasure to work with you to provide this amazing opportunity for your students.
This has been another great year for the Outdoor Science School. We were able to welcome and support a number of new schools from several new districts. New schools are a great addition and currently participating schools are our best ambassadors. We always love to get all of the returning schools with all of their experience and familiar faces.
Excellent Outdoor Science Field Study
Looking back at 65 years of service, we are excited about the quality of our educational program. We were very pleased to receive these comments from a participating teacher.
"After looking into various [outdoor science school] programs, we knew that LACOSS was the perfect place for our students to have an immersive experience in science education. Because it is a program affiliated with Los Angeles County Office of Education, we were confident that the curriculum would be aligned with NGSS, and that the experience would build upon the collaboration and inquiry-based learning that takes place in the classroom. P.S. It was an experience that we all can't stop sharing about!!" --Michelle Kibic, 5th grade teacher, Sanchez Elem., Norwalk/ La Mirada Unified School District, 1st year participating teacher.
Support for Next Year
At the Outdoor Science School, as in your classrooms, we are already busy planning for your next visit to OSS. We know that parents, teachers, and administrators want to know as much as they can about Outdoor Science School before they agree to send their students to an overnight program. LACOSS is here to support you to recruit cabin leaders and to address parent concerns so as many of your students as possible can experience Outdoor Science School! Here are some resources to help you.
Explore resources on our website! Be sure to check the Teacher Resources section of the website. These resources include PowerPoint presentations for your parent meetings, lists, planning tools, and a variety of recommendations.
Invite your families for a Saturday tour of LACOSS Wrightwood Fall 2025! We are planning an open house for fall 2025. This event will be for families to better understand the outdoor science school setting and what a school visit entails. We recommend this for families of students with specific needs or any interested parents.
Earn a Scholarship to OSS by recruiting a new school! Many students and teachers leave their week at OSS hoping they can share the experience with others. Help us identify schools that might be interested in participating and you can earn scholarships for your own school!
2025-2026 OSS Sign-up
Signups are held in late February every year for the following school year. If you miss the initial signup period, please email outdooreducation [at] lacoe [dot] edu or your can call 562-922-6330. There are occasionally schools that need to cancel or switch dates and if we have availability, you may be able to reserve a date for your school or get on our waiting list.
Staying in Touch
We hope you have a wonderful summer break. Members of our naturalist staff will be traveling all around the world, pursuing their passions for learning and exploring in nature. Stay in touch with our program and naturalists during the summer!
Website: http://www.outdoorscienceschool.org/
Instagram: @lac_oss
Facebook: L.A. County Outdoor Science School
Thank you for your continued dedication to high-quality, immersive, science education for your students, and thank you for your support of the Outdoor Science School.
All your friends and colleagues at the Outdoor Science School!
Forestry Institute for Teachers
/
The Forestry Institute for Teachers is high-quality professional development that provides cross-curriculum (Math, Language Arts, Science, History, etc.) training that emphasizes and models Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards while examining current forestry issues.
This FREE institute (except for $25 application fee and your travel to the site) is available to all California teachers. Institute content is focused on Project Learning Tree and Project WILD.
Teachers can choose from one of four times in different Northern California counties. See FIT Web site for details.
Student Discovers Fossil Leaf at Outdoor Science School
/
Julia Salazar, Foster Elementary School
Baldwin Park Unified School District
This is Julia Salazar of Foster Elementary School. She made an unexpected discovery as she was exploring weathering and erosion at the Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School at Malibu. Students sometimes use rock hammers to break open a rock to compare internal features with their external appearance. Julia broke open a rock to reveal a fossilized leaf!
As far as is known, this is a first in the almost 60 year history of the Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School!
Her discovery leads to other questions ... What kind of rock is this? How is it similar to other rocks found in the area? How is it different? Are there other fossil-bearing rocks nearby? Where did this rock come from? How did it get here?
There is always something exciting to discover and learn at the Outdoor Science School, but this was a truly unique opportunity. The specimen will become part of the permanent collection at Malibu OSS with notation of Julia's name and school.
Fossil leaf found by Julia Salazar at the Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School at Malibu.
Every Kid In A Park
/
Marvel at the St. Louis Arch, the Florida Keys, and the Frederick Douglass house. Listen to wolves howl. Walk in dinosaur tracks. Look up into the inky night sky, and reach for the stars! These sites belong to all of us — including you.
Every Kid in a Park was created so fourth graders and their families could discover our wildlife, resources, and history … for free.
Get your pass
Teachers can download classroom activities and apply for passes for all fourth-graders. As a fourth-grade educator, you can download an activity and print paper passes for each of your students.
This program only provides passes for fourth graders. Each student receives a paper pass with a unique code. That pass gives them free access to all national parks, lands, and waters through August 31, 2018.
Printed copies (not electronic copies) are required when you visit. A pass has a unique code so it can’t be copied and shared. All fourth-grader can get their own passes.
Plan a trip
It’s a good ideas to involve parents/guardian in the planning
Hit the road!
Enjoy national parks, lands and waters for a full year.
More Help
Here is a helpful Web site for planning your trip: Every Kid in a Park
Questions are a Natural Part of Science at the Outdoor Science School
/
Life finds a way! Recent rains have increased the flow of water in the seasonal stream at the Malibu Outdoor Science School, replacing occasional pools of water with a beautiful flowing stream.
These conditions have been perfect for a population of newts that live in the area. In a recent week students encountered more than 40 newts.
What conditions are needed before it is likely students will find newts in the riparian area? Where do newts live when the seasonal stream is not flowing? Why are newts only found in damp environments?
Questions like this are a natural part of inquiry at the Outdoor Science School. We love the emerging Next Generation Science Standards – it turns out they are exactly what we do best!
Next Generation Science Standards at the Outdoor Science School
/
Students at the Outdoor Science School in Malibu observe and compare spring wildflowers on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
A fundamental conceptual shift of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is the emphasis on using phenomena to engage in question-posing and inquiry. This is exactly what we do best at the Outdoor Science School.
How are the parts of a flower arranged to attract pollinators, collect pollen, and produce seeds? What diversity can we observe in the plants nearby in the same ecosystem? How do the components of an ecosystem interact and connect with each other?
These are essential science content questions, emphasized in NGSS, that students are able to explore at the Outdoor Science School.
