With the conclusion of the UCSD Blum Summer Field Internship, the UC-Wide students came to deliver a presentation on the strengths of the Outdoor Summer Learning Academy, and their research on our EcoVillage project.
This presentation included this video that they produced with loads of beautiful moments from the Summer Academy, and with insightful interviews with the students, interns, and teachers:
After this presentation we sat down with Alon Ankonina, a UCSD student in the Blum program, to discuss the successes of the Summer Learning Academy and the process of working with the multi-disciplinary team that produced the it:
Our Educational Director JoAnna Proctor had this to say about the Summer Learning Academy:
The EarthLab Summer Science Academy was a huge success, with over 50 students benefiting from the effective and powerful curriculum surrounding Water Quality & Water Conservation. Students strengthened their scientific literacy skills in vocabulary development, scientific illustration, and the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning process. Science notebook entries from Day 1 to Day 10 demonstrated significant improvement, supporting the efficacy of the program.
Each morning, student scientists explored, investigated, hypothesized, designed, and engineered various projects and experiments. Each afternoon, these same scientists traveled to partnering agencies to supplement their learning. The collaboration of students, teachers, university interns, parents, and educational partners truly enhanced the educational and social experience for everyone involved. We hope to offer this program again next summer.
We want to extend our gratitude to UCSD and the Blum program, along with the wonderful humans who put their sweat and hearts into this work. The interns were incredible in action, and we commend them for their amazing efforts.
