FAIRFIELD -- Textbooks are fine for teaching children about ecology and other sciences. But nothing beats nature itself to instill the lessons in young minds, said Carolyn Garcelon, a Dover Middle School teacher.

Garcelon and her students were part of 122 Dover sixth-graders who are participating in a five-day field trip at a residential outdoor school on the coast. The students are applying their science lessons during hiking trips and other activities.

"When they study outdoors they will probably remember it for the rest of their lives," she said. "When they read it in a chapter in a science book, they are more apt to forget it. This way there's more meaning."

The outdoor school, called Exploring New Horizons, is run by a nonprofit group among forests and beaches 15 miles south of Half Moon Bay.

"Our classrooms are the redwoods, oak woodlands and the ocean," said Tad Drake, principal of Exploring New Horizons.

The students arrived on Monday and will return to Fairfield Friday. Dover students have been coming to Exploring New Horizons for eight years.

On Tuesday students broke into groups and trekked to different eco-systems. One group hiked to the beach where they saw seals and learned about erosion and geology on the coast. Another group went to the redwood forest where they observed mushrooms and banana slugs. The third went to the oak woodlands. The students paused periodically to figure out interactions between animals and trees, Garcelon said.

Some students have never been to the beach or forests and this field trip provided them the opportunity, she said.

"Some of the kids were sitting at the edge of a meadow and four deer came out and ate lunch with them," Garcelon said.

The students have been learning geology and ecology, Garcelon said. But they have a chance to learn astronomy during one night hike when they will go stargazing. Another night the students will engage in a mock planning commission meeting where they will discuss an environmental issue.

Activities are structured so students can also practice team work and develop self-esteem, Drake said. Boys and girls stay in separate cabins, are supervised by high school counselors and teachers, and guided by naturalists during their hikes.

It costs $220 for each students to attend the field trip. Classes raise money for the outing by selling candy bars and teachers try to collect funds for students who can't afford the price.

_____
NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., section 107, some material is provided without permission from the copyright owner, only for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of federal copyright laws. These materials may not be distributed further, except for "fair use," without permission of the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml