Middle School Earth Camp (Grades 7-9)

AGES: Entering grades 7, 8 or 9
LOCATION: ASDM (1st week) and University of Arizona (2nd week)
DATES: June 15-19 & 22-27, 2009
HOURS: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (including lunch) with 3 overnights
FEES: $750.00 (academic merit and financial aid scholarships are available)

Earth Camp, an envrionmental summer program for teens, is a partnership between the University of Arizona College of Science and the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.

Conceived to honor the legacy of Columbia space shuttle astronaut Laurel Clark, the goal of Earth Camp is to educate and inspire youth to build leadership skills through experiential learning and conceptual understanding of earth processes. Earth Camp seeks to expand youth awareness of the interdependency of all living things, create a sense of wonder related to the Sonoran Desert and ecosystems worldwide, as well as open their eyes to the "awe-inspiring" universal perspective.

Earth Camp 2009 will challenge youth entering grades 7, 8 and 9 to explore water ecology and sustainability issues by interacting with live animals, harvesting saguaro fruit, camping in the desert, on Mt. Lemmon, and on Kitt Peak, coring trees for tree-ring analysis atop Mt. Lemmon, exploring behind-the- scenes at ASDM, looking for water on Mars, scanning the heavens through telescopes, viewing the earth from space, sketching/writing in field journals, recording data and images on individual Earth Camp web pages, and preparing presentations to share with their families during a Learning Celebration at the conclusion of the camp.

A two-week experience ("base camp" at ASDM the first week and University of Arizona the second week) with day-trips and three overnight adventures, Earth Camp will engage youth with hands-on investigations everyday and provide opportunities to explore the museum's mission of living in harmony with the natural world.

Participants are selected by an application process. Applications must received by April 10th, 2009; early applications accepted. Space limited to 20 youth. Academic merit and financial aid scholarships are available.

For more information call Amy Orchard at 520-883-3083.

Important Forms:

• Form for Parents
• (Formulario para Padres de Familia)
• Form for Students
• Scholarship Application
• (Solicitud de Beca)
• Teacher Recommendation Form

About the Instructors:

Amy Orchard has worked as an environmental educator at ASDM since 2001. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies from Prescott College and has 16 years experience educating youth of the desert southwest about its flora and fauna. Amy currently manages the Junior Docent program at ASDM and has taught natural history to youth groups in numerous exciting locations such as Arches National Park, on raft trips down the Colorado River and in the Catalina mountains. Amy has facilitated youth programs such as a six-year course, which included survival skills and overnight backpacking trips. Amy is an experienced whitewater river guide and enjoys knitting, hiking, scuba diving, and hanging out with her family.

Holly Hilburn is the Earth Camp collaborator from the University of Arizona. Having completed a Master's Degree in Education with an emphasis on environmental learning, she has a long- standing commitment to the environment and to experiential education. Holly is an experienced teacher that has taught in non-traditional classrooms such as the Sierra Nevada mountains, a fifteen passenger van driving around the busy border city of Nogales, Sonora, and the central plaza of a small town in Mexico. Holly learned to speak Spanish living on a dairy farm in Bolivia while she was in college pursuing her undergraduate degree in Geology and Latin American Studies. She is a native of California and enjoys sewing, cooking, hiking and running.

Franklin Lane is the Director of Education for the Sonoran Desert Waters Institute. He has a Bachelor's degree in Oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Masters in Education Administration. Franklin is a former high school physics teacher, assistant principal and athletic director. He has also been a professional hiking guide, surveyor, baseball scout and U.S. Marine. He has lived in the Sonoran Desert for fifteen years and is married with three children ages seventeen to twenty-six.