Marine Biologist for a Week!
Grades: 1st-2nd | June 3-8
Dive into the incredible world just beneath the waves! As marine biologists for the week, investigate adaptations, food webs, and life cycles, from microscopic plankton to top ocean predators. Through hands-on exploration of living plants and animals from San Diego’s coastal habitats, examine the strategies organisms use to survive in diverse environments, including sandy shores, tidepools, kelp forests, biofouling communities, and the open ocean.
From marine mammal bones, baleen, and teeth to live and preserved fishes, sea stars, tunicates, crabs, and plankton, engage directly with the incredible diversity of ocean life. Using microscopes, plankton nets, fishery measurement tools, and creative art projects, ask questions, conduct experiments, and investigate the ecological challenges faced by organisms in these habitats.
Watershed Explorers
Grades 3rd-5th | June 1-5
In this hands-on science camp, each day is spent exploring the local watershed—from Tecolote Creek to the Pacific Ocean. Through real investigations, examine the region’s geology, fossil record, hydrology, and the diverse plants and animals that call this ecosystem home, while also learning how Indigenous peoples lived in and interacted with this landscape long ago.
Throughout the week, hands-on investigations include conducting a fossil dig with real local specimens, exploring animal behavior through up-close interactions with live organisms, investigating how water moves through the environment, and examining water chemistry and toxicology through water quality testing to understand how human activities impact the health of the watershed and its organisms.
Combining art and science during guided hikes in coastal sage scrub and riparian habitats, and hands-on experiments with plants and animals from Kendall Frost Marsh, Mission Bay, and the Pacific Ocean, uncover how all parts of the watershed are connected—and consider their role as future stewards in protecting these vital ecosystems.
Bio-Inspired Engineering
Grades 2nd-5th | June 29th-July 2nd
In this hands-on lab, explore engineering through the lens of how nature inspires innovation. Each day, investigate the amazing adaptations of local animals and the physics behind their movements—like how wings, fins, and other structures help them survive in the wild. Using these insights to apply the engineering process to brainstorm, design, test, modify, and retest prototypes in exciting hands-on challenges, turning natural ideas into real-world solutions.