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The Children’s Environmental Education Program (CEEP) is a plant-based science education program for 3rd grade teachers and students.
CEEP was first developed in 2004 to provide teachers in the Fullerton School District with resources for their science program in response to an expressed desire for assistance in lesson planning, presentation and assessment. Planners included volunteer and retired teachers and docents (Nature Guides) at the Arboretum in cooperation with Fullerton School District.
Since CEEP has been so well received by teachers, parents, students and administrators in the Fullerton School District, we are please to open the program to all public and non-public schools in our surrounding area.
CEEP provides many benefits for teachers and students: |
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| a. |
Complete teacher training/orientation program |
| b. |
Comprehensive lessons, activities and materials to be used for classroom instruction before the field study trip to the Arboretum. |
| c. |
Stipend of up to $100 to help cover the cost of a subsitute for day of in-service training |
| d. |
Class field study trip led by Nature Guides (Arboretum docents) at the Arboretum focusing on activities that develop content knowledge, vocabulary, and process skills directly related to the specific California Science Standards. |
| e. |
A program specifically designed to train teachers and help students meet 3rd Grade California Science Content Standards for Life Sciences: 3.a, 3.b, 3.c, 3.d and Investigation and Experimentation: 5.a, 5.b, 5.c, 5.d, 5.e; the program is also correlated to Physical Sciences: 1.a, 1.b, 1.e, 1.f, 2.a, 2.b |
| f. |
Bus transportation stipend for field study trip of up to $75/classroom |
| g |
Pre-unit and post-unit assessesments and trip follow-up classroom activities |
The goal of CEEP is to make the Fullerton Arboretum resources available to teachers and students and thus provide a living laboratory for the study of life sciences. The program is specifically designed to help students meet the following 3rd Grade California Science Content Standards:
3. Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism's chance for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
| a. |
Students know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. |
| b. |
Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands. |
| c. |
Students know living things cause changes in the environment in which they live: some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, and some are beneficial. |
| d. |
Students know when the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce; others die or move to new locations. |
5. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
| a. |
Repeat observations to improve accuracy and know that the results of similar scientific investigations seldom turn out exactly the same because of differences in the things being investigated, methods being used, or uncertainty in the observation. |
| b. |
Differentiate evidence from opinion and know that scientists do not rely on claims or conclusions unless they are backed by observations that can be confirmed. |
| c. |
Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects, events, and measurements. |
| d. |
Predict the outcome of a simple investigation and compare the result with the prediction. |
| e. |
Collect and analyze data in an investigation to develop a logical conclusion. |
CEEP is also correlated to the following California Science Standards:
1. Energy and matter have multiple forms and can be changed from one form to another. As a basis for understanding this concept:
| a. |
Students know energy comes from the Sun to Earth in the form of light. |
| b. |
Students know sources of stored energy take many forms, such as food, fuel, and batteries. |
| c. |
Students know matter has three forms: solid, liquid, and gas. |
| d. |
Students know evaporation and melting are changes that occur when the objects are heated. |
2. Light has a source and travels in a direction. As a basis for understanding this concept:
| a. |
Students know sunlight can be blocked to create shadows. |
| b. |
Students know light is reflected from mirrors and other surfaces. |
Interpretive materials are also available to children and their parents when they visit the garden. These materials provide information to help all visitors learn and appreciate environmental relationships and how plants adapt and acommodate to changes in their environment.
Primary beneficiaries of CEEP are the children in Fullerton and other North Orange County communities.
So far, 6,000+ children in Fullerton School District have completed the program.
Participating classrooms in 2008-2009 report an average of 38% improvement in post-program assessments.
Communities at large reap extended benefits: as young people learn about the world they live in through participating in CEEP, it is our hope and expecation that they will become increasingly engaged in conserving and sustaining the delicate relationships that exist between all elements of their environment, and that they will encourage others to do the same.
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