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Date: May & June 2004
Location: El Capitan Canyon

Congratulations to Mrs. Buratto’s 4th grade class! They are the first graduates of Ocean Future Society’ AOTE program at El Capitan Canyon.   Photo credit: Holly S. Lohuis, Ocean Futures Society

The entire 4th grade class at La Patera School , representing over70 students from Goleta, California, participated in Ocean Future Society’s newest Ambassadors of the Environment (AOTE) Program. Three camp sessions with the students were held on-site at El Capitan Canyon during May and early June.

Some of the exciting educational activities students, educators and parent chaperones participated in, central to the Ambassadors philosophy, included hands-on investigation into the program’s four central environmental principles for sustainable living: everything runs on solar energy, nature recycles everything; there is no waste in nature, biodiversity is good and everything is connected.

Examples of these principles were demonstrated through three field science stations led by our team naturalists. Students explored El Capitan State Beach to learn about the sandy beach environment and the kelp forest ecosystem. They took a terrestrial hike through the Canyon, where they saw the riparian (creek) ecosystem and discovered the flora and fauna found there. The third station enabled students to learn what sustainable living is, through experimenting with baking cookies in a solar oven, organic gardening, how vermiculture and composting works and taking part in team-building games.

Students gained further knowledge about themselves and what they can do to live more gently on our blue planet through night-time slide shows, a short nocturnal hike in the Canyon, writing in their journals and taking part in a post-camp activity designed to remind them what they can do, as individuals, to protect and conserve the natural environment.

AOTE is an innovative educational experience designed to promote a better understanding of how nature works, create an appreciation for the value of our natural heritage, empower more young people to take responsibility for their ecosystems and facilitate living more sustainable lives. This is a key component needed in education today to prepare students for the responsibilities they will inherit to manage the planet’s biosphere.

Ocean Futures Society is making a substantial commitment to expanding our Ambassadors of the Environment program for local school children. Together, with generous support from present and future program donors and sponsors, we can inspire our youth with a sense of hope. Our aim is to give them the knowledge and tools to be better stewards of our natural resources through positive action.

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