Returning Home to California’s Kelp Forests

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Three students at a lab bench with an urchin in a plastic container and a balance.

As a native of Santa Barbara, I grew up exploring the tidepools, splashing in the waves, and kayaking the waters that are now part of the Santa Barbara Coastal-LTER. Now, thanks to the ARETs program, I am better equipped to share my knowledge about this special area with my students.

Our second summer, we were not evacuated!

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—by Rebecca Hawk If you step inside a classroom, there’s a good chance you will meet a group of funny and interesting kids and an adult who loves spending their days with them. This adult probably joined the education field with a heart full of hope or a fond memory of their schooling days. Sometimes… Read more »

Traci Kennedy

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two hands holding a sea urchin

…toward the end of our unit, students were able to create their own graphs, and understand the implications of the data after analysis

Stephanie Dolan

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smiling, snow-covered woman in outdoor gear

This experience reignited my passion for working with students. Witnessing curiosity, perseverance, and the realities of field research firsthand reinforced inquiry-based learning, systems thinking, and connecting content to real-world science, inspiring both my teaching and my students’ engagement.

Rebecca Hawk

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This experience changed my teaching life! Now we learn about insects, collect insects, and identify insects…We even make our own bug costumes after we learn about insect morphology!

Rachel Rigenhagen

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individual with a big pack passing a rocky outcrop in an open landscape

…not only were we able to help contribute to the data being collected but also bring that experience back to our students in Minnesota.

Paige Shelton

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Two women lifting long strands of kelp out of buckets.

I will have my students work with science data more frequently in our classroom.
Whether it is collecting data in a lab or using science datasets, this allows my students to be curious, ask questions, and explain key scientific concepts with data.

Melissa Moore

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sea urchins and seaweed in a plastic bucket

My students tested whether urchins kept indoors or outdoors consumed more kelp. The students got a taste of real, locally-relevant research directly connected to the work of the Hofmann Lab at UCSB. 

Kim Leslie

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a circular data visualization of daylight hours, temnperature hiughs, lows, and averages, lake temperature, and precipitation.

I fell in love with Amanda Young’s circle graph examples today. I saw them as awesome gateways for students to explore visual data in a new/more exciting/artsy way.