Join us for explorations and discussions of the natural wonders of the west. Participants will complete coursework through email as well as participate in an excursion to each locale to see the geology, plants, and animals firsthand. You must attend the trip to receive credit for the course. These courses will be useful to anyone teaching natural sciences — most of the California State Earth Science Standards are covered. Those with a general interest in and appreciation for our National Parks and wild places are also welcome!
Join us for a natural history tour of the Claremont Wilderness Park and the San Antonio Canyon. This course covers geology and plant communities of the Eastern San Gabriel Mountains. We will identify the major plants of the chaparral and riparian plant communities, discuss plant adaptations to the Southern California climate and explore how plants have adapted to chaparral fires. In addition we will see 1.7 billion year old rocks, debris fans and the Cucamonga thrust fault. We will view and discuss the major faults of San Antonio Canyon, see some of the oldest rocks in California, observe huge landslides and end up at a beautiful waterfall. Our drive will take us up in elevation about 5,500 feet through 5 biotic communities: Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, Riparian, Yellow Pine Forest, and White Fir Forest. Our discussion will include plant adaptations to changes in elevation and names of the major plants in each community.
Date: May 17-18, 2025
Code: PEDD 9609
We will car caravan the length of Owens Valley from Fossil Falls in the south to the Bishop area in the north. The geologic history of the Owens Valley will be discussed while viewing rocks as young as 10,000 years and as old as 500 million years. On Day 1 we will visit Fossil Falls and see sculpted basalt worn smooth by glacial melt water during the Pleistocene Epoch. We will stop at Owens Lake and discuss its natural and man-made history. We?ll visit the scarp of the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake, an estimated 8 magnitude, one of the largest in California recorded history. Our last stop on Day 1 will be the basalt flows of the Big Pine Volcanic Field, just south of Big Pine. Day 2 will include a look at some 500-million-year-old rocks ? the Poleta Folds and 5,000-year-old trees ? the Bristlecone Pines of the White Mountains. Our last stops will be in Round Valley, just west of Bishop. We will visit the Buttermilk Boulders and the Pine Creek moraine.
Date: June 16-17, 2025
Code: PEDD 9643
Our 2-day excursion will take us to the Owen Gorge, Long Valley Caldera, Convict Lake, Devils Postpile and Rainbow Falls. The Owens River has cut a 450 foot canyon through the Bishop Tuff exposing spectacular patterns within the tuff. At our Long Valley Caldera stop, we will see the depression left from a super volcano eruption 760,000 years ago. Convict Lake sits in a glacier-carved bowl and is bounded by 2 towering peaks, Mt. Morrison and Mt. Laurel. We will discuss ice age features and enjoy one of the most beautiful scenes in the Eastern Sierra. The second day will take us to the San Joaquin River drainage. We will visit and discuss the columnar joiting at Devils Postpile and walk along the river to end our day at Rainbow Falls.
Date: June 17-18, 2025
Code: PEDD 9638
Mammoth Lakes Sierra is a beautiful and exciting region of the 400 mile long Sierra Nevada Mountains. The excitement comes from the earthquakes and volcanic activity of the area. The Mammoth Lakes area is one of the most likely places for a volcanic eruption in the lower 48. We will caravan from Mammoth Lakes to Mono Lake making stops at Mammoth Mountains, Inyo Craters, Devil’s Punchbowl, Obsidian Dome and Panum Crater. Our discussions will include glacial features, the Mono Lake Basin ecosystem and the major plant communities of the Eastern Sierra Nevada.
Date: June 20-21, 2025
Code: PEDD 9605
Yosemite National Park is a world renowned display of vertical granite, thousand foot waterfalls, meadows, forests and wildlife. This course will include classroom discussions of the origin, uplift, and sculpting of the Yosemite granite. The geologic history of the 400 mile long Sierra Nevada mountain range will be discussed along with the many glacial features responsible for the breathtaking Yosemite scenery. Other discussions topics will include plant and animal adaptations and Native American history.
Date: June 22-23, 2025
Code: PEDD 9604
Class Requirements
- View a Power Point presentation
- Attend a two-day field trip
- Students are responsible for lodging, food and transportation
- Field trips begin at 9 a.m. and end between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
- We car caravan from stop to stop
- Walks are usually one to three miles round trip
- Participants should be in reasonably good physical shape
- Field trip gear list:
- clothing appropriate for weather
- lunch, water, paper, pen, camera
- Submit a field trip report
- Submit to Instructor Ted Reeves tedpzmz@gmail.com
- The report is due one week after the end of the trip
- Field Trip Report must include:
- information and photos from each stop
- further on-line research on major topics
- report should represent about 8 hours of work
- the format can be Word, Pages, Power Point, Keynote
- Vehicles should be in good mechanical condition and arrive with a full tank of gas on the first day
Additional Information
- Each class is worth 3 semester units.
- Class tuition is $300. Non-credit tuition is $50.
- These courses are designed to meet professional development needs of educators for career and salary advancement and is not applicable to a degree at University of the Pacific.
- District approval is recommended before enrolling. An official transcript is available from Pacific upon successful completion of coursework.
- All field trip participants must register for the class. Non-credit tuition is $50.
- At any activities or events sponsored by this program, the University does not provide insurance coverage for non-registered students. The University does not sponsor, sanction, or cover non-registered students for any purpose.
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