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The San Mateo County Office of Education conducts an award-winning Outdoor Education program in cooperation with local schools and the San Francisco YMCA Camp at Jones Gulch, nestled in the Redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains in La Honda, California.
This website houses SMCOE's "Solutionary" Place/Problem/Project-Based Learning (PBL) curriculum that provides a classroom extension for its San Mateo Outdoor Education program.
The San Mateo County Office of Education's "Solutionary" Project-Based Learning (PBL) framework was used to design the San Mateo Outdoor Education (SMOE) instructional unit. The graphic (below) shows the progression of the Solutionary PBL phases - learn more about this framework and get tools and resources at this Solutionary Teaching and Learning Page. First, students learn about the fundamental concepts that will be addressed within the unit, which should establish students' baseline of knowledge. Then, students engage with problem cycles that highlight key issues, data, and anomalies. Students then design a solution for a select problem that they would like to solve. Finally, students are assessed on their understanding, reflect on their learning experiences, and decide on next steps.
The purpose of the classroom-based lessons that flank the students' SMOE experiences is to provide them with the context to compare the systems and practices within their school related to their energy (electricity), water usage, waste management, and land-use practices with those they will experience at SMOE.
The curriculum is subdivided into three segments:
Fundamental and Problems: Lessons 1-5 are implemented the week prior to Outdoor Education
Solutions and Reflection: Lessons 6-10 are implemented the week following Outdoor Education
During this segment, students will:
learn about the Earth's four spheres and how humanity impacts them.
learn about energy and water efficiency, waste management, and land use.
perform audits of the energy, water, waste, and land-use systems and practices found within their school.
analyze audit data and present findings to their classmates.
reflect on their own relationship with nature.
During their time at Outdoor Education, students will be able to experience how energy, water, waste, and land are used and managed:
Learning about food systems and food waste in the dining hall, including measuring the food left behind on your plates
Participate in collecting, preparing, and using compost from the dining hall and meals in our garden
Visit our straw bale classroom – powered by the sun – and learn how building construction and design can help offset energy use.
Please access this website to learn more about the San Mateo Outdoor Education Program.
During this segment, students will:
review and reflect upon their SMOE experiences at Camp Jones Gulch.
reflect upon the Camp Jones Gulch energy, water, waste, and land-use practices, as compared to those at their school campus.
work in small teams to design either an advocacy or action campaign to make their school more like Camp Jones Gulch.
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