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KiDS, a Volunteer Program, Empowers the Next Generation of Scientists

Getting Kids Into Discovering Science

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students raise their hands around 嘿嘿视频 research fellow, Leta Landucci
Students from Lower Lake Elementary raise their hands around 嘿嘿视频 research fellow, Leta Landucci, during the KiDS Program Field Day at McLaughlin Natural UC Reserve (Courtesy Malia Reiss).

It was the fifth graders鈥 first field trip of the year, and the excitement was off the charts. 

Tiny fingers pointed and asked 鈥淲hat鈥檚 this flower?鈥 at the pollinator station. Binoculars pointed towards the red-winged blackbirds across the pond. A yellow string was passed student to student to demonstrate a complex food web. 

This field trip to McLaughlin Natural UC Reserve in spring 2023 was the culmination of the 10-week program, led by 嘿嘿视频 graduate students and faculty for the fifth graders of Lower Lake Elementary School in Lake County.  

Completely volunteer-based, the KiDS program has served around 80 fifth graders every year since 2010, seeking to inspire academic and scientific achievement in low-income and under-served school districts.

嘿嘿视频 affiliates interested in volunteering in 2024 can check out the  now.

MJ Farrugia, a 嘿嘿视频 PhD student in ecology, took the lead in 2023. 

鈥淎s a woman of color and a person who didn鈥檛 grow up experiencing the outdoors, experiential, hands-on learning opportunities are how I gained the skills and confidence to be a natural scientist,鈥 said Farrugia. 鈥淚 hope to inspire students to see themselves as scientists, whether they grow up to become one or not!鈥

Student uses binoculars to search for birds
The bird watching station was a big hit, led by 嘿嘿视频 WFCB undergrad, Lindsey Beaman (Courtesy Malia Reiss).

Students were split into groups of 10 and rotated through several stations with a 嘿嘿视频 undergraduate mentor. From tree coring with 嘿嘿视频 Professor Andrew Latimer, to seeing the stark serpentine-to-loam contrast first-hand, the day fostered scientific curiosity. 

鈥淭his is like the best field trip ever,鈥 exclaimed fifth-grader Nathan. 

Andrew Latimer points to a recent tree core while students observe
嘿嘿视频 Professor Andrew Latimer led a tree coring station, where each student got to turn the increment borer and then count the number of rings on the tree. (Courtesy Malia Reiss).
up-close picture of the tree core
Tree core, showing the inside of a tree and the environmental conditions throughout the tree's lifespan (Courtesy Malia Reiss). 

Viviana Fonseca, a fifth-grade teacher at Lower Lake Elementary, beamed: 鈥淭his is something that they will remember for the next 10 to 15 years,鈥 she said. 

A sense of place

One of the goals of the program is to inspire a sense of place in the fifth grader鈥檚 local environment. 

For 10 Fridays in the classroom this past spring, the young students took part in an ecology experiment comparing serpentine to loam soil at the reserve, which is only 20 minutes from their school. 

鈥淭he land carries life,鈥 said McLaughlin Reserve Director and KiDS founder, Catherine Koehler. 鈥淲e want them to look outside their windows from a science perspective and think about how the land is shaping what they see.鈥 

In the classroom, they developed hypotheses, measured plant emergence and growth, created graphs with their data, drew conclusions, and summarized their findings, 鈥渏ust like any professional scientist would,鈥 said Farrugia.

鈥淭he loam grew better than the serpentine,鈥 said a student named Alex. 鈥淭he loam is not as dry so it helps produce more plants.鈥

Two groups of students look at the differences between loam and serpentine soil
Students compare loam soil ecosystems (left) to serpentine soil ecosystems (right) (Courtesy Malia Reiss).

Each week, different scientists were brought into the classroom to talk with the students. 

鈥淪tudents were introduced to many different versions of what a scientist can study and what they can look like,鈥 said Farrugia. 

鈥淭hey are more excited,鈥 said Fonesca. 鈥淭hey love Fridays. We get more attendance on that day too.鈥

鈥楤ut why?鈥 

With kids, this question is relentless. But natural curiosity often dims as students progress in their education. 

Mentor points out a flower to a student and her parent
The plant & pollinator station taught students about the unique flowers and pollinators of serpentine soil, led by 嘿嘿视频 research fellow Leta Landucci (Courtesy Malia Reiss).

Low-income communities face consistent disparities regarding access to STEM education and outdoor spaces. These 鈥鈥 can carry on throughout early education and impact diversity in STEM careers greatly. 鈥淏ut why?鈥 is often crushed by income inequalities. 

The rural Lower Lake community has a population of 1,036 and a poverty rate of 39.44%. The KiDS program aims to make science tangible and accessible to low-income, minority students, explained Farrugia. 

show that nature- and field-based science education improves STEM academic capacity, mental health, and overall quality of life, especially for low-income children of color. Taking early natural curiosity and using it to fuel question-based and active learning has the capacity to inspire the next generation of scientists and problem-solvers. 

students laugh while passing a string, representing a food web
The predator & prey station passed around string to demonstrate a complex food web (Courtesy Malia Reiss).
Students examine a bug through a hand lens
Naturally curiosity and discovery was fueled at the plant & pollinator station (Courtesy MJ Farrugia).

鈥淒o you want to be a scientist?鈥 

鈥淵ES!鈥 screamed the group of kids around me. They launched into an overlapping chorus of what kind of science interested them. Later, I interviewed them separately: 

鈥淚 like looking at bugs. They are really interesting,鈥 said Sophia, who wants to be an entomologist. 

鈥淚 want to be someone who does plants and flowers and stuff,鈥 said Aniya, a future botanist. 

鈥淚f my chef thing doesn鈥檛 work out, I鈥檒l become a scientist,鈥 said Jude. 

Brianna wants to go into science communication, but mainly as a side section of her soon-to-launch YouTube channel.

鈥淚 want to be a bee scientist. Bees are cool,鈥 said Kason. 鈥淎nd I could go to schools and teach them about it, too!鈥 

student smiles and poses with a tree core
5th grader, future pollination scientist, and educator, Kason, holds a tree core (Courtesy Malia Reiss).

Malia Reiss is a science news intern with 嘿嘿视频 Strategic Communications. She studies environmental science and management at 嘿嘿视频.

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Kat Kerlin, 嘿嘿视频 News and Media Relations, 530-750-9195, kekerlin@ucdavis.edu 

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