Welcome to Project Crystal!
During this environmental education program, fifth grade scientists are invited to take part in ecological research in Crystal Cove State Park’s Moro Canyon!
As young scientists help Crystal Cove Conservancy, Crystal Cove State Park, and UC Irvine study the best way to restore native habitats, they’ll learn about concepts like, plant ecology, food web dynamics, and how we can use science ideas to protect our wild places.
This program is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards for fifth grade. The curriculum includes six learning modules, each with 2-3 hours of flexible activities to incorporate into your online or in-person classroom. The program also includes two optional in-person or virtual field trips so that your students can connect with Crystal Cove Conservancy staff in the field in Moro Canyon.
Please visit our field trip page for information on booking in-person field trips.
How to Join
The Project Crystal curriculum is available for free for everyone! If you are a teacher or homeschool educator and would like to join Project Crystal for the 2021-2022 school year, please complete this survey and let us know.
If you have any questions about the program, feel free to contact Georges Edouard, Education Coordinator, by emailing georges@crystalcove.org.
Teacher Professional Development
We highly recommend that all teachers, educators, and parents who will be facilitating Project Crystal attend two professional development sessions. The “Welcome to Project Crystal” training gives an introduction to the Project Crystal research project and curriculum. The “Project Crystal Data Analysis” training gives you a crash course in supporting your scientists in thinking about how best to represent data through statistics, making graphs, and using their graphs as evidence to support a recommendation. Teachers who are planning to participate in in-person field trips are strongly encouraged to attend an in-person training in Moro Canyon!
Our 2021-2022 school year trainings are done for the season! Please let us know if you’d like to join the program and need support privately.
Project Crystal Curriculum
Curriculum for this year’s project will be posted here throughout fall of 2021! If you want to check out the complete curriculum from last year, check out the 2020-2021 project page here!
Teacher & Educator Resources
Module 1: Exploring Moro Canyon
- Explore: Field Trip to Crystal Cove State Park (contact kaitlin@crystalcove.org to book)
OR
- Virtual Explore Part 1: Video Field Trip – Moro Canyon’s Changing Landscape (contact kaitlin@crystalcove.org to book)
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- Virtual Explore Part 2: Virtual Hike Through Moro Canyon on Thinglink
- Share: Discussion Slideshow
- Extend: Explore at Home – Science Journaling
- Reflect: Do you think Moro Canyon is a place worth protecting?
- Share your thoughts with us on Flipgrid or Padlet
- Host the reflection video prompt on your own platform!
Module 2: Making a Model
- Explore: Making a Model Slideshow
- Share: Discussion Slideshow
- Extend: Explore at Home – Starting a Home Field Guide
- Reflect: Based on your model, what factors do you think will have the biggest affect on insects in our experiment at The Bowl?
- Share your thoughts with us on Flipgrid or Padlet
- Host the reflection video prompt on your own platform!
Module 3: Digging Deeper (optional)
- Explore Part 1: Planning our Investigations Slideshow
- Explore Part 2: Investigations
- Share: Discussion Slideshow
- Extend: Explore at Home – Making a Home Food Web
- Food Web Slideshow (English)
- Family Instructions (English)
- Food Web Slideshow (Spanish)
- Family Instructions (Spanish)
- Reflect : What is something new you learned that you are going to add to your model?
- Share your thoughts with us on Flipgrid or Padlet
- Host the reflection video prompt on your own platform!
Module 4: Making Our Hypothesis
- Explore Part 1: Revising our Model Slideshow (optional)
- Explore Part 2: Making a Hypothesis Slideshow
- Share: Discussion Slideshow
- Extend: Explore at Home – Community Interview
- Community Interview Slideshow (English)
- Family Instructions (English)
- Community Interview Slideshow (Spanish)
- Family Instructions (Spanish)
- Reflect: What is your hypothesis? What would you expect to observe at our research site if your hypothesis was supported?
- Share your thoughts with us on Padlet or Flipgrid
- Host the reflection video prompt on your own platform!
Module 5: Collecting Our Data
- Explore: Field Trip to Crystal Cove State Park (contact kaitlin@crystalcove.org to book)
- Share: Discussion Slideshow
- Extend: Explore at Home: Making Observations
- Reflect: What did you observe at the research site? What do you think our next step should be, how can we answer our research questions?
- Share your thoughts with us on Padlet or Flipgrid
- Host the reflection video prompt on your own platform!
Module 6: Analyzing Our Data
- Explore: Analyzing Our Data and Making a Recommendation
- Share: Discussion Slideshow
- Extend: Explore at Home: Designing a Presentation
- Reflect: What trends did you see in the data? What is your recommendation to the land managers at Crystal Cove State Park?
- Share your thoughts with us on Padlet or Flipgrid
- Host the reflection video prompt on your own platform!