Welcome to Project Crystal!
During this virtual 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 help native seedlings grow, they’ll learn about concepts like plant ecology, the water cycle, 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 hybrid classroom. The program also includes four optional Virtual Field Trips (also known as videoconferencing sessions) so that your students can connect with Crystal Cove Conservancy staff from the field in Moro Canyon.
How to Join
Project Crystal is free for everyone! If you are a teacher or homeschool educator and would like to join Project Crystal for the 2020-2021 school year, please complete this survey and let us know.
If you have any questions about the program, feel free to contact Kaitlin Magliano, Education Coordinator, by emailing kaitlin@crystalcove.org.
Teacher Professional Development
We highly recommend that all teachers, educators, and parents who will be facilitating Project Crystal attend two online 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.
Upcoming Training Dates:
If you cannot attend a training, we will post recordings afterwards to watch at your leisure!
Project Crystal Curriculum
Teacher & Educator Resources
- Project Crystal Teacher Guide
- Printable Science Journal Pages (optional)
- Student Pre-Assessment (Google Form)
- Student Pre-Assessment (Printable)
- Student Post-Assessment (Google Form)
- Student Post-Assessment (Printable)
Module 1: Exploring Moro Canyon
- Explore Part 1: Video Field Trip – Moro Canyon’s Changing Landscape
- For school groups, book this program for your class here!
- For homeschool groups, join us for our next public livestream!
- 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: Building Our Model
- Explore Part 1: Video Field Trip – Introduction to Our Research Project & Modeling
- For school groups, book this program for your class here!
- For homeschool groups, join us for our next public livestream!
- Explore Part 2:
- Option 1: Making a Paper Model Slideshow
- Option 2: Making a Computer Model Slideshow
- Share: Discussion Slideshow
- Extend: Explore at Home – Starting a Home Field Guide
- Reflect: Based on your model, will seedlings grow more in areas with mulch or without mulch?
- 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 – Community Interview
- 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: Developing our Hypothesis Slideshow
- Share: Discussion Slideshow
- Extend: Explore at Home: Gardening Scavenger hunt
- 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
- Launch: Collecting Data Slideshow
- Explore Part 1: Video Field Trip – Live Data Collection!
- For school groups, book this program for your class here!
- For homeschool groups, join us for our next public livestream!
- Explore Part 2: Asynchronous Data Collection
- Data Collection on Thinglink
- Submitting Data
- 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 Part 1: Video Field Trip – Introduction to Data Analysis
- For school groups, book this program for your class here!
- For homeschool groups, join us for our next public livestream!
- Explore Part 2: 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!