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Budding scientists get a lesson outdoors

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Michael Henien crushed a pea-sized berry between his fingers and took a sniff.

“It smells like apple,” said the 17-year-old Huntington Beach High School senior.

With a field guide in hand, Michael peered into the jumble of native and invasive plants before him and tried to identify each species, as Banning Ranch became an outdoor classroom for a half-dozen high school students Monday.

Wedged between Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, the ranch is an expanse of scrub- and grass-covered bluffs overlooking the ocean near Pacific Coast Highway and the mouth of the Santa Ana River.

The outdoor lesson is being offered through a new pilot program of the Newport Banning Land Trust, a nonprofit set up to steward more than 230 acres of open land, and the Institute for Conservation Research and Education, a local nonprofit started by a wildlife biologist. The outdoor lesson will repeat again in February and March. It culminates with a presentation before teachers, students and parents in March.

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The idea is to give science-minded students at local schools field experience in topics that interest them, such as biology and environmental conservation, explained Robyn Vettraino, executive director of Newport Banning Land Trust.

“We wanted to create a program that could be tailored to any high school,” Vettraino said. “They can find out if this is something they’re interested in making a career out of.”

In time, Vettraino expects the program will be extended to elementary- and middle-school children and college students.

On Monday, the students learned to identify native and invasive species, conducted field surveys of various natural habitats and even discovered a hawk’s nest. Later, they performed water quality tests at ponds in Fairview Park in Costa Mesa.

The students are enrolled in AP environmental science class and say they’re interested in careers ranging from zoology to bioengineering.

High school senior Lauren Wright said she likes the way the outdoor education uses all of her senses and believes the hands-on experience improves retention.

“You get to do it, so it sinks into your head more versus seeing it in a text book,” said Lauren, 17.

Experiential, or hands-on, learning also is generating buzz among educators, some of whom believe it requires more critical thinking of students than classroom instruction. A nonprofit has sprung up around the idea, called Independent Schools Experiential Education Network, to train teachers in the concept.

“It’s a very different experience when they’re out here using their senses,” Vettraino said. “Everyone says they want to be outside rather than be in a classroom.”

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