New environmental science class has students digging deep

Dirt was the star attraction Thursday in Carrie Denton’s environmental science class at Laguna Beach High School.

Students analyzed soil samples to determine their carbon dioxide level, an indicator of the material’s health.

They used microscopes, probes and computers to help complete the assignment.

Soil is but one unit of the course in its first year.

Environmental science, which replaced earth science at the high school, teaches students principles from biology, chemistry, geology and meteorology and how those topics connect with environmental policy decisions, according to the class syllabus.

Denton successfully lobbied to have the course fulfill freshman admission requirements for UC and Cal State colleges.

“It’s hard to get a lab science course approved,” Denton said. “So many students who want to qualify for Cal State or UC schools need three solid years [of laboratory science] to compete.”

Students may take either environmental science or biology to fulfill the requirement, Denton said.

Environmental science is open to all grade levels, and about 145 students have signed up, said Denton, who teaches five sections.

“I spent the whole summer developing the curriculum,” she said. The class runs the full school year.

In Denton’s Thursday class, students learned how to use probes to take carbon dioxide readings, look at a soil sample under a microscope and analyze data using graphs.

Groups placed a probe into a small glass jar that contained a bit of soil on the bottom. The probe created an air-tight seal, preventing any oxygen from escaping. Organisms release carbon dioxide as they breathe, Denton said.

An average soil sample is 45% minerals, 25% water, 25% air and 5% organic matter, according to a class handout. Organic matter is produced when dead animals and plants decay. Earthworms, fungi and bacteria live in the soil and feed on the decayed material.

Freshmen Coby Bryan and Maddi Parent, along with sophomore Alexis Amaradio, watched as a line indicating the amount of carbon dioxide in the soil fluctuated across a computer screen.

“Because the plateau goes up, there are some signs of life that the soil is giving off carbon dioxide,” Coby said. “If carbon dioxide levels go up, a plant is producing oxygen.”

The group also looked at data from soil taken from a bag, like that available at a garden center.

“There is some life, but not as much as soil from outside,” Coby said.

The class will also include units on weather, climate change, waste management, urbanization and ecology.

Alexis said the course is challenging and interesting in its exploration of environmental stewardship.

“It’s fun and adventurous,” Alexis said. “I’ve learned more about how to take care of the environment, not to hurt it.”