Dana Van Burgh and Ed Strube started Field Science in 1963

Won the Search for Excellence in Science Education in 1983

 

Beginning Field Science for High School Students took students to four different environments.  A river/spring environment, a prairie/sand dune/soda lake environmen, a mountain environment and and lake environment.  Students studied the biology, geology and history of the study sites.  Much of the teaching was on a school bus and activities were done in the field.  Sessions lasted from 8:00 A.M. until 4:00 P.M.

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Science History Loops.  A school bus was used to take students to about 1/4 of the state.  It included the North East Loop, North West Loop, South West Loop and the South East Loop.  It included the biology, geology and history of the areas.  Museums, historical location and geologic outcrops were visited.

 

Resident Programs.  Students stayed at a location for 4 or 5 days and did more detailed studies and reported on the results of the studies at the end ot the week.  Locations included an old ranch, a dude ranch and a Hostel/Bike Inn.  The Field Assistant was in charge of cooking an evening meal.

 

Elementary Field Science.  A program for lower elementary students, and two different programs for upper elementary students were run in the past.  The days were shorter and had more activities at the stops, but the general format with the school bus and traveling to different envirnments, was similar to the high school program.

 

Science History/Float Trip Loops.  One summer we did a three day float trip down the Green River which ended at the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah.  The following summer we did another float trip starting on the Yampa River going into the Green and again ending at Dinosaur National Monument

 

Teacher's Field Science.  Teachers asked to go on the trips with the high school students and we tried that.  We decided that this needed to be a separate program with graduate credit for the teachers.  Geology, biology and history were the main aspects of the program, but there was more emphasis on how the teachers might present the information they were gathering to their own students.

 

Publications.  Students that had taken their parents to locations they visited on Field Science wanted to know if they had explained the areas correctly.  The Alcova Field Guide was the restult of this need.  That was followed by the Casper Mountain Field Guide and Sketches of Wyoming.  The story of the first 40 years of Field Science is told in The Yellow Classroom and a road log for a portion of the Oregon Trail has been published recently.  A revision of the Alcova Field Guide was done with the help of the Wyoming State Geological Survey and a revision of the Casper Mountain Field Guide is currently in the works.

 

The Braille Trail.  Mr. Strube had the opportunity to visit a Braille Trail in Colorado and he and Mr. Van Burgh took students to visit it the following year.  The stuents came back excited about building a Braille Trail on Casper Mountain, and after much work and the cooperation of the Casper Mountain Lions Club, the Lee McCune Braille Trail was built and is open to the public during the summer.

 

The Cowboy Coalition.  A grant to provide history workshops for teachers was used in conjunction with Field Science to do three field trips within the state.  A field trip to the Southwestern part of the state included Ft. Bridger, the Roundhouse at Evenston, the Fossil Fish Quarries at Kemerer and the South Pass area.  The Cheyenne to Deadwood Trail covered areas of interest along the trail including the Air Force Base at Cheyene, the Torrington Museum, the Lusk Museum and remains of the trail and stage stop, The Dinosaur Museum at Hill City and Museum at Deadwood.

 

The Oscher Lifetime Learning Institute (OLLI) Field Trips.  When we were no longer able to do the Teacher Field Science, we contated the director of the OLLI program and started doing field trips for retired folks.  We continue to do the biology, geology and history, but are now doing it for mostly people that are retired (50 and over).  We have done one day field trips, three day local field trips and three day, out of town overnight field trips.