Ecosystem Explorations
4TH - 6TH GRADE

A strong focus on science and the natural and cultural history of the North Cascades provides the academic foundation of this Mountain School program. Days are spent hiking on trails that surround the Learning Center. Hands-on educational activities along the trail introduce students to mountain ecosystems and provide an up close look at diverse ecological communities in the North Cascades. The educational experience continues back at the Learning Center in our fully equipped Aquatic and Terrestrial labs. Topics of study may include: carnivores of the North Cascades, biodiversity, aquatic ecology, glaciers and geology, cultural history, ethnobotany and forest ecology.

Our Learning Center is located in North Cascades National Park in the heart of the North Cascades mountain range. The 16 building facility includes classrooms, labs, library, dining hall and lodges. It is located on the shores of Diablo Lake with numerous trails and three trailside learning shelters. Our foodshed program focuses on offering appealing and wholesome food choices that are local, organic and sustainably produced. Mountain School participants stay in three dormitory-style lodges, which sleep a total of 69 participants. Each room sleeps two to three participants with two shared bathrooms in each lodge. Weather at this site varies greatly depending on the season, so we ask participants to be prepared for all conditions. Travel time to the Learning Center from Burlington is approximately one hour and thirty minutes and three hours from Seattle.

Where is Mountain School?
Mountain School is surrounded by 7,000,000 acres of protected public lands in Washington and British Columbia. In the middle lies 684,000-acre North Cascades National Park – our neighborhood. With 93 percent of its area designated as Wilderness, the Park is known for its steep mountains, ever-flowing streams and tremendous biological diversity. With more than 300 glaciers and countless snowfields, the Park is one of the most rugged and heavily glaciated areas in the United States outside of Alaska. The North Cascades are a national treasure and living laboratory awaiting discovery.

Instruction
With one to two classes per session, students break up into small hiking and learning groups with approximately a one to five adult/student ratio. Teachers and chaperones are an integral part of Mountain School, participating fully in all activities. North Cascades Institute education staff design lessons, provide leadership and train instructors at Mountain School. Mountain School instructors include North Cascades Institute staff members, graduate students enrolled in the Masters in Environmental Education program through Western Washington University and Institute and National Park rangers and interpreters. All instructors have CPR and first aid certification. In addition, many instructors have Wilderness First Responder (WFR) training, an advanced 80-hour first aid certification.

Curriculum
While at Mountain School, students spend the majority of their time outside, hiking on trails and exploring mountain ecosystems first-hand through interdisciplinary activities. Experiential, hands-on activities in science, math, art, social studies and conservation fill days to the brim. Program activities extend through the evening. Mountain School curriculum is aligned with the Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements, Grade Level Expectations and the Washington Asessment of Student Learning (Download EALRs as a PDF). With pre-trip and post-trip lessons included in the teacher’s guide, teachers have ready-to-go, useful tools to help prepare their students for Mountain School and make connections in the classroom following their field experience.

Program Pricing and How to Schedule