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<\/a><\/p>\nSKREE-FLOP! The rubber snake leapt out and made everyone \u2013 but especially Rumble \u2013 holler. Shrieks of laughter erupted and Rumble good-naturedly embraced the prank. \u201cOh, you guys are good! That is a classic!\u201d he told them as students grinned ear to ear. Fourth grade teacher Linda Dowell explained that this joke had been planned for a long time. \u201cWelcome to our school!\u201d she exclaimed.<\/p>\n Indeed, the culture at Leo Politi is inviting on many levels \u2013 it\u2019s a school that many adults probably wish they could have attended back in their day. This outdoor habitat, used practically every day by students of all ages and their teachers, is the connector that fuels much of the education query\u2026but that\u2019s just the beginning.<\/p>\n After the excitement of the joke wore off, the students are back to their booklets, making observations, writing and drawing pictures of their favorite plants and checking the micro-habits (carefully placed rock piles) and bee house for new residents.<\/p>\n Later, students may spend time in the Audubon Classroom where cross curriculum studies connect art, poetry, current events to science, nature and local wildlife. Second graders are learning such vocabulary words as: limited exposure, carcass, toxic element and extinction. Older students study the history of scientific drawings that include cave drawings, illuminated manuscripts and the bathysphere. Here, studying the intricacies and diversity of the natural world isn\u2019t just for youngsters \u2013 it\u2019s a serious endeavor that takes its cue from the learning laboratory growing in their own back yard.<\/p>\n At the school, science scores have gone from 9 % proficient, 0 % advanced in 2009 to a healthy average of 47 % proficient\/advanced. In 2005, 11 students were identified as gifted; in May 2013, 95 were in the gifted program, more than 10 percent of the school.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have here is pride of ownership for these students right on their campus,\u201d says Rumble. \u201cThey have gained specialized knowledge of the natural world\u2026and once they realize they can be experts in one thing, they can then see themselves as experts in others ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Third grader Francisco is one such expert. Clutching his own notebook and a copy of\u00a0Sibley\u2019s Guide to Birds<\/em>, he\u2019s practically memorized the pages and taxonomy of area birds, not to mention how bird species differ. On a recent field trip, he and Rumble discussed the difference between the Western and Eastern meadowlarks. \u201cIn Arizona I saw a painted bunting and I want to travel and see birds,\u201d he explains. \u201cI like spending most of my time out here.\u201d<\/p>\n It did take a village to create this outdoor habitat.\u00a0L.A. Audubon\u00a0<\/a>worked with the school to receive aSchoolyard Habitat Restoration Program grant\u00a0<\/a>through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. They also received a grant from\u00a0Toyota\u2019s Together Green program<\/a>. Restoration ecologist Margot Griswold and the students at\u00a0Dorsey High School<\/a>\u00a0were on board to help students\/faculty study soil samples and determine the school\u2019s ecological \u00a0location in the LA watershed \u00a0(coastal sage scrubland) along with prepping the soil and final planting. Parental involvement was instrumental.<\/p>\n \u201cNative plants are a lot of work to establish,\u201d says Griswold who regularly visits the school to see what\u2019s growing \u2013 and that\u2019s not just the plants, but the students also. \u201cWe are starting to see the links between providing students these kinds of learning opportunities to higher education,\u201d she says explaining how a recent Politi grad has now enrolled at Dorsey High and joined the Eco Club.<\/p>\n Griswold is quick to point out that not every student who graduates will want to pursue a career in sciences, but that \u201cgiving them this kind of exposure will provide them with not just an appreciation of nature but will allow them to be open to the world around them.\u201d<\/p>\n Griswold is part of the LAUSD Instructional Schoolyards Task Force that will next month offer recommendations on how schools can create outdoor learning centers, much in the vein of what goes on at Leo Politi. Maybe one day school habitat gardens will be a normal part of every school\u2019s campus, just like swing sets and lunch tables.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n