The Environmental Science classes attended a trip to Bear Creek Park. The trip was intended to be an educational opportunity for students to apply the concepts they learned in a real-world setting.

“Bear Creek Park has a wooded area with a higher biodiversity that allows for species identification for a number of plants and animals and also waterbodies for students to collect water for water testing that we conduct later in class,” environmental science teacher San-Pei Lee said.

This is Lee’s second year taking students to Bear Creek. Attendance doubled this year with the implementation of new policies.

“I newly implemented the assignment of group leaders, which kept groups safe together and more independently responsible for the completion of their scavenger hunt activities,” Lee said.

The beginning of the trip started with students completing a scavenger hunt, where they had to identify 11 different species.

“When students start out on the hunt, some of them seem a little hesitant and even incredulous, unsure of the point of the activity, but soon, I see the students exploring the woods full of curiosity, just like ecologists would,” Lee said. “They come back to me with butterflies in their sweeping nets and vivid descriptions of bird behavior.”

Thereafter, students were tasked with performing water and soil tests and recording them.

“AP Environmental Science requires the learning of investigative skills, such as species identification, species sampling, water testing, and soil testing, all of which are difficult to practice when limited to a classroom,” Lee said. “A field trip to a larger natural area provides students with the opportunity to immerse in the experiences of what scientists actually do in the field.”

Then it was time for lunch, which took place under a park pavilion. Afterwards, the group went to see the park’s collection of birds. The trip closed with a group photo taken in one of the park’s open fields.

“It seems like my students thoroughly enjoyed the field trip,” Lee said. “ One student remarked that it was the ‘best day of his high school days’! At the end of the day, when the students don’t want to leave the park, despite how exhausted they appear, it is evident that the field trip has been a success.”

While intended to be both fun and educational, the trip’s ultimate goal was to bridge the gap between the theoretical aspects of environmental science with its practical application within a natural setting.

“Environmental science is all about the study of living organisms and their interactions with not only each other, but also their surroundings,” Lee said. “To truly understand this interrelationship, we as humans need to venture outside of their cellular devices and witness all the other living beings out in the wild, so that is what I do with my students on this field trip.”

Lee has taken many classes throughout the years on nature field trips—even before her time at Langham—with the Houston Arboretum being a common destination when she worked in HISD.

“My favorite memories are the moments I spend alongside my students observing plants and animals,” Lee said. “I distinctly remember how one time, a few years ago, I was using the Merlin Bird ID app to record bird songs and figure out the species of the birds surrounding me in the trees above. There were a few students around me also with their heads up, pacing around to catch sight of the birds with our binoculars. In those moments, time stops, where there are just humans, trees, and wildlife, and it feels so peaceful, like that is how life is meant to be.”

That serenity seems to carry into the present, too.

“I got snippets of those moments this year too, taking photos with my students of various asters and pollinators to upload into the iNaturalist app for species identification, giving names to other beings who play important roles in their ecosystems,” Lee said.

While only a short excursion from the daily life of school, even as a minor break, Lee’s class trip to Bear Creek serves as a unique change of pace, where new memories and skills are forged.

“My hope is that my students will carry the skills they cultivated from this field trip of patiently observing, curiously inquiring about, and passionately caring for the environment and other living beings beyond my classroom, finding beauty and wonder all around our living planet.”