Stunt Ranch Trip

Today was our field trip to the UCLA Stunt Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains. It went smashingly well – except for terrible traffic – and our students learned a lot about Southern California environments and the Chumash people.

After a fairly long bus ride to Calabasas, the Cold Creek docents met us at the side of the road. We were divided into five groups with about 10 or so to a group. Right away the guides began alerting the students to the animals and plants around them. Here one of the guides is explaining to the students how to spot a wood rat nest.

As we hike the mile or so to the Stunt Ranch preserve, the students learned about the five major environments of Southern California. They saw and learned first about the chaparral. They next learned about the coastal sage plant community. The guides took special pains to point out the yuccas here because the Chumash used them for making rope and clothing. Here the guide is showing a yucca plant which recently finished flowering.

Along the way, the students saw animal tracks, which they found fascinating, and animal scat, which they found disgusting. The guides stressed the interrelationship of everything in the ecosystem. Here the guides is explaining how the FBI – that’s “Fungus, Bacteria, and Insects” in naturalist talk – enrich the soul by breaking down dead plant material.

One of the environments they saw along the way was the riparian plant community. The guides talked about willows and how the Chumash used them for housing. But the plant in this community that the students found most interesting was poison oak. The guides told them how to spot poison oak and what to do if they accidentally touched some.

After about 45 minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the Stunt Ranch property. This has that name not because of any connection to movie production but because that was the name of the family who first established a homestead in this part of what is now Calabasas. This property, now owned by UCLA, serves as a center for the study and interpretation of Chumash culture. The students rotated through several different centers where they learned about the Chumash and how they live. At one of the centers, shown below, the learned how to grind acorns and make them into mush.

At another station, the students made simple sand paintings using Chumash symbols.

There were other stations where the students learned Chumash games and played Chumash musical instruments. There was a small shed there where there were stuffed – as in taxidermy, not FAO Schwartz – animals from the local mountains such as bobcat. You can imagine how much the students liked that!

We ate lunch and hiked back. Our guides were so chatty that we were about 20 minutes late when we got to the bus. Traffic was also just horrendous on the Ventura Freeway, so we did not get back until about 2:50!

Homework:  Students lucked out because the bus was so late! Have a great weekend!

Be sure to come to the Back to School Breakfast Activity on Tuesday, October 20th. Among other things we will be signing up for conferences in December.