Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/994766
" The story of our lake is full of valuable lessons about preserving our planet for future generations." — Brianna Brown, Eastern Sierra Teachers Association throughout the Eastern Sierra transport students by bus for annual field trips to Mono Lake. "In addition to being able to study soil samples, rock samples and water samples, history is all around us, includ- ing fossils and petroglyphs from Native A m e r i c a n t r i b e s ," s a y s B r o w n , w h o teaches 25 miles away in Bridgeport. "And the story of our lake is full of valu- able lessons about preserving our planet for future generations." An outdoor classroom At the Mono Lake Visitor Center, teachers Yvette Garcia and Julia Silliker, both ESTA members, explain to middle school stu- dents from Lee Vining Elementary School (K-8) that the ancient lake visible behind them was formed when Mono Lake was filled with glacial runoff nearly 12,000 years ago. e hills on the north, south and east si d es of th e basin are al l of v olcanic origin. The Mono Craters, 24 domes of rhyolite (volcanic rock) that have erupted over the last 40,000 years and as recently as 700 years ago, form the youngest volca- nic chain in North America. 29 J U N E / J U L Y 2 018 Mono Lake Committee educators conduct a remote lesson to students in another state.