Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/994766
"Save Mono Lake." For years it was a slogan on bumper stickers and T-shirts. Now the famous body of water in remote Mono County is in the process of being saved, and it provides educators in the lakeside com- munity of Lee Vining opportunities to offer dynamic science curriculum and important life lessons. In fact, it's the perfect teaching tool for educating students about: • Preserving Earth's natural resources. • W hat can go aw r y w h en human s interfere with Mother Nature. • Geology and the creation of tufa for- mations. • Self-contained ecosystems. • The delicate art of riparian resto- ration. There are also valuable histor y les- sons about political organizing and how it made a huge difference in the small community decades ago, long before the Internet and social media existed. "We are so lucky to be able to use the outdoors and Mono Lake as an outdoor classroom," says Brianna Brown, pres- i d ent of th e E ast ern Si erra Teach ers Association (ESTA), adding that schools Mono Lake's history, geology offer much to learn By Sherry Posnick-Goodwin Photos by Scott Buschman Timeless Lessons At Mono Lake, in Mono County, students can study soil, rock and water samples, as well as fossils and petroglyphs from Native American tribes. 28 cta.org Feature