AEC & SCCAEPA
2023 Environmental Summer Camp
Make California a Better Place
June 10- July 22, 2023
The All-Earth Citizens Foundation (AEC) and the Southern California Chinese-American Environmental Protection Association (SCCAEPA) are very excited to announce the third Youth Environmental Summer Camp in 2023. The camp is for middle-school and high-school students with interests in environmental topics. In addition to classroom and field-trip learning, students will form teams to conduct self-directed research and design projects on each of the five topics below. Experts in each topic from SCCAEPA will be coaching each team through project-based learning. Students will have the opportunity to integrate the knowledge into real-world environmental topics and propose their own feasible solutions. The camp will also develop and reinforce each student’s leadership skills throughout the project. Each team will enter a competition by summarizing its research and findings, and presenting to a panel of judges at the end of the camp. The project topics for this year include Water Recycling/Reclamation; Organic Waste Recycling; Surface Water Management; Green Infrastructure; Zero Waste Life.
Program Fee:
$265
Program Date:
June 10 – July 22, 2023
Eligibility:
G7 to G12 students in Southern California who have independent study ability
Program Schedule:
Opening Field Trip + Topic Workshops/Field Trip (1-2 hours per week)
Limited to 12 students/project
<= Info Session Recording
Watch the info session to gather more information about the environment summer camp program, learn about the coaches and mentors of the program.
For your convinence, this is the time slot for each project.
Project 1: Water Recycling/Reclamation 11'24-19'23
Project 2: Organic Waste Recycling 19'30-25'15
Project 3: Surface Water Management 25'25-35'28
Project 4: Green Infrastructure 35'32-42'23
Project 5: Zero Waste Life 43'25-46'50
Final Presentation Rubrics 47'00-50'30
Camp Communication-Slack 50'30-56'27
Program Topics
Please check the Syllabus for class schedules.
(Every student can choose one topic to enroll)
Project 1: Water Recycling/Reclamation
Project 5: Zero Waste Life
Have you been to Lake Cachuma and Lake Mead, and watched the receding water lines over the years? Have you heard of the one-water concept? Do you want to learn about how wastewater is recycled, and how you can help conserve water at home?
This summer camp will start with a field trip and a case study at a water district facility so you can learn how water recycling is generally done. Then you will transition into learning how to conserve water at home and showcase your creativity!
Coaches: Iris Huang, Principal Project Manager at Parsons Corporation
Camp hours: Sunday, 2-3:30 pm, June 18 to July 22 (via Zoom or In-person field trip)
In-person field trip:
Date/Time: July 15, 2023, Saturday, 9:45 am - 11 am
Location: Albert Robles Center 4320 San Gabriel River Pkwy, Pico Rivera, CA 90660
Dress Code: Closed-toe, flat heel shoes, pants, and comfortable clothes for a walking tour are required.
Final Inter-Camp Presentation: July 22, 2023 Saturday, 10 am -1 pm
Have you ever wondered where the trash goes and how we can recycle the trash such as organic waste to reduce pollution? For example, the wasted food in the United States — on average, 400 pounds per person each year, contributes significantly to methane emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating climate change. Composting organic waste reduces the amount of waste that is taken to landfills. “Organic waste” includes food, green material, landscape and pruning waste, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, paper products, printing and writing paper, manure, biosolids, digestate, and sludges.
If everyone in the United States composted their food waste, the impact would be equivalent to removing 7.8 million cars from the road. The State of California has established statewide targets to reduce the amount of organic waste disposal in landfills (50% reduction by 2020 and 75% by 2025). It also sets a goal to recover at least 20% of edible food that is thrown away by 2025 by donating it to people in need.
In this summer camp, students will learn concepts of organic waste recycling, observe how earthworms transform the veggie and fruit scraps into rich soil (garden gold) through their poop (also called worm castings), attend field trips to farms, and have hands-on activities on exploring invertebrate animals (worms), gardening, and composting.
Coach: Kenny Wang, Water Resource Engineer, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
Course Location: Little Parrot Farm, Tzu Chi Education Campus, and Field Trips
Course Hours: July 8, July 15, and July 22 (Saturday) 10:00 am - 12:00 pm (Tzu Chi Education Campus)
Field Trips:
June 17, June 23 or 24, and July
June 17: Little Parrot Farm (2126 Desire Ave, Rowland Heights, CA 91748)
June 23 or 24: TBA
July 1: Tzu Chi Education Campus (1920 S. Brea Canyon Cut-off Rd. Walnut, CA 91789)
Final Presentation: July 22, Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Project 2: Organic Waste Recycling
Would you lick the street by your house? The sidewalk? Your roof? Of course not! There's lots of dirt, trash, and bacteria on these surfaces. But when there's a storm, the rain picks all that up, around the whole city, and about 80% of the polluted water (billions of gallons every year) ends up in the ocean. Not only does this harm fish and wildlife, but we also lose a precious resource at the same time - water.
However, there is a way to help clean up stormwater pollution and increase our water supply, while also improving the health of people and the planet at the same time. We all know that planting trees is good for environment. But did you know that they can also help remove bacteria and harmful chemicals from water? You may not realize it, but the trees you walk by everyday may be actively treating polluted storm-water. Or the parking lot at your school could be soaking up rain and putting it in the ground. Or, when you're playing soccer at the park, there may be a storage tank right under your feet that holds stormwater and treats it to water the grass.
All of these things are examples of "green infrastructure", which are designed by engineers to copy processes that happen in nature and use them to capture, treat, and infiltrate stormwater. Other benefits include providing shade, beautifying streets, and reducing local flooding. Especially as the drought in Southern California worsens, the temperatures increase, and our water supply shrinks, capturing rain is not only a good idea, but a necessary one.
In this summer camp, students will learn about what currently happens to our stormwater using traditional"grey" infrastructure, then explore how green infrastructure can make our cities cleaner, safer, and more sustainable.
Coach: Alyssa Yu, Geosyntec Consultants
Course Location: Zoom+In-person
Course Hours: 10:00 am - 11:30 am Saturdays
Date: June 17, July 1, July 8, and July 15 (in person, 2372 Morse Ave, Irvine)
July 14th: Field Trip Day
Field Trip Locations:
July 7/14 (TBD): OC Public Work Glassell Campus Low Impact Development Project Site
Address: 2301 North Glassell St, Orange, CA 92865
Final Presentation: July 22, Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Project 4: Green Infrastructure
Clean beaches, healthy creeks, rivers, bays, and the ocean are important to the ecosystem as well as everyone living in the watershed. Residents in any watershed need clean and reliable water supply as well. Urbanization and human activities pose significant challenges in both water resources and water quality to maintain a healthy surface water system.
In this summer camp, the project provides an overview of the hydrological cycle and introduces the challenges and toolboxes to restore a healthy surface water system and to ensure safe drinking water supply. The course features four field trips throughout Orange County. Each field trip sheds light on a type of surface water management solution that environmental engineers and scientists are currently implementing in the area. Students will learn about these issues and solutions in the real world as they explore the scenic nature of local waterways.
Coach: Dr. Jian Peng, Nan Jia, and Stella Shao
Online Meeting time: Mondays 6/19, 7/17 7:00 – 8:00 pm;
Field Trip:
Friday, 6/23/2023, 9am-10:30am San Joaquin Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (Irvine)
Address: 5 Riparian View, Irvine, CA 92612
Friday, 6/30/2023, 9am-10:30am Big Canyon Nature Park (Newport Beach)
Address: Back Bay Drive at Big Canyon Wash parking lot (map coordinates: 33.630639, -117.885423), Newport Beach, CA 92660
Friday, 7/7/2023 9am – 10:30am Recharge Water for Drinking Water Supply
Field Trip 4: Santa Ana River Recharging Basin (Anaheim)
Address: 4060 E La Palma Ave, Anaheim, CA 92807
Friday 7/14/2023, 9am-10:30am, Low Impact Development (LID)
Field Trip 1: OC Public Work Glassell Campus Low Impact Development Project Site (Orange)
Address: 2301 North Glassell St, Orange, CA 92865
Final Presentation: July 22, Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Project 3: Surface Water Management
Have you ever wondered how much trash you produce every week? Where does the trash go? Do we have enough space for the
trash on our planet? Have you seen the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the devastating impacts trash pollution has on marine
animals and our beautiful natural resources?
As the future of humankind, what can you do in everyday life to help move towards a solution to these issues? In this summer
camp, you will learn about answers to these questions. More important, we will discuss
ways to reduce waste, learn how to recycle, reuse and finally, properly dispose of waste. Come and join us to experience the extraordinary
Zero Waste Life your coach practices in her daily life! Challenge yourself and your family to help with a more resource-conscious
lifestyle!
Coach: Dr. Kun Liu, Former Restoration Ecologist. Now a business owner
Office location: Lecture & Field Trip
Tzu Chi Education Campus (1920 S. Brea Canyon Cut-off Rd. Walnut, CA 91789)
Course hours: June 24, July 1, 8, 15, Saturday 10:00 am - 12:00 pm (in person)
Field Trip: Thursday, June 15, 10am -12:00 pm Location TBD
Final Presentation: July 22, Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Organizer
All-Earth Citizens Foundation
Founded in 2018, All-Earth Citizens Foundation (AEC) is a nonprofit organization and a Certifying Organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Our mission is to develop Chinese and American students into global leaders and innovators by providing mentorship, training, and opportunities to engage in service learning.
Southern California Chinese American Environmental Protection Association
Southern California Chinese Environmental Protection Association (AKA SCCAEPA) is a nonprofit professional organization, the Association was founded in 1991, whose purpose is to promote environmental awareness in the Chinese community knowledge, improve communication between members, to participate in and serve the environmental community, and the Chinese community. The association has more than 350 members, most of them are working in the United States government agencies, academia, and environmental consulting company, including scientists, engineers, and government commissioner, more than 90% of the members have master's or doctoral degree.
If you have any questions about the program,
please feel free to contact us through
club@aecglobal.org (Email) / (626)512-8776 (Phone/WeChat)