Pre-Program Class Descriptions
Our highly trained Senior Instructors come directly to your classroom, where they facilitate introductory lessons designed to prepare your students for their upcoming experience at Pali Institute.
EXTENSION PROGRAMS - PRE-PROGRAM - POST-PROGRAM
During these sessions, your students will develop crucial foundational skills and techniques that will enable our on-site staff to effectively cover more complex and sophisticated concepts at our educational facility in the mountains.
The program includes a baseline survey of the students’ subject knowledge, Pali’s unique hands-on activities, as well as a short video showcasing what to expect upon arrival at Pali Institute.
Forest Ecology
Earth In a Bottle
Do fungus and banana peels have a shot at a second life? Yes! Students become foresters and scientists as they replicate the forest recycling process through composting. By building their own compost bin and scavenging around school to locate ingredients for organic dirt, students learn how healthy soil, decomposers, recycling and our ecosystem are inter-related.
Orienteering
Where the Heck Are You?
Harness the Earth’s topographic wonders in the palm of the hand. Young scholars will become cartographers and create their own homemade three-dimensional model using a topographic map as their guide. This hands-on artistic style will bring excitement and fun while learning the basics of Orienteering.
Outdoor Skillz
Tents, Poles and Tarps - Oh My!
There are many items to bring camping, but how do you squeeze them all into one backpack? Youngsters learn how to properly pack and unpack their “home away from home,” while becoming familiarized with standard camping gear. Instructors will bring tents, sleeping bags, cookware and more to test the students’ speedy packing skills. Let the race begin!
Aerodynamics
Turbulence!
It’s a bird, it’s a plane...it’s an Air Zooka! After acquiring basic knowledge of the four forces, students will design and construct an advanced paper airplane that will be projected out of a launcher at 30 feet per second. Stepping into the shoes of engineers, students will have to overcome more than just gravity by creating a plane to withstand the most turbulent weather.
Animal Survivor
Skeletons in the Closet
It is said that one should never look a bear directly in the eyes — but not anymore. Students come face to-face with authentic animal artifacts in order to learn about morphology and adaptations of the diverse food web present at Pali. Feel the pelts, touch the teeth, see the bones and learn a great deal about the wide range of omnivores, herbivores and carnivores of the San Bernardino Mountains.
Energy Dilemma
Watts the Dilemma?
Imagine a world where simple everyday tasks took hours to complete. From drying clothes to preparing dinner, students learn how energy consumption has dramatically increased with the advent of technology. Students will have the opportunity to challenge each other in a race using human powered tools and see just how much the world has changed.
Balloon Rescue
Titanic's Revenge
Iceberg ahead! Serving as teams of master shipwrights, students will band together to seek revenge on the iceberg responsible for the Titanic’s demise. Choosing between multiple propulsion methods and materials, students work in groups to design suspended airships with the goal of succeeding where the Titanic failed. Communication and teamwork is key to rewriting history.
Ground - Based Initiatives
Starting From the Ground Up
What teacher doesn’t want a more cohesive and positive classroom dynamic? In this session, students strengthen their bonds, break down barriers and learn the differences between effective and ineffective communication. Using multiple strategies and props from our bag-of-tricks, students work together to achieve goals and build trust and self-confidence — all while having fun.