Your Community Environment is important to us and to your children. Please help.

7863 Central Ave.
Highland, CA 92346
909-425-4706

Every Saturday 3:00-4:00pm
Location: Community Room
Description: Teens and adults are invited to bring their digital cameras to this exciting new program. A new topic or guest will be available every week to answer basic camera use questions, share photo editing tips and recommend photo sharing strategies.

Mondays & Wednesdays 10:00am-11:00am
Saturdays 9:00am-10:30am
Location: ELC Rooftop Gardens
Description: Come visit our gardens! The entire family will enjoy a relaxing stroll through the Rooftop Gardens at the ELC. Wander up our courtyard ramp to the roof of the building where 15,000 sq ft of demonstration gardens introduce 10 families of flora including mostly CA native plants. Stroll over to our composting area to see how we maintain our gardens and say hi to the rescued Red-Eared Slider Turtles in our pond. Children can play with interactive spinners throughout the gardens to discover when different fruits and veggies are in season, what pollinators help what plants, and how composting works. ELC staff are always available to answer questions, and guided tours are available upon request. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times in the gardens.

Tuesdays 11:30am-12:30am
Location: ELC Courtyard
Description: Join the ELC for a nature-themed story time! Seasons, recycling, animals, and more, there is always something exciting about our environment to learn about. ELC Staff will present a children's picture book from the Highland Library's collection and lead an age-appropriate discussion on the day's topic before presenting a take-home craft or activity for parents to complete with their children.

Thursdays 3:00pm-4:00pm
Location: ELC Exhibit Hall
Description: Children of all ages will enjoy this touch-feel table featuring a new environmental topic every week. Weather, animals, composting and current environmental issues are presented in a simple "play to learn" atmosphere. Children are also encouraged to meet Re-Pete (the City of Highland's recycling mascot) and play with our futuristic trash truck.

Last Thursday of the Month 10:30am-11:30am
Location: Children’s Library
Description: Join us for a puppet show! This is a special monthly program where the ELC takes over the Library's weekly Family Story time. An environmental theme invites children (toddler - K) to sing along to nature themed songs and finger plays. Next, a classic story is presented as a puppet show in our large California Oak Tree puppet theatre. Finally, children get to express their eco-creativity with a recycled, or nature-inspired craft!

Fridays 11:30am-12:30pm
Location: Children’s Program Room
Description: Nature for toddlers! Little ones (walking - age 3) and their caregivers play to learn while exploring elements of the world around them. Get ready for kid-friendly science experiments, eco-crafts, and grab an "Adventure Pass" for a trip to our animal exhibits or rooftop gardens! This program is the perfect introduction to the environment for toddlers and caregivers will walk away with tips and tricks for keeping their child and the earth healthy.

Fridays 3:30pm-4:00pm
Location: ELC Animal Exhibits
Description: Animals for Kids! This program for children (toddlers through elementary school) introduces the many animals at the Environmental Learning Center and their wild friends. ELC Staff present a new topic each week while children ask the "hard questions" from "will it eat me" to "where did you get it" and "why did mommy say I can't have a pet snake". Children learn about animal care, species and habitat conservation, and being a responsible pet owner while making new animal friends they can re-visit at the library again and again.

Fridays 5:00-5:30pm
Location: ELC Animal Exhibits
Description: Animals for tweens and teens! This program for teenagers (12yrs and older) encourages youth to take the next step in animal encounters. Teens get up close and personal with the rescued animals at the ELC and talk to the staff about conservation, responsible pet ownership, species management, and animal science (including anatomy and behavior). Teens are encouraged to ask the "hard" questions and discuss potentially controversial topics in a non-judgmental setting.

Last Monday of the Month 1:00pm
Location: ELC Community Room
Description: Adults and seniors can enjoy an adult film with an environmental subject matter for free! From new releases and classics to controversial subjects and animated films adults of all ages are sure to enjoy this peaceful time set aside just for them.

Family Science Exploration

Last Saturday of the Month 10:30am-11:30am
Location: ELC Science Lab
Description: Science for the entire family! Gather explorers of all ages for an exciting journey into the world of science! Animals, explosions, composting, air and water pressure... anything relating to environmental science is fair game in the ELC Science Lab. Our ELC staff can't wait to get your family into our lab, or out in our courtyard or rooftop gardens for some family-oriented science fun. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to participate; most experiments can be easily replicated at home.

Testing Your Environment (Home Chem Lab)

Last Saturday of the Month 11:30am-12:30pm
Location: ELC Science Lab
Description: Attention adults and parents! Have you ever turned on the news only to be told that the toy your child just received may be contaminated with lead paint? How about opening a water bill or newspaper and seeing a notice about abnormal pH in your water or soil? The ELC is here to help! This program is set-up as a walk-in testing clinic. Adults are encouraged to bring in a toy, paint, soil, or water sample from their home and have it tested by the ELC staff. While these are only basic tests, if a concerning result is discovered, we can point you in the right direction to keep you home a safe environment for the entire family.

Highland Environmental Story hour:

The last Thursday of every month we have an environmental story hour for preschool age children

“Trees are Terrific Program”

 

Mr. Happy Tree shows all the delicate systems
and
interactions a tree supports in the forest.

 

Children and adults take a walk in the forest and meet Mr. Happy Tree

Preschool Environmental Story hour
(Adapted from 1st -2nd Grade)
July 2005

Program Title: Who polluted the Santa Ana River?
(Adapted from Sharing a Small World: Environmental Activities for Young Learners by Population Connection 2001 pg22.)

Program Time: 1 hour

Objective: Young learners will be able to identify different types of water pollutants and ways to prevent more water pollution.
-A Readers theater allowed active participation amongst the young learners to dump pollutants in a water container demonstrating how water pollution is caused.

Craft: Created by Jessica Sutorus

Materials:
• 12X18 green construction paper divided in half by a line
• Blue Paint
• Sand (Clean Kid sandbox sand)
• Cut out of trees, dead tree, happy turtle, sad turtle
• Trash: plastic bag cut small squares to represent grocery bags, foil paper squares to represent aluminum, cardboard squares, and Macaroni shaped like wheels to represent tires, plastic straws to represent plastic waste.

Sit, Stay,

Read!

Reading aloud to dogs provides children with a relaxed, non-judgmental opportunity to practice their reading skills and improve their confidence.

Lovable and patient therapy dogs from the

HEAVENLY HEALING PAWS

organization will give your child a helping paw in reading. Join us at the library and introduce your kids to a furry new friend.

This program is provided on the third Saturday of every month at 3 p.m..

Highland Branch Library

7863 Central Ave.
Highland, CA
(909) 425-4705

Facts to discus with the learners:
How long does it take for these items to decompose?
Tires never decompose
Plastic- 450 years
Aluminum-200-500 years
Cardboard-2 months
Plastic Bag-20-30 years

 

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We have live and static exhibits at the learning center related to environmental education.  We do program outreach to local schools.
We have loaner materials for local teachers on various environmental topics.

Locations to Other Environmental Sites:

1. www.creec.org

2. nest.csusb.edu

3. www.sbcounty.gov/library/homepage/default.htm

4. www.ci.highland.ca.us

5. worldwatch.org

6. www.familyplayzone.com

7. www.sdecocenter.org/about.aspx