Chaparral (click a picture to view the entire project)

Engelmann Oak

When Sam Knott's daughter Cara was tragically killed, he decided to plant an oak in her honor. Then he figured out a way to propagate the acorns of one of the world's rarest oaks, the Engelmann. From that grew Cara's Oaks, a foundation devoted to planting the endangered oaks throughout California, their native range. See how students at Olive Peirce Middle School in Ramona, California, USA, created a memorial grove of Engelmann oaks on their school grounds with Sam's help (click the picture to view the entire project).

Plants of the Chapparal

With guidance from naturalist Mike Kelly of the Friends of Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, teacher Blake Kern's Oceanside Home Education class explored plants native to Southern California, USA. Kern created Pioneers in Plant Endangerment Research, aka PIPER, so students of all ages could participate in the research and building of an outdoor environment for unique wild plant species. See what students discovered through this exciting study project (click the picture to view the entire project).

San Diego Mesa Mint

The students in Kathryn Wild's Ecology Club at Hickman School studied and drew this rare mint with the help of U.S. Navy Staff Civil Engineer Department botanist Coralie Hull. They wrote this poem about the mint, which is protected along with other rare plants and animals that exist on the grounds of Miramar Naval Air Station north of San Diego, California USA (click the picture to view the entire project).