October 2012

Mojave Happenings with Our New Buddy Bison School

At the end of October, I had a chance to catch some sun while exploring the Mojave Desert in California with my friends from Sandy Valley Elementary (NV).  With the help of volunteers from First Solar, they spent the day exploring and learning about the importance of our desert parks.

At Mojave National Preserve, students explored the Kelso Dunes, which are some of the tallest sand dunes in North America. Imagine mountains of sand at the beach, but without the water! Some students dragged magnets through the huge dunes in search for magnetic sand called magnetite while others hiked the Teutonia Peak Trail.

At Joshua Tree National Park, the kids visited White Tank which is home to many stone landscapes. They hiked through rocky trails and learned how the boulders were created by thousands of years of wind and rain! Fun fact: Despite having little rain, the Mojave Desert parks are filled with over 750 species of plants! A big thank you to Rangers Lorna and Caryn for guiding the students and First Solar for sponsoring these three new Buddy Bison schools.