Core Science-Humanities

3rd Grade

Throughout the year, students work to answer the questions, “Who are the ancestors of Big Rock?  “How were the rocks of Big Rock Campus formed?”  “What are indigneous ways of thinking?” through an in depth study of cycles, symbiosis, landforms, rocks, minerals, and The Tongva and Chumash tribes. 

4th Grade

Throughout the year, students work to answer the questions, “What does it mean to be connected?”  “Who am I?” “Where have I come from?” through an in depth study of a variety of topics including: systems, cultural identity, the vascular plant system, chaparral plants, and ancestors.

5th Grade

Throughout the year, students work to answer the questions, “How does life persist?” “What does it mean to be human?” through an in depth study of a variety of topics including: balance, cooperation, the human body, human prehistory, and timelines.

6th Grade

Throughout the year, students work to answer the questions, “How do (eco)systems take care of themselves?” “What determines the decisions a society makes?” through an in depth study of a variety of topics including: self-regulation, values, Southern California ecosystems, and cultural time periods. 

7th Grade

Throughout the year, students work to answer the questions, “How do living systems respond to stress?” “What caused climate change?” through an in depth study of a variety of topics including: stress, power, the evolution of life, and the Industrial Revolution.

8th Grade

Throughout the year, students work to answer the questions, “How does the idea of systems thinking affect how I tend to myself, others and the world?” “How might a symbiotic worldview, if widely adopted, change people's attitudes towards the Earth, and our fellow species?” through an in depth study of a variety of topics including: interdependence, social justice, regenerative agriculture, government systems, and racial conflict.

Environmental Geology

As part of the core Earth Systems Science theme in High School Unit of Study, students will spend time exploring and gathering data from the land surrounding our campus and through off-campus expeditions giving students an embodied opportunity to gain an understanding of the geology of Manzanita’s campus, surrounding Topanga Canyon, and the greater California ecosystem. At the heart of this exploration is the goal of connecting all the geologic processes that created our sacred location. This course is a comprehensive study of how geologic processes influence and interfere with human activities. This course will also explore how to mitigate, avoid, and/or prepare for geologic hazards and the social, economic, and political priorities that need to be taken into account. Geologic principles and processes that will be covered in this course include geologic time-scale, plate tectonics, earthquakes and faults, earth materials (rock and fossil formation), weathering and mass movement of rock and soil, river formation and flooding hazards, and geologic resource management.

Ethnobotany:Plant Apprenticeship

As part of the core Earth Systems Science theme in High School Unit of Study, students will take an interdisciplinary approach to examine the biological sciences. Our conceptual lens begins with the reading of “Braiding Sweetgrass (Robin Wall Kimmerer)” Kimmerer’s central argument and the basis for this course is that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of a reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. With this, Ethnobotany combines insights from botany, anthropology, ecology, and linguistics to understand the human-plant relationship. The curriculum focuses on deepening skills with objective observation and inquiry and routine sit-spots for deepened nature connection. They will complete scientific studies by gathering both qualitative and quantitative data, analyzing this data and writing a detailed research proposal including literature reviews of previous published studies. During "Plant Apprenticeship", students engage with botanical studies of a chosen "mentor plant". By the end of this course students will be able to articulate methods of acquiring, storing, and transmitting knowledge about the natural world in both modern scientific and traditional indigenous cultures; with the capacity to highlight similarities and differences of those approaches to knowledge.

Environmental Science: Atmospheric Chemistry & CA Field Ecology

As part of the core Earth Systems Science theme in High School Unit of Study, students will explore chemistry fundamentals blended with an understanding of how elements and compounds cycle through the Earth. First, students study the layers of Earth's atmosphere to provide an overview of where Earth's processes take place. Then, the water and carbon cycles are reviewed to begin to connect the larger picture of how the Earth symbiotically moves matter through its different spheres. Students will also study the periodic table in which students explore an element examining its specific and unique characteristics both in and out of nature. They learn that elements and compounds have charges, which come together to make new compounds, and can be balanced both within a compound, and/or in a larger chemical equation. Zooming back out to larger concepts working within Earth's atmosphere, they learn about weather and climate, popular weather phenomena, and the impact of biogeochemical cycling and how the composition of the atmosphere affects its ability to host life. By the end of this course and through field trips (including embodied exploration of principles behind California’s ecosystems), students will gain a general understanding of how energy flows through ecosystems, nutrients are cycled through ecosystems, and how greenhouse gases maintain life on earth but how imbalances to those gases are impacting ecosystems.

Cultural Geography

As part of the core Great Turning theme in High School Unit of Study, this course will introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alterations of the Earth’s surface. By looking at the relationships between cultural groups and their physical geography, it is possible to find relationships that allow geographers to understand how humans shape and are shaped by the physical world. Cultural phenomena studied will include language, religion, government, and economic systems. Students will use maps and other geographic tools to examine ties between the physical and human world. Throughout the course, students will explore the connections between culture, location, and identity. The course begins with interpreting maps, understanding place and region, analyzing scale and space, and studying population dynamics. Students will study "Harvest of Empire" by Juan Gonzalez to investigate Latin American and Caribbean migration to the United States, focusing on migration types, push and pull factors, and case studies from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. During the second half of the course, with a 2-week expedition in Ecuador, students will more closely examine Ecuador’s geography, cultural diversity, history, and society. Students will explore indigenous cultures, historical events, contemporary social issues, environmental challenges, urban vs. rural life, and global connections. The course also emphasizes sustainability and ethical tourism, encouraging students to appreciate and preserve a region’s cultural and natural heritage.

Government and Economic Systems: An Analysis

As part of the core Great Turning theme in High School Unit of Study, this course will explore two major themes, each in its own semester. The first theme examines the United States government while comparing and contrasting government systems globally, including indigenous forms of governance. The second theme examines economic systems, focusing mostly on macroeconomic topics. Throughout the entire year, students will hone their ability to develop persuasive essays that provide cogent arguments with evidence using primary documents. Additionally, students will routinely practice appropriately citing sources, while effectively identifying the difference between primary and secondary sources - and why both are valuable. Students will identify the different forms of government (democracy, autocracy, and oligarchy) and the pros/cons of each - while also giving relevant real world examples. The students will describe the division of power (unitary vs. federal) in government systems and why the division of power might be different for various regions. In the US government, students will examine the role of state and local elections in the broader view of national governance. Students will compare and contrast the Indigenous systems of government to modern systems. Students will be able to articulate the role of the judicial system in interpreting laws and addressing conflict between regional governments (both within the US and in other legal systems outside the US).  With the second theme, the course invites students to engage with the complexities of economic systems, examining their principles, evolution, and impacts on society. Students will participate in dynamic discussions, hands-on activities, and real-world applications to develop a nuanced understanding of supply and demand, market equilibrium, and resource management. Through engaging scenarios, they will tackle challenges like addressing supply chain disruptions, fostering community through gift economies, and exploring sustainable resource management strategies. By integrating hopeful economic systems—such as cooperative economics, universal basic income, and regenerative economics—students will discover how these frameworks prioritize fairness, sustainability, and community well-being.

US History (Voices of the People/Indigenous Resistance)

As part of the core Great Turning theme in High School Unit of Study, this course involves an embodied exploration of Holding Actions, one of the three core components of the Great Turning.  Academic study focuses on preparation for and reflection of an off-campus expedition where instructional content is centered on understanding the complex historical and political situation regarding colonialism, immigration, and forced relocation of indigenous populations. Studies of marginalized voices focus on the practice of history, guided by the questions: "How do we know what we know about the past?" and "Why would anyone want to influence others' understanding of the past?" Students examine primary documents from Howard Zinn’s “Voice of a People’s History of the US.”  Additionally, students learn how to find and identify different types of historical sources, and how to put these sources into meaningful conversation with each other in order to gain understanding of the past. Students collaborate in small groups to research and document relevant sources and information, and communicate their learning to their peers. Student learning is  evaluated through written reflections and in class assessments, both written and performative. 

World History (History of Empires)

As part of the core Great Turning theme in High School Unit of Study, students explore the history of empires throughout world history. They identify “empire” characteristics and themes throughout the school year, while analyzing current social, political, and environmental issues today that can be attributed to the legacy of past empires. The biggest goal is to better understand how and why we as humans began to move away from nature many thousands of years ago and created societies dominated by materialism, military conquest, expansion, and supremacy.