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Desert
Diary: Professors and students use the outdoors as a
classroom to study geology, astronomy and anthropology
on a single trip.
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Pomona College's Southern California location allows
professors and students to use the state's vast and varied
outdoors as a classroom, even in the middle of winter. Just
a weekend ago, a group of 24 students and three professors
traveled to the stunning
Anza-Borrego desert
for an experience in multidisciplinary learning.
 A
caravan of four vehicles bounced across a dry desert wash,
and at the first stop, Professor Rick Hazlett (geology and
environmental science) led students to the top of a ridge.
There Hazlett explained that the pile of boulders came about
through millions of years of
dramatic and sometimes violent activity. Hazlett pointed out
a segment of the ridge where the rock is whiter. That sort
of rock is where we get lithium -- one of the main
ingredients for laptop computer batteries. A
detailed discussion ensued, covering the origin of lithium
in the early universe, the mixing of elements as earth
forms, and the types of crystals where lithium is found.
Next the group visited a Native American pictograph site,
where Anthropology Professor Jennifer Perry sprang into
action, explaining how the Kumayey tribe used this region as
a seasonal camp and gathered juniper berries, agave, and
pinon nuts to grind on the surrounding rocks. As the group
traveled along the desert path, Jen pointed out various
edible plants, describing how the various plants were
prepared and their nutritional value. The group encountered a
huge boulder decorated with red figures -- some squiggles, a
figure like the sun, and some cross hatching. Perry
interpreted these figures as evidence of a female puberty
ritual. After the tribe initiated the young females, she
explained, they
took them to this site and a pattern was painted on this
sacred rock to signify their connection to the world beyond
this one.
 Astronomy
Professor Bryan Penprase offered some astronomical
interpretations of a few of the markings -- besides the
obvious sun symbol, many tribes use a cross hatching to
represent either the sky or the Milky Way. Hazlett,
meanwhile, described how the
enormous boulder was probably shaken loose by an earth quake
10,000 to 20,000 years ago, and how the entire valley is
actually part of an ancient quake fault.
The group moved on to a little-traveled part of the valley
where a "dry waterfall" shows on the map. Students perched
on the edge of the cliff and enjoyed the view across the
valley. Hazlett noted a theory that the mountain range
in the distance across from the waterfall collapsed,
creating several debris filled ridges. The group went on to
discuss the history of the region in geological terms, and
then returned to the vehicles.
 When
the group arrived at the campsite, Professor Penprase and
his students went to work setting up
the telescope. Anza-Borrego is
considered one of the best star-gazing spots in the nation,
and Penprase showed students the constellations, Mars and
Saturn. Students also used binoculars to locate the Orion
nebula, a star-forming region 1,500 light years away. After
dinner the group gathered around the campfire and
read aloud the creation stories of the Hopi, Luiseno and Cahuilla
tribes as the fire
crackled into the night.
The trip was run by
On The Loose, the
longstanding Claremont Colleges outdoors club that sent
students on a record 65 trips last semester. This semester,
the club has been working to merge academic inquiry with
wilderness adventure, engaging students and faculty together
in the process. "Besides all the educational opportunities,
it was also a great chance to just hang out with the
professors, getting to know them outside a classroom
setting," said Hal Wershow, an OTL leader and junior at Pomona
College.
Related links:
Academic departments
Pomona's
location
47 Things
Every Student Should Do Before Graduating
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