Time: 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., PT 
Format: In person
Location: Newport
Audience: 7th-9th grade educators, formal and nonformal

Description: This workshop invites educators to explore the coastal temperate rainforest and uncover the scientific stories woven into its scenery.

Drawing from familiar nature journaling practices, participants will engage in guided observation, creative documentation, and thoughtful questioning while moving through forest and shoreline landscapes. As the day unfolds, participants will examine how subtle shifts in perspective—how we look, observe, record, and interpret—can deepen scientific thinking and connection to place.

Through a blend of walking, journaling, conversation, and hands-on exploration, this workshop models ways to help upper-grade learners move from curiosity toward investigation, turning personal observations into meaningful records of the natural world.

Join us for a day of discovery in the rainforests and riparian habitats of the Yakona Nature Preserve, nestled at the edge of Yaquina Bay near Newport.  Nature journals and art supplies provided.

Considerations:  This workshop will take place entirely outside. It includes a hike of approximately 2 miles with an elevation gain/loss of about 300 feet. Trails are gravel or dirt and occasionally uneven. Outhouses will be available at several points along the trail, but not the entire time.  Mosquitos and yellow jackets can be common in August.

Brought to you by:  Yakona Nature Preserve & Learning Center and Oregon Natural Resources Education Program (ONREP).

Registration required and will close approximately 1 week prior to the workshop or when full.  Offered at no cost to Oregon Educators. Must be 18 years of age or older. PDUs available. Substitute reimbursement available on teacher workdays.