Ready for 2023 Youth Environmental Summer Camp?

Check out the highlights below, and the 2023 information session recording to learn about 2023 topics.

2023 Summer Camp Brochure

2023 Topics

The Southern California Chinese-American Environmental Protection Association (SCCAEPA) and the All-Earth Citizens Foundation (AEC) are continuing the Youth Environmental Summer Camp in 2023 building on its success in past years.

Program Date: June 10 — July 22, 2023

Eligibility: G7 to G12 students in Southern California with independent learning capability

Highlights:

In addition to class room and field trip learning, students will form teams to conduct self-directed research and design projects on the each of the five topics above.
Experts in each topic from SCCAEPA will be coaching each team through the project-based learning.
Students will have the opportunity to integrate the knowledge into real-world environmental topics and propose their own feasible solutions.
The camp will also develop each student’s leadership skills and reinforce it through the project.
Each team will enter into a competition by summarizing its research and findings, and presenting to a panel of judges at the end of the camp.

Program Fee: $265 (Click here to register)

Information Session

This year, we are offering five topics/projects: Water Recycling/Reclamation, Organic Waste Recycling, Surface Water Management, Green Infrastructure, and Zero Waste Life

Check out the Summer Camp 2023 Information Session Video Recording to learn details and meet the coaches! Bookmarks for the video recording are provided below:

Project 1: Water Recycling/Reclamation 11’24-19’23

Project 2: Organic Waste Recycling 19’30-25’15

Project 3: Surface Water Management 25’25-35’28

Project 4: Green Infrastructure 35’32-42’23

Project 5: Zero Waste Life 43’25-46’50

Final Presentation Rubrics 47’00-50’30

Camp Communication-Slack 50’30-56’27

Surface Water Management

Clean beaches, healthy creeks, rivers, bays, and the ocean are important to the ecosystem as well as everyone living in the watershed.

In this summer camp, the project provides an overview of the hydrological cycle. The course features four field trips throughout Orange County. Each field trip sheds light on a type of surface water management solution that environmental engineers and scientists are currently implementing in the area.

Coaches: Dr. Jian Peng,
Orange County Public Works,
Ms. Nan Jia, PE,
Environmental Engineer at CWE

Green Infrastructure

Would you lick the street by your house? The sidewalk? Your roof? Of course not! There’s lots of dirt, trash, and bacteria on these surfaces. But when there’s a storm, the rain picks all that up, around the whole city, and about 80% of the polluted water (billions of gallons every year) ends up in the ocean. However, there is a way to help clean up stormwater pollution and increase our water supply.

In this summer camp, students will learn about what currently happens to our stormwater using traditional”grey” infrastructure, then explore how green infrastructure can make our cities cleaner, safer, and more sustainable.

Coach: Alyssa Yu,
Geosyntec Consultants

Water Recycling

Have you been to Lake Cachuma and Lake Mead, and watched the reced- ing water lines over the years? Have you heard of the one water concept? Do you want to learn about how wastewater is recycled, and how you can help conserve water at home?

This summer camp will start with a field trip and a case study at a water district facility so you can learn how water recycling is generally done. Then you will transition into learning how to conserve water at home and showcase your creativity!

Coach: Ms. Iris Huang
Principal Project Manager at Parsons Corporation

Organic Waste Recycling

Have you ever wondered where the trash goes and how we can recycle the trash such as organic waste to reduce pollution?

In this summer camp, students will learn concepts of organic waste recycling, observe how earthworms transform the veggie and fruit scraps into rich soil (garden gold) through their poop (also called worm castings), attend field trips to farms, and have hands– on activities on exploring invertebrate animals (worms), gardening, and composting.

Coach: Dr. Kenny Wang
Water Resources Control Engineer, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board

Zero Waste Life

Have you ever wondered how much trash you produce every week? Where does the trash go?

As the future of humankind, what can you do in everyday life to help move towards a solution to these issues? In this summer camp, you will learn about answers to these questions. More importantly, we will discuss ways to reduce waste, learn how to recycle, reuse and finally properly dispose of waste. Come and join us to experience the ex- traordinary Zero Waste Life your coach practices in her daily life! Challenge yourself and your family to help with a more resource– conscious lifestyle!

Coach: Dr. Kun Liu
Former Restoration Ecologist. Business owner.

2023 Youth Environmental Summer Camp Brochure