Desert Outdoor Center at Lake Pleasant Online Videos

About the Program

Category: Parks and Recreation (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

At the onset of the pandemic, traditional on-site learning was halted as many educational institutions were required to close their doors and transition to online learning. In addition to impacting local school systems, this decision also impacted the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department’s Desert Outdoor Center at Lake Pleasant (DOC), a facility where educators from across the state bring their students to immerse them in the beautiful Sonoran Desert environment. As educators made the transition and scrambled for online resources to supplement their lesson plans, the DOC’s interpretive rangers realized they could play a role in ensuring students received accurate information about the natural resources of the Sonoran Desert via the new format. The rangers immediately began working on a collection of online videos that focused on topics such as aquatic life, desert ecosystems, animal tracking, reptiles, cacti, and immersion in nature. Within two months, the rangers had developed, released, and shared a series of six online trailers and full-lenth videos geared specifically to meet educators' needs, complete with supplemental materials for at-home hands-on learning. The videos are packed with fact-based information and geared towards audiences ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. All materials were made available to educators free of charge.