The Advanced Placement biology class left school at 8 A.M. on Nov. 2 for a study trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, led by A.P. biology teacher, Marvin Harms.

The class first stopped at an elevation of 1,500 feet to learn about mistletoe and take soil and botany samples. They then continued on to a ranger station, grabbing wildlife brochures and a few buckeyes to study.

The group continued up to the Snowline Lodge to classify different plants before heading up to Big Stump. The class listened to lectures by fellow students on a variety of subjects, before eating lunch and exploring.

?The talks were very informative,? Jeremy Ramos, ?07, said, ?and kind of interesting. People talked about the plants and wildlife. It was pretty cool learning about the sequoia trees.?

On the Big Tree trail, the class stopped several times to study the ecology and take notes. For 20 minutes the class was set loose to find examples of local botany and explore the wildlife.

?When we were at 1,000 feet, we saw lots of rolling hills and trees but they were pretty dull and brown.? April Fujihara, ?06, said. ?Then with every elevation increase, the scenery began changing. The trees thickened and when we eventually reached the sequoia grove, we saw the big redwoods and a lot of wildlife, like deer.?

A stopover at the ranger station included a visit to the museum, which contained several exhibits about the life cycle of the sequoias and an exhibit on logging.

?The logging stuff was interesting,? Ramos said. ?They had these tools that are nothing compared to the trees that they took down these gigantic trees with.?

The final stop of the day was near Hume Lake at a turnout on the road. A large granite outcropping provided a magnificent view for the class.

?It was really cool to see all the different canyons from on top of that big rock,? Matthew Karahadian, ?06, said. ?It was amazing to see all of the mountains and canyons.?

Once returned to school, the class set about trying to identify the leaves taken. Harms plans on more such trips.

?The reason for this trip was to increase the knowledge of the class,? Harms said. ?I wanted them to see the variety of plant and wildlife at different altitudes in the mountains. I hope we can take a similar trip in February to the coast.?

For more information on this article or A.P. biology, e-mail Harms at [email protected].