The songs were about pine, oak and redwood trees, grasslands, chaparral and riparian habitat, all of which are native to California and found in Hacienda's outdoor classroom. The presented tunes were composed by Hacienda science teachers.

"We're a science school, so we have science songs," music teacher Amy Hahner told the Willow Glen Resident at the April 22 celebration.

"All the plants they're talking about the children study in the outdoor classroom," said Principal Dorothy Kennedy. "We don't have animals out there, but we study the kinds of animals that would live in these different areas."

Students also use two on-campus ponds for a hands-on study of water quality. Hacienda's curriculum includes "Worm Wednesdays," when students mix compost to fertilize their biomes--an extensive community that includes plants and animals.

Each class spends an hour a week in the outdoor classroom. Teachers augment this instruction with indoor science labs.

Hacienda students share what they've learned during the school's annual Earth Day program. At this year's assembly Kennedy told the audience that the first Earth Day in 1970 was staged as a protest and to generate a sense of awareness about the environment.

"Things were out of control, and it was time to take a look at the things we were doing to the planet," Kennedy said.

Today, Earth Day is an international celebration, and Hacienda is a "shining example" of the values it promotes, she noted. "Our outdoor classroom is a replica of the Santa Clara Valley," referring to the biomes that still exist in the undeveloped areas and the valley's open preserves.