California’s Biodiversity Day and Latino Conservation Week 2025: Students Celebrate Nature During Biodiversity Day Event

Each year when I have the opportunity to celebrate California’s Biodiversity Day on a school campus, I am reminded of the tremendous power of curiosity. Spending time with future leaders (who also happen to be nine) reminds me of how pointing out leaves, bugs, and birds can open doors to scientific thinking, care for place, and community belonging. This year’s Biodiversity Day also held special resonance; it coincided with Latino Conservation Week, adding richness to our observations and reminding us that conservation is not just about species, it’s also deeply tied to people, culture, and community.

A Day of Discovery

On Biodiversity Day 2025, fourth grade students in Dixon, California gathered to go on species hunts on their school grounds. The goal: to identify as many different species as possible, to practice observation and documentation, and to deepen connection to the land they live and learn on. Before heading outside students explored ways in which various birds have adapted to living in their region. They looked closely at the structures of different bird skulls and feet and learned how to use scientific sketching to note details in their observations. 

Once the group had a chance to being thinking more about what species they share their campus with and why, it was time to head outside and explore. The goal, identify as many different species as they could during our campus bioblitz. 

This year, students recorded 25 distinct species while exploring their campus, wonderful diversity of plants, invertebrates, and fungi. Among the most commonly observed was the red coned gall wasp (a kind of insect‐induced gall). Seeing red coned galls in so many places not only gave students hands-on experience in spotting subtle signs of insect‐plant interaction, but also opened up conversations about life cycles and the kinds of relationships that make ecosystems resilient. 

Latino Conservation Week Meets Community Science

Latino Conservation Week (LCW) is an annual celebration of Latino heritage, conservation values, and environmental stewardship, lifting up voices, stories, and contributions. By holding Biodiversity Day during LCW, students had an opportunity to explore connections between their own observations, their community and environmental stewardship. For many students, noticing species like red coned galls or particular grasses wasn’t just science, it was also a way to highlight their own lived experiences. At the end of the event, students received information about ways they could engage within their own community. 

Learning & Science in Action

Through their observations, students practiced core science practices: asking questions, gathering evidence, making claims, and using models. Some examples:

Questioning: What causes a gall? What species of insect makes it? How does the plant respond?

Some patterns stood out: Red coned galls were by far the most common “unusual” item found. Plant species (grasses, shrubs, forbs) dominated, but some fungi and insects were also recorded. A number of the student observations have already become Research Grade meaning that they can now be used for scientific research projects. 

Thank you Mrs. Pitto’s 4th graders and to all of our partners who helped bring Biodiversity Day 2025 & Latino Conservation Week together. Every leaf counted, every gall spotted, every student voice raised, all are steps toward a future where biodiversity and cultural diversity are honored together.