Located two and a half miles by water from the city of Avalon, Toyon Bay is an ideal site for outdoor education!

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1 Welcome, Students! Toyon Bay is a beautiful private cove on Catalina Island. With its pristine natural surroundings, it's the perfect place to explore the ocean and learn marine science. It's also isolated and a bit rustic, which adds to the adventure. We've been running school programs on Catalina Island for 30 years and over that time we've developed schedules and plans to make your entire CIMI experience run as smoothly as possible. You'll spend most of your day learning and having fun in various programs, but we also work hard to make sure your time outside of programs and your living situation while in camp are organized and enjoyable. We hope you're excited for your trip to CIMI, we can't wait for you to arrive in Toyon Bay! We have a whole range of fun and exciting activities planned for you and your classmates. Your time in camp will be a great adventure. While you're here, you'll get to snorkel through kelp forests, kayak along the coast, see and touch live sea creatures, examine real whale and dolphin skeletons and even pet live sharks and rays in our shark tank! The Campus Located two and a half miles by water from the city of Avalon, Toyon Bay is an ideal site for outdoor education! Originally built as a private boarding school in 1929, Toyon boasts an ideal combination of attributes for the educational camp experience. The campus incorporates comfortable dormitory accommodations; fantastic indoor and outdoor dining facilities; modern, state-of-the-art laboratories, aquariums, classrooms and display areas with the untouched natural beauty of Catalina Island's land and sea environments.

2 CIMI at Toyon Bay provides a unique, exciting program that's the perfect way to enhance any student's education! The program focuses on hands-on, experiential science education. Utilizing our state-of-the-art labs and equipment, expert instructors and the beautiful natural land and sea environments of Catalina Island, we strive to increase science literacy, stimulate minds and, most importantly, to create excitement about science. During their 3 or 5-day stay, students and teachers have the opportunity to experience, first hand, the diverse flora and fauna found in Southern California's Oceans. Through a combination of labs, aquariums and touch tanks on land and snorkeling, kayaking and collecting data in the field, students and teachers learn about the many ecosystems of the island and ocean and get to see and touch a whole range of fish, algae, sharks and rays, marine mammals, plankton and invertebrates! What You'll See Catalina Island is home to many different ecosystems. Everything from lobsters to bald eagles call the island home. Look at how much cool stuff you might see snorkeling in our waters or hiking on our trails! What You'll Do

3 Snorkeling The pristine, undisturbed waters of Toyon Bay provide the perfect location for snorkeling and studying marine science! At CIMI, students and teachers dive right in and explore the wonders of the undersea world. Forests of Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) support one of the most unique and rich habitats in the world. An extensive array of fish, invertebrates and marine mammals call the kelp forest home, taking advantage of the protection and food sources the kelp provides. In addition, students and teachers can explore and discover the Rocky Inter-tidal Zones and Sandy Bottoms found off of Catalina Island. These distinct and fascinating ecosystems also support a diversity of marine life. Snorkeling amid the amazing variety of animal and plant life is an enriching and unforgettable experience for students! While at CIMI, each student learns and demonstrates basic snorkeling skills as taught by our experienced instructors. All gear is provided, including full-length three-piece wetsuit, hood, mask, snorkel, fins and booties. Because the wetsuit acts as a flotation device, students do not need to be strong swimmers to participate in and benefit from the snorkeling program. Even non-swimmers can thoroughly enjoy the experience if they have confidence in themselves. Our program is designed to help students become comfortable and safe in the water, learn basic snorkeling skills and techniques and to study and learn about the ocean environment. As such, the objective and focus will progress from the initial dive through subsequent dives. Climbing Wall Rock climbing is an exciting program designed to challenge your students and push their limits both mentally and physically! Our ever-changing rock wall offers increasingly more difficult climbing routes to continuously motivate and help you learn new techniques as your climbing skills progress. A must for adventurous groups, the climbing program also stresses the importance of teamwork and trust and provides a great workout in the sun! Fish - Sharks - Algae Lab (Three Hour Rotation) Fish Lab The Fish Lab features several aquariums housing many of the fish commonly seen around Toyon Bay. Utilizing these wellstocked aquariums along with preserved specimens and exhibits, our instructors help students become more familiar with what they are seeing while snorkeling. Students are also introduced to the classification, anatomy, behavior and other adaptive features of fish.

4 Shark Lab The central feature of the shark lab is a large touch tank filled with small sharks, and their cartilaginous relatives, skates and rays. Students are always excited to touch and observe these animals; this experience also alleviates many fears about sharks and helps to mitigate the myth of their danger. Instructors will use shark skins, jaws, specimens and visual aids to teach students the characteristic biology and different species of sharks. Algae Lab In the Algae Lab, students explore specimens of over a dozen local species of algae, and maybe even eat some! Instructors also lead students in discussions of the classification of algae, the principal adaptive differences between algae and terrestrial plants, the anatomy and behavior of Giant Kelp (Macrosystis pyrifera) and kelp forests, and the many human uses for algae. Students finish this lab by preparing a pressed algae sample for use back in their classroom. Plankton Lab Using the sample they collected on the float, students use Video Microscopes to observe and identitfy live plankton! Plankton is plants and animals that drift with the current. Although plankton comes in all sizes, most is microscopic and it ranges from eggs and larvae to fully matured organisms. At the end of the lab, instructors also lead students in a discussion of the food web -- of which plankton act as the base -- and some effects pollution has on the world's oceans.

5 Invertebrate Lab Sea Urchins, Anemones, Sea Hares, Sea Cucumbers, Sea Stars and a host of other local invertebrates are available to view and touch in this lab, always a student favorite! Our large touch tank is well stocked with a number of these animals without backbones, including members of the phyla Porifera (Many Pores), Cnidaria (Stinging Cells), Echinodermata (Spiny Skin), Annelida (Segmented Body), Mollusca (Soft Body) and Arthropoda (Jointed Foot). Other tanks in this lab house lobster and octopus. Through close student examination of these animals, instructors facilitate discussions of classification, species identification, adaptation and natural history. Night Activities Squid Dissection This activity explores the general biology of the squid. Students start the activity by developing an information base of what is known about squid. They add to this knowledge by engaging in a simple dissection of a squid. Creatures of the Night This program focuses on the adaptations of organisms whose survival and defense strategies are adapted for a nocturnal existence and the deep-sea environment. Interactive games and activities, including a dark maze, can be used to emphasize adaptations. Safety First At Toyon Bay, the safety and well-being of our participants is paramount. In all of classes and activities, we provide exceptional instruction and supervision by instructors trained in their specific program area. Students and staff are required to follow safety guidelines for each activity and relevant safety equipment such as helmets, life preservers, harnesses, etc. are always used. All instructors are trained in first-aid and CPR and all water activities are supervised by trained, certified Life-Guards. Two-way radios are positioned at each program area and throughout camp for communication with the office and camp directors. In case of illnesses, medical emergencies or situations requiring additional assistance, we follow all appropriate EMS procedures. There is a pharmacy and a hospital on the island in the nearby city of Avalon, about six miles by road or two miles by water from camp. In case of serious medical emergencies, Baywatch is always on-call and available and can arrange for Life-Flight transport to a mainland hospital if need be.

6 DAILY SCHEDULE 7:00 AM Rise And Shine 7:15-8:30 AM Breakfast/Free Time 9:00 AM Morning Program 12:15-1:30 PM Lunch/Free Time 1:45 PM Afternoon Program 5:15 6:30 PM Dinner/Free Time 7:00 PM Evening Program 9:00 PM Quiet Hours 9:30 PM Lights Out * Meal times and free time will depend on first or second seating. Quiet hours are 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM for all participants. It is the chaperone s responsibility to help students respect quiet hours. MEALS All meals are set-up buffet style with a hot meal and a salad bar. Students will all come into the dining hall, sit down at their designated tables and wait to be dismissed. After each meal a cleanup crew from each school will stay behind to clean all tables and sweep the floor. SAMPLE MENU Breakfast: Pancakes and sausage or scrambled eggs and hash browns or sausage; fruit juice, milk Fruit bar: cereal selection, yogurts, fresh fruit, various jams and preserves, Danish, bagels or English muffins Lunch: Pizza, hamburgers, corn-dogs or cold-cut sandwiches (one entree per lunch); fruit drink, water Salad bar: may consist of mixed greens, chopped veggies, cheese, croutons, canned fruit, 3-4 salad dressings, potato salad, pasta or soup Dinner: Lasagna (meat and veggie), turkey, chicken or Mexican (one entree per dinner); milk, water Salad bar: same as lunch with vegetarian side dish Dessert: brownies, cookies, cake, ice cream Note: This is a sample menu only. Food items are subject to change and vegetarians are accommodated at each meal. Prior to departure, the Assistant Program Director will contact the group leader for any special food needs or allergies. Food is of high quality and there is plenty of it. Please refrain from bringing extra food or snacks, as these will attract insects and rodents.

7 Preparing For Your Trip We are excited that you are coming to CIMI Toyon Bay for your school program. To make sure you are ready for a great experience at CIMI, here is a quick check list of things that you should bring and some things that you should not bring. We are looking to seeing you and your classmates! What To Bring Sleeping bag or blankets, sheets and a pillow Jeans or long pants Shorts T-shirts Swimming suit Underwear Socks Closed-toed shoes Flip-flops or sandals Sunscreen Sweatshirt or warm jacket Water bottle Small backpack Beach and bath towel (2 of each) Personal hygiene and toiletries What Not To Bring Flashlights ipods and other mp3 players, cd players Cell phones Alcohol, tobacco, fireworks Televisions Large stereos Lighters Gameboys, PSPs and other personal games Skim boards Surf boards Spear guns Hair dye Hair clippers Expensive jewelry Any and all knives Electronic Devices CIMI Toyon Bay requests that electronic devices are not brought to camp. We do not accept the responsibility for the loss, damage or theft of such devices. How To Pack All items should be packed in a duffel bag. Please limit luggage to NO MORE THAN TWO (2) BAGS. Make sure all luggage has a visible tag with the student's name, school, address and telephone number written in ink.