Photo Inventory at Nature Center in Eaton Park, Pasadena, California. Contains educational activities, a visitors center, and hiking trail maps and wildlife information.

1. Retreat for a Day
Laura James
Anthropology 102
Dr. Leanne Wolf

2. Nature Center
A nature center is an organization with a visitor center designed to educate people about
nature and the local environment. This nature center is the Eaton Canyon nature center,
located in the city of Pasadena, California in Los Angeles County. The center relies
entirely on donations and volunteers. “The staffs mission is to develop in children and
adults an appreciation of nature and to preserve the area for future generations”
(ecnca.org). This nature center is free for the entire family.

3. The Structure
This center is a 7,600 square-foot building and it contains four main places where space is utilized.
The information desk, the exhibit containing live animals, the auditorium for classes or
entertainment and a nature trail containing indigenous wild flowers. As you can see in the pictures,
this is the main entry way. Here, you can see one boys waiting for his friend to come in to see their
favorite part of the building; to see the live animals!

4. The Inside
Donation box
Restroom
Right when you walk into the building you will see a square structure containing a replication of the
canyon outside. It is a birds eye view of what awaits families who want to explore the wilderness.
When you press a button next to a picture on the top of the structure, it emits the sound; such as
the roar of a Mountain Lion. Notice the restroom sign on the left and the small donation box with
money in it on the right. A visitor can donate in order to help the nature stay running every year and
to help make sure that they have a clean restroom after a long drive.

5. Information Desk
To the right of the entryway, a worker is leaning on the information desk. This is the first
place you go If you are a visitor and have questions about the area or educational events
that are being held in the near future. The desk clerk, who had to go into her office, was
not in the picture, but when I asked her for information, she gave me all of the information
I needed to know. To the right, you can see a hiker with a backpack finding pamphlets
containing maps on local hiking trails.

6. Visitors Center
When the
button is
pushed, the
bat lights
up
Interactive
bottom
Entry way to the visitors
center
Behind the worker and above the entryway, you can see the sign for the Visitors Center. This is the
place where children love to go and explore the live animals and life sized displays to make their
learning experience fun. The main two ways that the space is utilized is the play area and the
exhibit. The exhibit includes interactive displays, such as the botton being pressed at the bottom left
which lights up the diorama of the bat in a dark cave, above left.

7. Play area inside the Visitors Center
Bulletin of paper birds.
Cubby hole shelves
Mobile book
containers
Stuffed
animal/puppets
In this space, small children can be occupied with the help of their parents by playing with stuffed
animal puppets that resemble the natural wildlife in the area or opening a book to read about them.
The cubby hole shelves are extra storage space right next to the mobile containers for books, and
above that is a bulletin of paper birds left over from a class to educate kids about the wild birds
living in the area.

8. Live Animals
This live animal display is further to the right of the children’s play area. This is where you
can get an instant education for the types of animals you may encounter when hiking.
The display shows the Western Toad, the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake and the non
venomous Coastal Rosy Boa at the bottom right. On the top right, the mother is
cautioning her child not to touch the glass after reading the sign, because it will cause the
animals to go into stress from their fight or flight response.

9. Auditorium
Projection screen
On the left of the entrance to the building is the auditorium. It is a place for the community
and visitors alike. They have lectures on funding or teaching sessions for students or
families. As you can see, citizens are arriving to the event and getting ready to be
seated. In the background, you can see the projection screen. Once the event is over,
people and staff clean up after themselves to utilize this room for the next event.

10. Nature Trail
Wild Flowers
River rocks
Just. outside the building is their nature reserve that is maintained by the groundskeepers for the public. In the
photo you can see the botanical and geological features on the sides of the dirt trail. Local river rocks frame the
sides to define a foot path and the beautiful indigenous flowers that bloom during the spring. Here, its obvious
that volunteer landscapers and gardeners worked to make a foot path and made sure to spread wild flower seeds
to bloom in sunny areas. As you hike the trail, you notice it is teaming with life. From the sounds of birds to the
butterfly top right.

11. Students at the Nature Center
As the trail winds around the property, there can be outdoor art classes or places for
people to sit and relax. It is common to see signs on the trail, such as caution signs
about fire ecology or about wildlife and plants. Top left, a student artist and his painting
top right. Bottom left, people talking and at bottom right, the sign is placed in plain view,
warning against poison oak and rattlesnakes. The landscaping of the nature center was
just enough to make it people friendly and to preserve the wilderness around it.

12. Works Cited
"Eaton Canyon Nature Center Associates Home Page." Eaton Canyon Nature Center Associates
Home Page. Web. 26 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ecnca.org>.