ILLUSTRATING A LESSON : AVC PLANS TRIBUTE TO EARTH DAY.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

While most people would think science fiction is out of this world, two part-time teachers at Antelope Valley College say it is well-rooted into the Earth.

Bill Wu, a fiction writing and advanced fiction writing teacher, and Frank Dixon, an illustration teacher, who have used science fiction to tell stories for years, now are using it to teach environmental consciousness.

In honor of Earth Day, the two have decided to combine their resources and give Antelope Valley College students a different view of learning: telling a story without words; and creating an image without illustration, and using one of the two to focus on a particular issue such as the environment.

``Science fiction has always been concerned with environmental issues,'' said Wu. ``Very old science fiction stories told about using up resources and what would happen after that.''

``Fantasy also uses a lot of nature images,'' said Wu. ``Although it may not be based on Earth as we know it, it's a good way of getting a message across.''

The pair met a few months ago at a Palmdale bookstore during a talk by science fiction writers and illustrators. The two decided to get together and bring Dixon's work to Wu's Monday night fiction writing class. They thought that the perfect time to do it would be in observance of Earth Day, April 22.

``I wanted to show my students how illustration is a form of storytelling,'' said Wu. ``How through a form of entertainment, one can bring an issue alive.''

The pair also will appear Saturday at 1 p.m. at a science fiction festival in Northridge at Super Crown books, at Nordhoff Street and Tampa Avenue.

Dixon, 41, a Lancaster resident, was a free-lance artist for 15 years. He worked at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base for two years as a graphic artist and currently works at his alma matter, Quartz Hill High School, as an art teacher.

He creates colorful, detailed science fiction and children's artwork.

``I love nature, trees and the beauty of it,'' said Dixon. ``It's important to keep that so we can enjoy for many years to come.''

Wu, 45, a third-generation writer, became serious about his writing when he was 22, although he wrote as a youngster and was encouraged greatly by his family.

``I always wrote as a kid,'' said Wu. ``My mother was a poet and my mother's mother wrote a novel.'' His father's family also included writers.

Since publishing his first short story in 1975 at age 24, Wu has published 13 novels, with one currently in the works, one short story collection and one dissertation.

Included in his works are such titles as ``Star Wars: Tales from Jabba's Palace,'' ``Hong on the Range,'' a Chinese-American science-fiction western, and ``MasterPlay.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color in AV edition only) Antelope Valley Col lege instructors, Bill Wu, left, and Frank Dixon, display illustrations that will help students study the environment.

(2--color) In works such as ``Dreaming,'' Frank Dixon uses science fiction to tell an environmental tale.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News