| "Energizing Education Through the Environment" |
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South Columbia's Outdoor Classroom
Vision:
To provide an outdoor environment for the students and staff at South Columbia Elementary that will help to facilitate both individual learning and guided instructional opportunities.
Reasons for an Outdoor Classroom:
To provide an environment for hands-on opportunities for learning in science.
To provide an environment that will stimulate imaginative writing processes for language arts.
To provide an environment to display student works of art created in art class.
To provide an outdoor environment for presenting reports and other presentations for individual classes for all subject areas.
To provide a place for quiet reflection of the world around us (the sights, sounds, and smells of our environment).
To provide a learning environment other than the everyday classroom.
Projected Timeline for the Construction of the Outdoor Classroom at SCE:
This project is one that will have to be installed in many phases over a number of years. The initial part of the project will be the installation of the concrete patio, irrigation system, and fencing. Once those phases are complete and funds are available we will then begin to create the various gardens that are planned for the area. Some of the gardens will include:
A sound garden (water feature, wind chimes, some miniature outdoor musical equipment)
A butterfly and bird garden (bird feeders, bird baths, plants specific for the needs/attraction of butterflies and birds)
A tactile/hands-on garden (plants of different textures, materials of different textures like sand, pebbles, soil, etc., a fossil dig, and more)
A reading/reflecting garden (a quiet area of the garden with benches)
Annual and Perennial gardens to show the progression of plants in the different seasons
Student artwork will be displayed throughout the gardens as a mini gallery
There will also be a complete weather station for our school morning news program to use for their daily weather segment.
Proposed Construction Features For the Outdoor Classroom:
Installation of a tile mosaic on the main building wall by Mrs. Coleman, our art teacher, and students
Irrigation system
60 gallon garden pond
Plantings for the various gardens
Each year we anxiously await to hear from various grants that have been submitted to see what kind of funds will be available to us in order to begin the next phase of our project.
We are very excited about the development of an outdoor classroom for the students and staff at South Columbia to enjoy. By creating this outdoor classroom we hope to increase our students creative learning experiences by providing an environment that will allow them to participate through their learning and not just observing and reciting factual information. This outdoor classroom will take our students learning experiences out of the confining walls of the school building and into the natural learning environment of our surroundings.
If you have any questions about the outdoor classroom email
Coach Meg McGowan at margaret.mcgowan@ccboe.net |
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A projected vision of what we hope for the outdoor classroom to become. This is a view from the breezeway between the main building and the PE/Art/Music building. |
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This is a view from the field behind the second grade hall. |
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2007-2008 Pride Club members and the Pollard/Powell family planting the butterfly gardens. |
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Butterfly gardens continued. |
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Completed butterfly gardens. (At this point) |
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A view of the butterfly gardens and the grade level planter boxes from the patio within the outdoor classroom.
Every student had the opportunity to break in our outdoor classroom at Field Day by planting a flower in their grade level planter box. For 2008-2009 school year each grade level will be responsible for planting and maintaing their boxes which will allow for multiple hands on learning opportunities for our students. |
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These outdoor musical instruments are the beginning stages of our sound garden. |
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This is our rose garden that flanks the patio which will be used as a place for teachers to have lessons in an outdoor setting. The patio will soon have benches that will surround three sides to allow for students to have a place to sit.
Behind the patio is the very first item planted in our outdoor classroom. It is a white dogwood that was planted by Mrs. Piper's 5th grade students in conjunction with a literature lesson. |
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