Course Description
Would you like to design, problem solve and work on solutions to some of the planet's most challenging issues regarding ecosystem sustainability? During this intensive, we will go on field trips, design and build small scale ecosystems, and work with Scott Stokoe, the director of the Dartmouth Organic Farm, to begin thinking like
ecosystem managers. We will explore agro-ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, aquaponics and run computer models to help you gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity of these systems. You will work to design systems that benefits not only human-kind but also recognizes the limits of our planet's resources.
“A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something. …a system must consist of three kinds of things: elements, interconnections and function or purpose.”
- Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems
Directors: Jeannie Kornfeld Keegan Harris and Thomas Hermanson
Community Volunteer: Scott Stokoe
Room 226 - HHS Chemistry Room
What are we doing this week?
Tuesday: Focus question of the day: How should we be growing our food?
Spend the day at the DOF – meet some plants and find out what they need, create soils, investigate aquatic systems, tour greenhouses - are all greenhouses created equal?
Homework assignment: Prepare a five minute slide show on your favorite example of bio-mimicry. Bring in a 2 liter bottle.
Wednesday: Focus question of the day: Why should we care about recycling plant nutrients?
Spend the morning at the Living Machine at the Sharon Rest Stop to figure out as a team how the ecosystems in the living machine are used to clean wastewater. Afternoon will include mini student presentations on bio-mimicry.
Homework assignment: Come to our morning meeting prepared to give an example of where we witnessed bio-mimicry at the DOF.
Thursday: Focus question of the day: How can you use what you learned from the Stella modeling simulations to design your bottle for biology?
Try out a computer simulation that uses the Stella modeling program to demonstrate food webs in a lake ecosystem. Karim Chichakly from Isee Systems will teach us how to create our own models with Stella. Afternoon will be spent designing your ecosystem for bottle biology.
Homework assignment: – work on editing video
Friday: Focus Question of the Day: What does it mean to be an ecosystem manager?
Begin the day by constructing your own ecosystem in a bottle. Finish up editing video and show videos in the afternoon.
Biofuels from Algae