Outdoor Classroom Learning Space
Welcome to the Our Outdoor Classroom!
Our Project
We are rising 9th graders that have dedicated the rest of our 8th-grade year to rebuild our school's run-down outdoor classroom. Our goal was to rebuild the space to make it suitable for students and staff to interact with the space. We plan to have students learning in the classroom by the start of the school year in the fall.
What's The Why?
The reasoning behind clearing the outdoor space is to make it functional to be a classroom. We want the space to be open for outside learning. According to greatergood.berkeley.edu students working outside is more beneficial to a student's will to learn and interest in said subject. We want students to have a better opportunity to learn, therefore we want to clear the outdoor learning space. The initial plan is to just clear the space of the outdoor classroom. A key to making this space possible is to clear it out. Purifying it from any debris and hazardous objects will initially make the space 10 times better. When these things are complete there are many ways to make the space even better. Adding to aesthetic appeal can make people more willing to go out and enter the space. Like said in the project ideas, painting and adding color to the dull space could make the space more appealing to the eye. These types of things make the space more of a classroom, rather than just a functional sitting space outside.
Our Group
Our group consists of 11 people. Eight of member of our group are in one class, while the other three are in another class. We worked on the project by communicating through a shared google slide. We also communicate during school about he project. Our members in our group all have different roles to complete our group tasks. Those different jobs have helped us in discovering what works for our group to get things done!
Ideas And Solutions
Learning by doing the same thing over and over again can be a problem at some point. By revamping the outdoor classroom we can help by creating a new learning space so more students can focus and actually learn the material being taught. However, there were many steps that we had to take in order for this to happen.
Poison Ivy Step 1: We decided that we would clear the poison ivy in the area by cutting it off using gloves and clippers.
Poison Ivy Step 2: After the realization that cutting all of the poison ivies would take way too long we decided to use chemicals to kill all of it. Sadly, this would mean we'd be killing everything else in the area so our original idea would be messed up in the Process. So we decided to try a different approach.
Poison Ivy Step 3: After some research, we found that poison Ivy provides food for birds and deer. If we just killed it we would be ruining the ecosystem so we decided to contain the poison ivy in an area to keep the ecosystem the same and make the poison ivy was out of the way. This was the Plan we decided on.
Plants Necessary
To Keep the poison ivy contained we needed to decide on some plants with strong roots. With this, we also needed to make sure that the plants looked good enough to reflect light and make the area nicer. We decided on Lavender and Red Sage which are known to enhance focus and reduce stress.
Pathway
Pathway Step 1: First we had to clear the stage because they were completely covered by dirt and fallen sticks.
Pathway Step 2: Next we cut the branches that were hovering over the stairs to make sure everyone could access them.
Pathway Step 3: In this, we learned poison ivy could still get into the pathway so we decided we would outline the pathway with logs and fill it in between with mulch to squish the poison ivy.
Poison Ivy Clearage
A major problem that arose in the project was the poison ivy that infected the area. The poison ivy is a major safety hazard to students and staff, so we needed to remove it. This was one of our research points, so we could figure out an effective way to remove the poisonous leaves.
Beautification Process
If the outdoor classroom were to be used we need to make sure people are at least drawn to it. If not all our work would be for nothing. So one of our ideas were to find a way to beautify the area whether its through painting or adding plants. As well as clearing the things that make the space look appealing.
Creating a viable Pathway
In order to even use the outdoor classroom we need a way to get there. When we first started working on the classroom there was almost nothing there to indicate where we were supposed to go. We first cleared off the stairs and cut off branches that covered the classroom. Now we are working on a pathway that is clear to guide everyone.
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