One Reason Our School Is A Little Better: Outdoor Classroom

"An individual with a high degree of naturalist intelligence is keenly aware of how to distinguish from one another the diverse, plants, animals, mountains, and cloud configurations in her ecological niche" Howard Gardner.

The students at our school benefit from a few wooded acres that border the campus to the west.  Featuring a small pond, a path, and an amphitheater, the outdoor classroom is a result of the efforts of teachers and community members alike.

Science students are provided unique opportunities to study biology. Animal, fungi, and plant kingdoms are easier to learn when students are able to put their hands on fishing poles, morels, and spades. When rain gauges supplement text books, and a planned project to build a raised flower bed is postponed due to weather, meteorology is more meaningful.  The outdoor classroom also serves as the subject of student produced documentaries and the setting for student produced dramas, filmed and edited with iPads in communication arts classes.

Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory includes a naturalist intelligence. Teachers and students at our school are better positioned to leverage the power of this intelligence due to the outdoor classroom.