BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Studies show outdoor learning can boost mental health and encourage learning among students - now, a Bowling Green City Schools teacher is working to incorporate the outdoors into her science lessons after receiving a grant.
Paula Williams said she found her 7th grade science class was more engaged when they went outside. This encouraged her to research the benefits of outdoor learning and come up with a plan to make it an official part of the curriculum.
Williams said outdoor classrooms keep kids active, sparks their curiosity and connects them to their environment. She presented her findings to the Bowling Green City Schools Board of Education and to local businesses, like materials company Lubrizol.
The school received a $45,000 grant from Lubrizol to construct an outdoor classroom; Williams said she expects the classroom will be ready for students in grades 6 through 12 by the start of the next school year.
Williams said she hopes the new facility will be used for more than just class.
"If we can get them engaged and relaxed and allow them to not just explore science, but I hope that they use it for a math lesson, go out and read, write, listen, make observations, even art projects," said Williams. "I'm hoping that the outdoor classroom and our schoolyard prairie become a bigger part of our school year next year."
The classroom will be equipped with:
- Picnic tables
- Storage boxes
- Display boards for student work
- Raised garden beds
- Playground mulch that will fill the outlined raised learning area.
Williams said the students are going to have a great time leaning and that's what she's excited about.
"It's a lot of fun," she said, "It's citizen science, it's real science. Instead of reading a graph that somebody else made, looking at a data chart that we pulled from a different lesson, this is your data chart you made this graph and now you are writing that conclusion."
The school began excavating the outdoor classroom in May and materials will be added starting in June. They plan to present their first official outdoor class by Aug. 15.
Williams said the project will not cost students or their families any money.
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