Learning From the Garden (Entrance 2)

In our EDST 401 class, we talked today about the aims of schooling and education in general. When I decided to get into teaching, I knew I wanted to teach more than just the curriculum. I have strong beliefs about the possibility of "another world", embracing kindness and collaborative community to create a better world for everyone (including the more-than-human world). So far I've imagined accomplishing this goal through off-the-cuff anecdotes and intellectual tidbits, along with my own disposition and friendliness. Now I'm thinking more about how I could use a garden space to weave in more intentional ecological socialization and imparting of ethics. So in this way, I think it is almost obvious how I might use a teaching and learning garden in a high school. However, the specifics, and any ways to use these spaces to teach physics, is still a bit ill-defined.

"Ecosystems as co-teachers" really stands out to me, as I am currently reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. She speaks throughout the book about how plants, animals, and the land (ecosystems) are the first teachers. You can learn an immense number of incredibly valuable lessons by simply observing these great teachers. I can certainly imagine bringing this into a biology classroom. A simple example is to study the three sisters and show how they help each other grow and defend against predators. However, it's very easy to extend this to teach the idea that we are stronger when we support each other, and even simply open the students up to the idea that plants have lessons to teach.

Regarding physics, I think there are many opportunities to do labs or at least interactive activities in the garden. I think each unit in grade 11 for example lends itself well to garden experiments (projectile motion, forces, energy, and waves). The issue I see is that they might not really rely on the garden. I can't think of a way to inherently include the garden in all of these experiments. Wave motion for sure, shaking smaller trees you can produce standing waves without harm. But the others, I need to think more on how I can include the garden as a co-teacher for these topics.

Wow, that 6 month pinhole camera produces some really incredible images! I would absolutely love to do that activity with a class. I didn't expect the result to be so vivid and interesting.