Outdoor Math and Science Lab
In the Summer of 2009, teachers and parent volunteers at Kinchafoonee Primary School (KPS) began transforming a barren patch of land into the Outdoor Math and Science Lab. “Kinchafoonee Gardens” will be a place for students in grades K-2 to study the natural world through planting, observing, measuring, recycling, and harvesting.
This project began amidst a recession, teacher furloughs, and shrinking school budgets. The principal and PTO pulled together a few thousand dollars and set out to accomplish all they could. Thanks to thriftiness and volunteers, ten large raised vegetable beds, nine benches, an arbor, several in-ground beds, a ladybug gazebo (using a large discarded satellite dish), an irrigation system, and an enormous butterfly-shaped garden made from stacked blocks have been added to the garden. A concrete contractor was hired to install the walkways.
Approximately 700 students ages 4-8 currently enrolled in Kinchafoonee Primary School work in the Outdoor Math and Science lab.
Age/Grade Level Served:
Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade
EE Programs:
Committee to Support School-wide EE Efforts
Kinchafoonee Primary School PTO supports our EE programs.
Green and Healthy School Features and Activities:
Environmentally Preferable Building Materials, Food Systems, Recycling (1-2 material types)
A discarded satellite dish was transformed into a ladybug gazebo. The mulch under the gazebo is made of recycled tires.
Outdoor Classroom Features:
Garden - Butterflies / Insect Pollinators, Garden - Special Needs / Accessible, Garden - Vegetables or Herbs, Pavilion, Gazebo or other Sun Shelter, Picnic Tables, Benches, or other Study Sites
Our ladybug gazebo provides much needed shade from the hot South Georgia sun. Landscape timbers placed underneath the gazebo were shaped into a dodecagon. Painted numbers on each side of the dodecagon allow students to practice telling time with pvc pipe clock hands.
Concrete walkways and a wheelchair accessible raised garden bed are a part of the Outdoor Math and Science lab.
Community Partners in EE:
Kinchafoonee Primary School PTO
Ecoregion(s)
Southeastern Plains (Ecoregion 65)