Hands-on Science: Campus Garden, iGlobe and Canopy Walkway
Millbrook students in Advanced Biology and Environmental Science are utilizing the campus’ garden, iGlobe, and canopy walkway to experience science firsthand from the ground to the treetops.
Learning begins in the hoop house garden where students are comparing the effectiveness of different season extenders through soil testing, data collection, and saving seeds. Students are learning about experimental design, scientific thinking, and four-season gardening. In a world where it is becoming increasingly uncommon for people to understand how food is made and where it comes from, learning about gardening from a scientific perspective is important and follows our strong roots in environmental stewardship.
At the Trevor Zoo the iGlobe, a 30-inch diameter lighted globe that projects datasets from NASA and NOAA, gives students a one-of-a-kind look at global patterns of climate change and forest distribution. These insights are then brought up into the canopy walkway to guide the students’ research in the trees.
Advanced Biology students are utilizing the walkway to study the differences between the forest floor and the canopy, a lesson that is part of a larger unit on patterns of distribution and abundance in community ecology. Environmental science students are studying forest ecology as part of a larger unit on ecosystems. “The overall goal of these units is for students to learn experientially and connect to their learning through a deep sense of place,” says Ave Goodale ’01, who brings her students up into the canopy via a rope ladder using harnesses connected to safety lines. The students have designed every aspect of the experiment and are required to “think like scientists” as they apply their problem-solving skills to these practical, real-world research projects in the garden and in the canopy.
The canopy walkway is completely unique to Millbrook. Built in 1995 with the vision of H. Bruce Rinker, chair of the Science Department at that time, it is about 80 feet at its highest point and is one of the oldest walkways of its kind in Dutchess County. The walkway has important ecological significance as the four platforms are built into mature red oak trees connected by wooden walkways, which are each surrounded by sugar maple, shagbark hickory, and American beech trees.
These student experiences, using a combination of outdoor classrooms and new technology, are another example of how experiential learning and environmental stewardship continue to be cornerstones of the academic program at Millbrook.
Please visit our photo gallery to see the students in action.
