Creating Outdoor Classrooms: Schoolyard Habitats and Gardens for the Southwest

Introduction

Kim Duffek Introduction About This Book This publication is intended to provide creative inspiration and guidance toward the implementation of successful outdoor classrooms for integrated learning. Designers of these spaces might consider art, mathematics, science, or, more specifically, native wildlife and plants as opportunities for learning.The text describes design processes and offers useful ideas for all garden types, particularly wildlife habitats and gardens of the Southwest. In recent years, much interest has arisen in obtaining information regarding the use of native plants to attract wildlife to backyards and schoolyards. Interaction with wildlife in a garden not only provides a venue for learning basic ecology but affords opportunity to study subjects as diverse as music and math. The need for a book such as this has arisen from a national movement in gardening with native plants. Thus the book, with its regional focus on the arid Southwest, is an essential tool for teachers in the Southwest who wish to initiate natural learning landscapes. Descriptive coverage of the subject also makes this text an ideal reference for landscape architecture students or home garden enthusiasts. Making Outdoor Classrooms a Reality The best outdoor classroom gardens are created with an overarching concept that is used toward the development of a schoolwide vision.This book contains ideas and necessary information for the design and implementation of successful outdoor classrooms. Several topics, including a history of playground design, nature and play, and learning in the natural outdoor classroom, provide a good overview. Other sections, such as schoolyard garden types and design theory, help designers develop strong design concepts, and information on site research and program development, with logical approaches to creating outdoor classrooms, will assist designers with approaches aimed at helping schools xvi creating outdoor classrooms Introduction develop an individualized planning process for their unique goals. Special focus is given to ecological principles and garden requirements for pollinators and other wildlife of the Southwest, as these provide a good basis for integrated learning. Throughout the text are creative ideas on design features and materials , as well as thoughts on student activities that aid in the creation and utilization of outdoor classrooms. Sidebars, illustrations, photographs, and captions within the book can be used as helpful hints and overviews, with more detailed information contained within the main body of the text. The regional plant tables in the appendix provide a concentrated source of information useful in planning southwestern gardens of any type. Each table focuses on plants most suitable for a particular bioregion, with helpful comments, traits, and benefits for wildlife. The Need for Wildlife Habitat and Native Gardens With continued rapid growth of western cities, planning for the future needs of residents is reaching a critical stage. Every day, wild lands are removed to make way for human development. Habitat destruction creates an ever-increasing struggle for the wild creatures to survive and reproduce. Nevertheless, responsible planning could preserve our richest habitats and most critical wildlife corridors within cities and subdivisions. Schoolyard wildlife habitats might serve as design models for the community. Additionally, while some cities are already in a water crisis, others may have time for improvement. Cities such as Tucson, Arizona, have become exemplary models for desert living, as they have been successful in reducing residential water needs through the use of native and drought-tolerant plants. For some cities, however, there is room for improvement in the area of water conservation, particularly with regard to the ongoing implementation of high-water-use landscapes. Creating gardens and wildlife habitats with native plants is an important way to educate citizens and children alike about the necessity to conserve water. As they learn about the natural environment in general, they will also be exposed to specific information on regional ecology and natural resources. Within the context of desert environments, this will undoubtedly lead to better understanding about water resources.Therefore, contact with these outdoor classrooms will empower them to make a difference and become stewards of our environment throughout their adult lives. Bioregions of the Arid Southwest This book discusses creating outdoor classrooms and wildlife habitat gardens within the arid Southwest. A number of bioregions exist within this region, each with its own temperature and rainfall patterns, topography, and geologic history (see map in appendix). Each of these bioregions possesses attributes that differ from the others. This affects the types of plants that will grow or thrive there. From east to west and north to south, differences in temperature and rainfall patterns define many of the...