GROWING MINDS: Integrating the Natural World into Education
This thesis creates a new curriculum focusing on getting kids outside to learn and explore. Classrooms will integrate with the outside allowing natural light and fresh air to increase learning outcomes. Students will grow their own food, harvest it, cook it, eat it, and return it back to the earth, learning where their food comes from, where their waste goes. Children will use their imagination and play within the landscape during recess. Integrating nature into the education system early on allows for good habits to form early on which they can take with them throughout their lives.
Course:
Graduate Thesis
Year
Spring 2024
Type:
Biophilic Elementary School
Location
Prototype
Business Problem: Education Budgets are small, how can this solution be implemented on a tight budget
Business Solution: Focus on the programing solution over the design of the physical building. Involving the community and local organizations help reduce the operational budget
Why Early Education
Watching my son engage with nature is the reason why I created this thesis project. The way he explores and learns from nature is something I wanted to design towards and focusing on early education allows the skills and habits that young kids learn early on to grow and adapt with them throughout their education.
The positive impacts of integrating nature into educations are seen on the left. There is a positive impact to student’s longterm health and their future earnings.
GALLERY EXHIBITION
In addition to a developing a thesis project that lives at The School of the Art Institute’s Flaxman Library, the Graduate Thesis course requires creating an exhibition at the SAIC Galleries. This exhibtion was on display for the Grad Two Exhibtion show from May 10th-22nd. On May 10th, the gallery was closed to the public and a I presented my thesis to invited faculty and industry proessionals. This exhibition instalation includes inspiration images that directly showcase a young child’s reaction to connecting with nature. Research is on display showcasing the the positive impacts of biophilic design in schools and how it impacts children’s health and financial outcomes. Program diagrams, a floor plan and a section are hung to indicate changes made and renderings show students engaging in all aspects of bioophilic changes made to the elementary school. Plants, Gardening Equipment, and Audio were on display to bring viewers into the elementary school experience.
