{"id":935,"date":"2020-01-27T20:02:44","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T20:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/?p=935"},"modified":"2020-01-27T20:02:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T20:02:44","slug":"outdoor-adventures-at-macleish-field-station-an-observers-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/2020\/01\/27\/outdoor-adventures-at-macleish-field-station-an-observers-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor Adventures at MacLeish Field Station: An Observer\u2019s Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Driving the winding roads to the Ada and Archibald MacLeish Field Station on a crisp winter morning, one passes babbling brooks; sugar houses; sprawling fields and pens of cattle. Pulling into the parking lot\u2014a permeable surface designed by a Smith student researcher, designed to keep vehicles on the periphery of the space\u2014a wooded path carries visitors \u201cover the river and through the woods\u201d to the Field Station, where meadow gives way to mountain views\u2014craggy, covered in pines.<\/p>\n

One Friday morning in January, I had the pleasure of accompanying Campus School sixth graders to this New England landmark, learning alongside them about the rich history of the land as they engaged in nature activities led by Smith College students enrolled in \u201cGet to Know and Learn to Share Your New England Landscape,\u201d a one-week interterm course facilitated by Carol Berner (Education & Child Study) and Reid Bertone-Johnson (Landscape Studies).<\/p>\n

Built in 2012, the Bechtel Environmental Classroom sits among MacLeish\u2019s 260 acres of forests and farmland in Whately, Massachusetts, boasting certification as one of the few living buildings in the nation. \u201cThe primary purposes of the building are to encourage use, preservation, and understanding of its landscape and to foster inspiration + education<\/u> <\/em>(sic),\u201d reads a wooden plaque at the entrance, titled \u201cBeauty,\u201d which I later learned is one of seven \u201cpetals\u201d in the flower framework used to structure all living buildings. \u201cThe classroom will be used by students from an array of disciplines such as biology, dance, or writing,\u201d <\/em>it reads, \u201cembodying the multidisciplinary philosophy of a liberal arts education. Student engagement and projects animate the ever-growing beauty + spirit of this dynamic landscape.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The day began with students bundled in colorful snow coats huddling in a circle as Smith students introduced them to the building, the land, and\u2014perhaps the preeminent feature\u2014composting toilets. Shrieks and gasps dispersed as students divided into groups, preparing to rotate through activities in and outside of the Bechtel classroom.<\/p>\n

Circling through the building, students\u2019 celebratory voices filled the halls: \u201cThat was actually legendary!\u201d one boy said, climbing off of a stool from which he peered at scat under a microscope. \u201cCan we go to the mountains?\u201d questioned another, learning of her group\u2019s impending hike. \u201cYay! I\u2019m so excited!\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

I smiled, from the side, watching sixth graders\u2019 energy, realizing\u2014as light poured through the window\u2014that their morning had only just begun.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sectioned into four stations designed to engage students in all that MacLeish has to offer, college students guided five activities:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>A Scavenger Hunt <\/strong>that led students to explore edible characteristics of sumac and black birch trees, the fire pit, chestnut orchard, and tree sculpture, and play a blindfolded \u201ctree game\u201d in which the subject used all senses but sight to learn about a tree, then attempted to identify it after removing their blindfold (\u201cThis was the kids\u2019 favorite!,\u201d one Smith student shared).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Porcupine Hike <\/strong>in which students went on a quest, following clues written as rhyming couplets on weathergrams, biodegradable messages attached to trees and other natural objects, culminating in the discovery of a porcupine den (where one group caught sight of a prickly neighbor!).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A Timeline Activity <\/strong>in which students mapped out the history of MacLeish, starting in present day, working back to Campus School students\u2019 birth years (2007-08, when the idea for the living building was just starting to germinate), all the way to the end of the Ice Age, when mastodons roamed the land. For this activity, students used measuring tape and stakes to talk about scale, with Smith students sharing that every 50 years equated to 1 foot on the timeline.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Microscopes <\/strong>under which students investigated what Carol called \u201cfound treasures from outside.\u201d From a variety of animal scat discovered on MacLeish grounds, to owl pellets; wild grapes picked from vines that Campus School students noticed on their wanderings through the woods; porcupine quills; pine needles; and even students\u2019 own fingers, facilitators framed sixth graders\u2019 engagement by asking them to hypothesize about what they were looking at and record their observations (\u201cThe berry looks almost like a brain!\u201d<\/em> one eager scientist said. \u201cI can see bones!\u201d<\/em> said another as he peered at owl pellets).<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Weathergrams\u2014<\/strong>letters, lists, and poems of appreciation written to nature on biodegradable tags\u2014inspired students to think mindfully (\u201chave a meditative moment,\u201d said a Smith student leader) about their favorite parts of nature. Once they were finished, students were invited to hang their weathergrams wherever they wished in the outdoor landscape, where nature would \u201cwrite back,\u201d changing the appearance of the paper over time. \u201cDear tree, do you ever feel sad?\u201d<\/em> one student wrote. \u201cDear tree, did you know that a redwood tree is really big?\u201d<\/em> asked another.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As morning turned to noon, sixth graders were on their way back to Campus School, and college student leaders settled around a table to relax and debrief after the morning\u2019s festivities. \u201cIt was very refreshing,\u201d they shared about working with students. \u201cA very natural end to the week\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n– \u201cIt was funny to be on the other end of what we were experiencing yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

– \u201cGratifying to see\u2026 [students] happy to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

– \u201cThey were very open to being energized by being outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

– \u201cI appreciated their flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

– \u201cThere was a lot of joy there.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the quiet of the woods on my way back down the hill, I couldn\u2019t help but think\u2014glancing out at fields and mountaintops\u2014that the \u201cbeauty\u201d of MacLeish is, indeed, \u201cinspiration + education\u201d made all the more vibrant by the students who filter through these forests each year, shifting and shaping the landscape while honoring the integrity of the land on which those mastodons marched many years ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Written by Brittany Collins<\/em><\/p>\n

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Driving the winding roads to the Ada and Archibald MacLeish Field Station on a crisp winter morning, one passes babbling brooks; sugar houses; sprawling fields and pens of cattle. Pulling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":666,"featured_media":936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/666"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":949,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions\/949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}