When the Delaware Botanic Gardens at Pepper Creek opens, one of its features will be a Living Outdoor Classroom. The educational tool has moved closer to realization with the support of the Dogfish Head Companies, which pledged $30,000 to create this learning center in the public garden being built along Pepper Creek.
The natural area— centered on a freshwater intermittent wetland near Dagsboro —will be named the Dogfish Head Outdoor Classroom.
Designed for visitors of all ages, this attraction was included in the garden plan to reconnect educators, children, and adults with nature. Studies show that natural spaces and materials stimulate imagination and spur inventiveness and creativity, a release stated.
“We are thrilled to be able to contribute to environmental education in our region through this outdoor classroom,” said Mariah Calagione of Dogfish Head, the brewery and distillery in Milton. “Motivating people to go outside more has become so important in our internet age. This feature of the garden will expand the area’s opportunities for learning about nature.”
The outdoor learning center will be designed and constructed by Todd Fritchman of Envirotech Environmental Consulting, Inc., who has already brought the teaching tool into local classrooms. The freshwater wetland habitat, called a nonforested Delmarva bay, is a rare feature of Mid-Atlantic coastal areas such as the waterfront garden site.
At the wetland, educators, students, and other visitors will gain personal experience with Delaware’s coastal plain environment. For students, activities will be integrated into school curricula and cover a range of scientific pursuits, such as biology, environmental science, horticulture, physical science, and ecology. Participants will use an applied learning experience to help meet science education standards.
Many activities will challenge all visitors in this program of inquiry-based education, such as sampling plants and wetland creatures, observation of natural changes, species collection and inventory, and quantifying and qualifying findings.
The Delaware Botanic Gardens is a ten-year, multiphase plan to bring a major public garden to Delmarva that reflects southern Delaware’s coastal plain.
Involved in the project is Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf, the architecture firm Lake/Flato, and Delaware’s Rodney Robinson of RAS, a landscape architecture firm that has created and restored gardens throughout the country.
Further information on the Delaware Botanic Gardens, including about membership and donations, can be found at www.delawaregardens.org and at www.facebook.com/ delawaregardens.
