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Something to Ponder at the Observatory and the OSTC/NW Agri-Science Advisory Council Sub-committee.

THINKING LIKE SCIENTISTS: Birmingham district center focuses kids on environment


BY LAURA ANGUS
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER

March 17, 2005

Bingham Farms Elementary School teacher Michelle Zibell's fifth-grade class spent a recent morning studying energy flow and ecosystems, not as students in a classroom, but as scientists in a lab.

Students peered into microscopes to study organisms and dipped thermometers into insulated containers containing hot water to see how energy flows.

Welcome to the Environmental Center in the Birmingham school district, where for more than 30 years students have learned about everything from pollution to pollen by doing, not just reading.

"It's all hands-on," said Zibell. "It's really a good thing for us."

Located on 10 acres behind the Bingham Farms Elementary School on 13 Mile Road, the center, with its surrounding nature trails and swamps, is a regular stop for elementary classes full of kids studying science.

Next month, the center will host its fourth annual fund-raiser to raise money for extras the district can't afford in these tough economic times. The center's office and teaching supplies budget, for example, has been trimmed from about $3,500 to $2,000 in recent years. Prior fund-raisers have raised thousands of dollars and paid for items such as carpeting and an outdoor shelter.

"The whole mission of the environmental center is to be, and to teach students to be, environmentally responsible," said Barbara Pepper, the center's teacher-consultant.

The Environmental Center property was originally part of the land intended for Bingham Farms Elementary School in the 1970s. After the school was built, a group of parents, teachers and students proposed it be used to create an outdoor learning lab.

After gaining support from the school board, the center opened in October 1972.

The center serves as a complement to the science curriculum for the district's elementary schools, while middle school students come for special projects and clubs, and high school students often volunteer to help with projects.

Third-graders come to study insects outside, for example, while second-graders have hunted for tracks in the snow while studying habitats.

"It's kind of cool looking at the creepy, crawly things," said Brad Benghiat, 11, of Southfield, as he looked at a display of animal skulls as part of a lesson on the food chain during a recent visit of Zibell's class.

Additions to the center this coming school year will include an observational beehive, expected to be built where students can watch the pollination process take place.

Also, a recent donation from a student's family means the center now has an extensive fossil and mineral collection. Pepper said she hopes to incorporate this into the second-grade program with a simulated fossil dig.

"It would be like the kids were doing a real dig," Pepper said.

THINK GREEN

•WHAT: Garden Garage Sale and Birdhouse Auction to benefit the Birmingham School District's Environmental Center

•WHEN: 1-3 p.m., April 30

•WHERE: At the center, 23400 W. Thirteen Mile Road in Bingham Farms

•WHY: To raise funds for projects and supplies at the center

•CONTACTS: To make a donation for the auction, or for information, contact Barbara Pepper at 248-203-3403 or bp03bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us

Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.