Purpose
Students investigate a neglected campus woodland to determine how it can be restored, used, and connected to school life in ways that are ecologically responsible and community-centered. Through field studies, mapping, data collection, and community feedback, they evaluate real land-use possibilities and design a proposal that reduces environmental impact while supporting biodiversity and student experience. The work culminates in an evidence-based pitch to school leadership and a public open house, where students share a realistic plan for the site’s future and defend their recommendations with scientific evidence.
Learning goals
Students will investigate the site as an ecosystem by identifying invasive and native species, analyzing habitat conditions, and explaining how human choices affect biodiversity and land use. They will collect and interpret field data through soil, sunlight, drainage, safety, and survey studies; create scaled maps, graphs, and simple simulations; and use that evidence to compare redesign options and justify tradeoffs. Students will collaborate in teams to develop, critique, and revise a realistic land-use proposal that responds to community needs and environmental constraints. They will communicate their thinking through field notebooks, annotated visuals, public exhibition materials, and a formal presentation to school leadership.
Products
Students will create field notebook portfolios that include species identification notes, soil and sunlight test results, scaled site maps, survey charts, reflection entries, and revision logs showing how their ideas changed over time. Throughout the project, teams will also produce annotated property-zone posters, data graphs, photo documentation, draft land-use sketches, and simple simulations or comparison models that test how different design choices could affect biodiversity, safety, and community use. By the end, each team will develop an evidence-based campus redesign proposal with a clear recommended use plan, maps, visuals, and justification grounded in site conditions and community needs. These products will be shared in a formal pitch to the Board of Directors and Head of School and displayed during an open house exhibition for the wider school community.
Launch
Begin with a field experience at the Ozark Science Center where students compare a healthy Ozark habitat to the overgrown campus site, sketching what they notice about biodiversity, light, soil, and human impact in their field notebooks. When they return, take students to the campus property for a first-walk survey to document invasive species, native trees, access points, and questions about how the land could serve the school community. Close the launch with a “What should this land become?” protocol in which students sort photos, site observations, and community needs into possible use categories, then draft initial ideas connected to evidence. End by introducing the challenge to create a land use proposal for school leadership and the community open house.
Exhibition
Host a community open house on campus where student teams turn the site into an interactive exhibition with zone maps, field notebooks, before-and-after concept boards, survey data, and annotated posters explaining invasive species, habitat conditions, and proposed next steps. Each team should deliver a short evidence-based pitch to the Board of Directors, Head of School, families, and campus stakeholders, then answer questions using their soil, sunlight, drainage, biodiversity, and community-needs data. Include a gallery walk with QR codes linking to digital slide decks, scaled site plans, and simulation models so visitors can compare competing land-use proposals and leave feedback. Close the event with a public reflection wall where students share how their thinking changed through critique, revision, and field study, and invite leadership to respond to the proposals.
