The Greenhouse
The Greenhouse was an offshoot that began several years after the creation of our Garden Project. Having a greenhouse on school property has helped us to extend many educational opportunities into the late fall and early winter, as well as allow us to begin earlier in the spring. One year, we relocated our rabbits into the greenhouse for the winter where they were warmly sheltered!
HS Science teacher, Caleb McNaughton, decided to incorporate the construction of the greenhouse into his Tech Science class. After obtaining a grant, the students within the class were given a budget, a time frame and a clean slate. Problem after problem quickly arose, and with each problem came a new learning opportunity. Groups calculated optimal roof angles, snow-load, sunlight angles and shadows of nearby structures. Scale drawings were made, ground was broken, and by the end of the school year, Buckfield Jr. Sr. High School joined the ranks to become one of the very few schools in the state to have designed and built, from scratch, their very own greenhouse.
The project has been a great success. Most recently, students experimented with luffa, and the vines overtook everything. While they weren't able to harvest any from the garden, the greenhouse provided just the right conditions. With lots of hard work from students and staff the greenhouse has become an integral part of our science programming here at Buckfield Jr. Sr. High School.
The Greenhouse was an offshoot that began several years after the creation of our Garden Project. Having a greenhouse on school property has helped us to extend many educational opportunities into the late fall and early winter, as well as allow us to begin earlier in the spring. One year, we relocated our rabbits into the greenhouse for the winter where they were warmly sheltered!
HS Science teacher, Caleb McNaughton, decided to incorporate the construction of the greenhouse into his Tech Science class. After obtaining a grant, the students within the class were given a budget, a time frame and a clean slate. Problem after problem quickly arose, and with each problem came a new learning opportunity. Groups calculated optimal roof angles, snow-load, sunlight angles and shadows of nearby structures. Scale drawings were made, ground was broken, and by the end of the school year, Buckfield Jr. Sr. High School joined the ranks to become one of the very few schools in the state to have designed and built, from scratch, their very own greenhouse.
The project has been a great success. Most recently, students experimented with luffa, and the vines overtook everything. While they weren't able to harvest any from the garden, the greenhouse provided just the right conditions. With lots of hard work from students and staff the greenhouse has become an integral part of our science programming here at Buckfield Jr. Sr. High School.