The aim of the Deep Forest Field School is ‘saving forests’. The School has a multi-faceted approach to achieving this aim. Its educational approach is through experiential learning in the “classroom of the forest”. In the first instance, this entails taking the students, their teachers (and hopefully some parents!) out into a neighboring woodland and exploring basic scientific principles through observation, taking data, conducting simple comparative analyses, and writing up results in a scientific format.
[Such a Program is already in place at the Sarah Rawlinson Smith Elementary School in North-east Atlanta; picture available soon!!].
This sounds relatively straightforward but involves some considerable thoughtful collaboration between the DFFS and all the teachers involved in the project. Since a quite different sort of teaching effort is required from the teachers, and a different sort of learning effort from the students as well, careful and considerate planning is a requirement. These efforts in the local area can be followed-up by field trips to more distant forested habitats either as day trips to a number of forested areas within the greater Atlanta area, or ‘overnight’ camping trips. Camping trips allow for greater immersion “deep” in the forest, but also make it possible for students to take advantage of the wonderful State parks in the major forested areas of Georgia and its neighboring States.
An essential ingredient of Field School activities is Fun! Students of the South Kitsap School District, Port Orchard, Olympic Peninsular
It should be of considerable interest to the Principals and Teachers of Public Schools that the Deep Forest Field School, Inc. does NOT CHARGE for its educational services. Unfortunately, the DFFS cannot offer the same resources to Private Schools without some charge albeit such fees are very reasonable due to the School’s subsidized infrastructure.
The Schools current teacher is Dr. Dahl who brings two distinctive sets of skills and experience to the educational table. Firstly, his training and research as a zoologist and physical anthropologist began at University College, London University, in 1969 and extended through a 21-year active research career at the internationally renowned Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University (see “Funder”). This involved extensive field work in the tropical forests of the Comoro Islands near Madagascar, and in a number of Central American countries. Secondly, he has applied the knowledge gained through his academic career to teaching Elementary, Middle, and High School students. Most particularly, he spent four years developing a “Science of the Environment” curriculum while teaching the Middle School of The Atlanta School. This last aspect is important since Dr. Dahl has now had the “grass roots” experience of teaching in the classroom from Grades 4 –12.
An important design aspect of the Field School is attention to the established Science Curriculum for each Grade being taught so that the activity incorporates as many parts of the curriculum as possible, complements what is already being taught in the school, and emphasizes the “doing” side of science in terms of both thought (articulating hyptheses on the basis of current understanding and knowledge), and deed (testing hypotheses using accurate scientific instruments and methods). It follows from the various points (above) that the special programs offered by the DFFS are custom tailored to the schools basic teaching philosophy, the Grades involved, the teachers, and the geographical features of the neighborhood.