Land lab

• Surveying pollinator species in pollinator gardens or in the native flora
• Restoring old agricultural land back to original landscapes such as: wetlands, prairie, or forest
• Composting biomass to rebuild healthy soil
• Maintaining beehives or other pollinator habitats for moths, ground bees, and other pollinators
• Recording weather conditions to better understand the microclimate
• Conducting nature studies to identify and observe local flora and fauna
• Planting native trees, grasses, and flowers to increase biodiversity
• Encouraging native riparian plant growth along ponds and streams
• Installing bird houses, bat houses and owl houses
• Holding art classes where students can paint flora, fauna and landscapes
• Collecting and removing trash and other man-made pollutants
• Designing low-impact trails and paths for visitors to explore the land lab

A notable K12 land lab example is the Granville Land Lab in Ohio.

The Granville Land Lab is a good example of a student-driven land restoration project to further STEM education.

Below is a brief overview of the land lab project from their website:

"The Granville Land Lab is the largest outdoor K-12 educational facility in Ohio with 90 acres, soon to be 100 acres, of land. It functions as part of the Granville Schools Sustainability Project. The Land Lab was created to contribute to conservation by restoring the area in front of the Granville Intermediate School. It is an outdoor classroom for students of the Granville Exempted School District, Denison University, and surrounding school districts of Licking County. It provides unique, hands-on experiences to help students learn about life, physical, and environmental sciences, math, English, art, and music."[1]

• A quick introduction video about the Granville Land Lab
• Environmental Science teacher James Reding being interviewed about the land lab

Learning to produce food, fiber and energy in sustainable ways is a tremendous opportunity for students of all ages within land labs. Students can explore biomass energy, biogas fuels, solar energy, permaculture, composting, organic gardening, and many other facets of sustainability through land labs.

By designing systems that mimic natural processes (biomimicry), we are able to produce food, fiber, and energy in more sustainable ways for local communities. Numerous environmental and economic benefits exist to growing food locally and producing energy locally. These biomimicry inspired systems are circular in nature. Nothing is wasted, as the outputs of one circular system become the inputs of another.

Circular system experiments, promoting a circular economy, are a natural fit for educational land labs. Circular systems function by ensuring that nothing is wasted. Every output of a system becomes an input for another system.

For example: Food scraps feed chickens, chicken manure fertilizes the garden, the garden grows more vegetables, food scraps are then available from the vegetables to feed chickens.

Circular systems that are well-suited for land labs include:

• Biogas methane digesters for generating clean cooking fuel and liquid fertilizer for gardens
• Composting rollers for composting leaves, grass clippings, & food scraps
• Raising black soldier fly larvae on food waste to become feed for chickens or fish
• Solar panels for providing on-site power
• Free range chickens for providing eggs and manure
• Greenhouses for growing mushrooms and seedlings
• Raised beds for market garden vegetables
• Beehives for garden pollination, honey, and wax
• Rotationally grazed pastures for goats, cattle, pigs, sheep, etc
• Biochar production to improve soil quality and sequester carbon
• Aquaponics systems for growing fish and greens symbiotically
• Rainwater collection systems for retaining water for gardens

Land labs help to form an ecosystem well suited for long-term project-based learning. Students, teachers, and community members can participate in multi-disciplinary activities ranging from land restoration, animal husbandry, gardening, weather analysis to outdoor art studies.

The multi-disciplinary context within a land lab is perfect for cross-curricular education. The following disciplines and subjects can all tie into land lab activities in an integrated fashion:

• Ecology - nature studies, increasing biodiversity, studying water cycle
• Biology - gardening, agriscience projects, botany
• Sustainable Agriculture - composting, permaculture, local food movement
• Engineering - building aquaponics, rainwater collection, animal shelters
• Chemistry - methane digesters, plant fertilization, solar power
• Life Sciences - carbon cycle, water cycle, composting biomass
• Animal Husbandry - free range chickens, goats, apiary
• Climate Studies - weather observation, weather logging
• History & Culture Studies - local food culture, history of agriculture, natural resources
• Culinary Arts - cooking garden produce using clean energy like biomass, biogas, or solar power
• Multi media arts - designing pollinator landscapes, bird houses, bat houses, murals
  • Painting - nature studies, murals
  • Pottery - watering pots, plant pots
  • Wood working - pollinator houses, chicken coop

Land labs exist as perpetual educational projects that can span years to decades or more. Common goals within a land lab are often:

• Restoring degraded land back into a balanced, biodiverse state
• Establishing an environment for native flora and fauna to thrive
• Building deep, rich soil with an active microbiome
• Growing local produce, herbs, and flowers
• Raising livestock with sustainable, ethical methods
• Producing healthy food for local communities
• Producing local energy to power the land lab operations
• Inspiring young people to care about biodiversity, agriculture, and nature
• Building real-life, practical STEM skills for students and adults
• Building strong communities around unique outdoor projects in nature
• Educating people about the benefits and simple joys found in gardening

Land labs can be designed in all shapes and sizes. The key attributes of a land lab are typically the following:

• Building an outdoor learning area designated for cross-curricular studies in a STEM environment
• Establishing a focus on increasing biodiversity and restoring local environmental features
• Educating people about meeting humans needs sustainably through agriculture, energy production, shelter, and sanitation

A small land lab could be as little as a courtyard, balcony garden, or a designated patch of land outside of a classroom window. Conversely, larger land lab could encompass hundreds of acres. The ideal size for a flexible land lab space allowing for many different ecological activities and circular systems is between 1/4 of an acre to 5 acres.