The students in Meghan Mintz’s Grade 3/4 split class were tour guides last week, celebrating Earth Day on April 23 in their Enviro Pak Portable classroom at Rockwood Centennial Public School.
“Close to 700 students and teachers came through today,” said Mintz, adding members of the community and media were invited to tour the eco-friendly classroom facility.
Guests were invited in to see the re-locatable straw bale insulated portable that arrived at the school two years ago.
“Everything is made of natural resources,” said Mintz.
Built in Mount Forest, the classroom features two-inch plaster walls with straw bale insulation, windows that reflect the sun for cooler interior temperatures, LED fluorescent lights, and linoleum floors made from linseed.
A window into the wall shows students what the straw bale looks like, so they can appreciate how the structure was designed.
“I like how the classroom has the outside smell of straw,” said Mason Arnold, a Grade 4 student.
Throughout the classroom posters explain the energy conservation in the design and the ways students can continue to make a difference within the space.
“Throughout the year the kids become very knowledgeable,” said Mintz. “I’m quite impressed with how much they know about the eco-friendliness of this classroom.”
One of the interior highlights is the student-created living wall, which features real plants that grow in a unit on the side of the classroom. The plants were researched and chosen by the students, who are the caretakers.
“You put water in the plants and there is a trough,” said Evan Myers, one of the student gardeners. “The living wall is my favorite part. This is the only portable that has it.”
On the exterior, rain barrels are used to collect rain water for use in the living wall and on the school grounds. The building faces south so that two solar panels can collect solar energy to generate the power the portable needs.
“We’ve never turned on the heat,” said Mintz.
For the students, the learning opportunities of the eco-friendly classroom are lessons for a lifetime.
“There are so many things that help the environment and experiments we can learn. Instead of just learning about it we can actually do it,” said Erika Merhar, a Grade 3 student.
Classmate Madeline Swan, in Grade 4, says, “I like the classroom because I like recycling and eco-ness. I love helping the earth.”
Mintz hopes the learning environment will inspire future generations to make conscious decisions about their imprint on the earth. She said letting her students open the doors to welcome in school peers and the community to see the space also instilled a sense of pride in her students.
