Outside Learning Environments

Sudoku Puzzle & Chess Board

Back in the Fall, during the schematic design phase and site planning, our team discussed different ways to incorporate the space outside of the classrooms into the learning environment. We are interested in building a school that engages the students both inside and outside of class. The open space between buildings creates fantastic areas to develop a learning station. One of our initial ideas was to build a large (9'x9') grid that could double as a Sudoku puzzle and a chess board. Made of dirt or sand, the students could write their number or chess piece directly onto the grid.

Just this past month, an organization called Project H Design completed their first "learning landscape" at a school in southern Uganda. After hours of extensive research they created a program tailored to the students at the school, and easily installed.

Project H Learning Landscape, Southern Uganda

This pilot program is a scalable grid-based system for elementary math education. Because math is universal, the system can be applied to any country. More photos can be found on Inhabitat. Ten games teach concepts including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as spatial and logical reasoning through individual and team-based competition. When not used for a particular game, the space doubles as a classroom with the addition of benches!

Members of the Usalama Project will be attending a Project H meeting this weekend to discuss applications at our school. If the Project H name sounds familiar, you may remember them from their Hippo Rollers.