A Deficit of Nature Deficit Disorder at MHS

After living in dense, urban settings for over 8 years, I was beside myself with the thought of growing tomato plants in my own backyard after moving to Montclair. And grow my tomato plants did--they were huge! Every day in August when I came home from work, I would run out back to pick some tomatoes and each day I was crestfallen when I saw that another animal also wanted to sample my tomatoes. It was just one bite, which was enough, though, to ruin the tomato for any human that didn't want a bit of squirrel saliva mixed in with the splendor of a tomato warm from the sun. This went on for a while until one day that I got so angry that I ripped the tomato plants out of the ground while angrily shouting, "If I can't have any tomatoes, neither can you, squirrels!" I recall looking back at the house and seeing my husband through the kitchen window looking perplexed and shaking his head. I laugh when I think about it. But, I beam when I see the success that the MHS students are having as they try their hand at farming.

We have 15 raised beds in front of the annex at MHS thanks to a local Eagle Scout group. The MHS students from the 9th grade bio classes and the AP Bio classes grew enough produce to donate to Toni's Kitchen.

Lettuce and peas for Toni's Kitchen

Rael with a tub of MHS Farm produce for Toni's Kitchen

We also have a relationship with the Montclair Community Farms, who will help us water over the summer and harvest some of the food for their farm stands.

The MHS farm has been humming along nicely with lots of different groups involved. But, we didn't stop there. My AP Bio students also built a pollinator bed along Toney's Brook near the bird habitat. Maybe you didn't know we had a bird habitat, but the birds sure did! It's regularly visited by house sparrows, goldfinches, starlings, woodpeckers and more.  Let me be honest for a moment: I felt like it was the blind leading the blind as we built the pollinator bed. I love to garden but tearing up sod is not something I have done. It's not rocket science, of course, and with the correct tools--the pickaxe came in very handy--and lots of ATP, we built something that we're all proud of. I'll let the pictures below tell the story.

This is how it began...7th period AP Bio breaks ground.

Annette and Helen pull up some stubborn roots.

Olivia and Dean actually had to carry the wheelbarrow to dump the sod b/c it had a flat tire!

Eve discovered the power of a pickaxe.

  

Grace and Emily planting the baptisia...and having fun while doing so.

Amaya did not hesitate to make a nice, sharp edge for our bed.

This is how we water our bed and Liana seemed to enjoy wading through Toney's Brook and scooping up the water.

The finished product! In a few years, it will be amazing!

E.O. Wilson popularized the biophilia hypothesis in 1984. The premise of the hypothesis rests upon our evolutionary past: we evolved in nature and we are therefore attracted to nature and work to sustain it. I am biased--I have always been happiest while looking under rocks, picking blackberries and romping through the woods, which is how I spent my childhood. And although my students are growing up in a different environment and a different time (hello, smartphones), the vast majority of students were happy and relaxed while working on "the farm" and building the beds. I have no evidence from a controlled trial to support the biophilia hypothesis, but I saw smiles aplenty this past month as we dug in the dirt. One of my students even wrote about the possible source of this happiness.  I care deeply that my students understand the concepts in AP Biology and get good scores on the exam. But, I don't kid myself. I think in the future, when high school is a blur, they will remember our time outside and not how their body was burning up sugar via cellular respiration to generate the ATP needed to do the work. And I am absolutely fine with that.

The title of this post refers to a book called Last Child in the Woods, which was a catalyst that prompted me to pursue a career in teaching.