Portland Public School Department News

Lincoln Middle School in Portland has received a $10,000 grant from Toyota to help fund the construction of a geodesic dome on school grounds. The grant will be combined with a $15,000 donation from an anonymous donor for the project. Other fundraising efforts are ongoing.

Local residents are invited to participate by volunteering to work on the construction and landscaping. Construction is expected to begin in April.

The dome will serve as the Living Classroom - Sustainability Lab project. The project aims to educate students, staff and community members about sustainabilty practices.

The geodesic dome is a self-sustaining environment demonstrating “green” habits such as alternative energies for heating, composting, plant growing and recycling. The dome will not use any electricity or heat from the school; rather, all electrical items in the dome will be powered by solar energy. Compost from school lunch waste will be used to grow plants and vegetables.

This year, eighth graders in the school’s Blue House will study forces, energy and structural integrity through the planning and construction of the geodesic dome in their engineering technology and science classes. Other subject areas will also be incorporated into the project.

If all goes according to plan, construction will begin immediately after April vacation. The school seeks volunteers, with or without experience, to work with Blue 8 students in the site preparation and construction of the geodesic dome.

Surrounding the geodesic dome will be an “education park” created by sixth, seventh and eighth graders. This will most likely start in the fall of 2007.

The school also seeks volunteers to help with landscaping. If you are interested in volunteering in either capacity, please call the school at 874-8145 or contact Thom Fournier (fournt@portlandschools.org), Christel Driscoll (driscc@portlandschools.org) or Phyllis Hey (heyp@portlandschools.org).

The goal of the education park is to share with students and community members an inviting greenspace that educates individuals about indiginous plant species and plants that represent ethnic communities.

Plans call for a garden of vegetables and herbs that are used in various cultures’ dishes. Some plant species provided for the education park will be grown in the geodesic dome.

Incorporated in the education park will be student art representing the Lincoln community. Nancy Sanchez, Lincoln’s art teacher, has provided some exciting ideas such as mosaic designs on sculptures.

The education park and geodesic dome offer a unique way to learn about environmental practices along with life forms not always present in urban areas.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 3:52 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.