Programming, planning and design of 25,400 SF renovation and additions to independent school science building for middle and upper school science.
Rapid technological advances such as these present a challenge to those renovating or building new classroom spaces. Anything we plan today may be obsolete in the one and a half to two years that it generally takes to get a building designed and built. Those involved with designing the space must know what technology is available, but more importantly, what technology will be available.
The National Science Education Standards describe a science curriculum that is much more inquiry-based and hands-on than the science education many of received in school. Providing K-12 science-learning facilities that adapt themselves to a safe, inquiry-based program requires significant amounts of flexible space.
School science space is expensive. Careful planning can save money, provide space that [...]
On several recent projects I’ve had the opportunity to review ed specs prepared by several well-respected educational facilities consultants and have noted that spaces proposed for science education are often inadequate, incomplete and ill-defined. Since science learning space is unlike other classroom space, both in terms of area and cost, such program inadequacies hamper the [...]
In the early 1990s, many middle and high schools began converting their industrial arts shops into “tech labs,” in which the power tools, sawdust and grease of the vocational programs were replaced by computers, student workstations and canned technology courseware. Students flocked to the new teach labs because they were unique environments within the school, [...]
In the early 1990′s many middle and high schools
Typical Tech Lab
began converting their industrial arts shops into “tech labs” in which the power tools, sawdust and grease of the vocational programs were replaced by computers, student work stations, and canned technology courseware. This was based on the rationalization that, since America is moving from an [...]
Changes in the way teachers teach science have given rise to a new generation of designs for science classrooms and new approaches to furnishing those classrooms.
An increasing preference for hands-on science instruction has created the need for science laboratories in middle schools, as well as K-5 classrooms.
While the lower grades have begun to employ more [...]
It appears that science education is moving more and more toward individual and small-group, hands-on projects and away from the “sage on the stage” lecture and “one size fits all” laboratory projects. The Thomas Haney Centre in Maple Ridge, British Columbia (Canada) operates on Individual study plans for each student, requiring that a student demonstrate [...]
A significant portion of the middle school science curriculum should be inquiry based, and the facilities provided to serve this curriculum must support this approach.
Designing Science Facilities for the New Science Standards – key concepts in improving today’s K-12 teaching spaces.
Join James T. Biehle, President of Inside/Out Architecture for an informative webinar on project-based learning and the types of spaces that might be appropriate for this exciting mode of science instruction. Watch now »
 
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Science in Structure (school buildings teach science)
Science learning does not have to stop at the classroom door. A well-designed project takes as many opportunities as possible to give students additional scientific stimulation.