Students at the Ernest Barka Elementary School in Derry created an artistically researched and designed garden with the help of Peterborough teaching artist and landscape designer Laura Campbell.
The Butterfly Garden highlighted the importance of the arts in the STEAM curriculum, which focuses on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.
Championed by the Rhode Island School of Design, STEAM encourages schools to consider how “quality learning experiences in the arts during the school day nurtures creativity that benefits engagement in all other subject areas.” The Butterfly Garden integrated skills from a variety of disciplines including measuring, researching, sequencing, sketching, and painting. Teachers guided inquiry-based learning as students created 2-D and 3-D models during the initial planning stages.
Coordinated by teaching artist and landscape designer Laura Campbell, the Butterfly Garden officially opened in June 2013.
This project was made possible by an AIR Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.
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