Aurora 7 Renewable Energy Outdoor Classroom

by Beth Stade...
Some years ago, I attended a meeting of prominent local scientists to review the new Colorado Education Science Standards. As the committee reviewed a mountain of documents, a physicist from the University of Colorado was concerned that something important had been left out.

“What is it?” asked the state education directors, eager to add more requirements for moon phases or electrical currents.

“Where is the joy?” he replied.

“We don’t have a category for that,” answered the director, without a trace of irony.


Science is not a list of facts and procedures to be learned, it is the joyful curiosity of answering to the question “why?” and using our senses to understand the world around us.

The Renewable Energy Outdoor Classroom we are creating at Aurora 7, the shared campus of High Peaks Elementary and Boulder Community School of Integrated Studies, is an outdoor laboratory to explore science, nature, and renewable energy. At its heart will be a giant sundial of handmade tiles from all 600 students at the school. Among the rocks and seating boulders will be little exhibits that invite passersby to touch and explore. One of the most unique aspects of this outdoor classroom is that is purposefully unfinished. We won’t have wind power display, but we will have poles with connections for students to make models windmills every year. We won’t have a water feature, but we will have a solar powered water pump to make one. One of the best aspects of our solar panels is that they are NOT connected to the grid – they only work when the sun shines! The outdoor classroom is a place for children to explore while their big sister is playing soccer in the adjacent park, and a well-equipped space for teachers to run complex experiments that can’t be done indoors. It is designed to grow and change with school, not be a fixed monument.

The parents and teachers at the school began looking for creative ways to explore solar energy and outdoor science education several years ago. Parents at the school raised money through grants from GOCO Colorado (lottery funds), Lowes, Home Depot, and with donations from Resource, the Rocky Mountain Institute, and many volunteers. By supporting the Outdoor Classroom we will be able to incorporate even more resources into this dynamic space. We’d really love to add a kinetic wind sculpture for example, and provide additional materials for teachers.

Thank you for your support of this unique space, and we hope you will come check it out this summer!