Outdoor Learning
At Borton we have several outdoor areas. We use them in a number of ways for educational opportunities.
Immediately to the south of the playground is BELL, Borton’s Environmental Learning Laboratory, which is an undeveloped 3-acre area where kids can study the desert ecosystem firsthand.
Within BELL is a habitat created for Old Rango, our desert tortoise.
A super awesome parent has been working on revitalizing some spaces in BELL and has taken a real liking to Old Rango. He set up a wildlife camera in Rango’s habitat and the folks over at Center for Biological Diversity put together a little video of that wildlife that uses our water hole in Rango’s Habitat. In the video you will see Old Rango, quail, doves, and a cat.
We have a number of garden areas throughout the school where students plant and raise a number of flowers and vegetables.
All these areas are also enhanced by student art projects done over the years.
Beyond the general educational value of using the outdoor areas, Borton teachers use them for specific instructional objectives.
Tree Campus K–12
Tree Campus K-12 inspires collaboration between schools, students, and communities to facilitate experiences with trees as a learning tool. Borton students did a project involving the Arizona Department of Forestry to learn about and nurture trees on the campus. Here’s a description of the project on the Arbor Day Foundation’s website.