OSU students take top honors in design competition

Friday, May 2, 2014

What do you get when you combine the creativity of a group of horticulture and landscape architecture students and the enthusiasm of third graders? You get an award-winning design idea.

Horticulture and landscape architecture students at Oklahoma State University recently took top honors in the Come Alive Outside Design Challenge with their contest entry featuring the outdoor classroom and trail area of Stillwater’s Sangre Ridge Elementary School.

OSU placed first in the competition over Brigham Young University-Idaho, Hinds Community College and North Carolina State University.

Nick Nelson, assistant professor in OSU’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, said 22 of his students, along with the third graders, worked closely together for only a month to design an outdoor learning environment that creates the opportunity for students to interact with and learn from a natural space.

“This contest was designed as a way to encourage youth to unplug and experience the great outdoors,” Nelson said. “This was a great experience with the third graders. We told them they were the teachers since they were going to have to introduce us to the outdoor area and show us around. They loved being leaders and I think my students were surprised at how serious the third graders were and how engaged they were in the whole process.”

Landscape architecture student Corey Branch worked on the project and said the thing that surprised him most about the elementary students was their creativity.

“It takes most landscape architecture students an entire day to place their thoughts into motion for a project, yet these children had their ideas and solutions almost instantly. It was amazing the design ability they had,” Branch said. “By trying to inspire the children, I was inspired by their creativity. They truly did ‘come alive outside.’”

Some of the students’ ideas ranged from giant chocolate volcanos and spaceships to creating animal habitat. The design eventually came down to creating an outdoor space that encourages people to get outside and interact with the environment in both active and passive play. This concept allows all types of children and users to enjoy the space.

Sarah Major, a third grade teacher at Sangre Ridge Elementary, said the third graders were selected to participate so that if the design could be implemented in the near future, the kids would be able to experience it.

“In class we were discussing career and job readiness, so this project fit in nicely with our careers unit,” Major said. “However, we also were able to use the project to show geometry, measurement, art and persuasion strategies. For instance, we talked about what the students included in their plans to persuade us to choose their plan over the other entries.”

One of the participating elementary students said she really liked talking with the college students and showing them around her school.

Another student said he liked learning about different careers because he did not know about planning landscapes.

Joleen Royer, another third grade teacher at Sangre Ridge, said there was a lot of benefit to her students being involved in this project.

“It definitely opened their eyes to a new field of careers,” Royer said. “We were able to see some of our students really come out of their shell and start talking about outside jobs and how they are important. I think most kids assume you have to be a doctor, lawyer, teacher or businessman. They never think about all the planning and hands-on jobs available to them.”

The design contest challenged students with five major design criteria to accomplish through the competition. First, the design has to encourage interaction with the space using all five senses. Second, materials needed to be used or recycled in an innovative and cost-effective way. The third element of the contest included creating a Certified Wildlife Habitat in accordance with the standards laid out by the national Wildlife Federation. The third grade students were the fourth element, which required input from the children into the design. And finally, the space had to be functional for teachers to use with their classes.

Some of the ideas the students came up with include an amphibian pad, hammocks strung between trees, tree houses, varied-level walkways, wildlife observation area, an avian observation deck, butterfly garden and many more.

The space was designed with recycled materials to help cut down on the cost and to be economically friendly.

“Not only does Sangre Ridge Elementary benefit from having this design plan ready for when the time comes and funding is available to implement it, my students also benefit from participating in competitions such as this,” Nelson said. “They become more engaged when they are competing. It helps the productive process and elevates their work. Plus, they are exposed to the professional world and get feedback from those who already are working in the profession. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”