Students at a northwest elementary school will soon have an opportunity to take a hands-on approach to studying plants throughout the year as part of a pilot project.
Tania Wildman, chair of Capitol Hill School’s committee for the naturalization project and the greenhouse, says the school’s soon-to-be officially unveiled geodesic dome will allow students an opportunity to study and observe a plant’s progress from start to finish.
“This gives them an environment to have a living classroom where there’s consistency of their projects,” said Wildman. “With minimal supplemental heat, you can go December (and) January. We’re not talking growing tomatoes in January. It’s teaching kids seasonally appropriate crops. You want to grow kale and your root crops over the winter.”
The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) agreed to allow the erection of the geodesic dome at the school as part of a pilot project slated to run until June 2018. The committee, comprised of parents and community members, raised the funds for kit for the 26 foot structure (approximately $25,000) purchased from a location in Colorado, fencing and site preparation (roughly $10,000) and a fund designated for the dome’s removal ($5,000) and annual maintenance costs for a period of five years ($1,000 per year).
Linden Achen, chair of the school council, headed the volunteer effort to construct the geodesic dome. “It’s more of an assembly than a build,” said Achen. “It’s been a great kit.”
Under the tutelage of a Black Diamond resident who has built two geodesic domes of his own, the approximately 20 volunteers, including SAIT carpentry students, have made quick work of the project.
“We built it in pieces,” said Aichen of the dome. “You build them offsite and you walk them in and you assemble them.”
“It’s like big kid LEGO.”
The volunteers started working on the dome’s foundation on Thursday and the whole structure had been erected. “A few more finishing things and we should have everything ready for our event on Thursday.”
Wildman says the geodesic dome is incredibly strong, low maintenance, wheelchair accessible and large enough to hold a class of 30 students.
“We upgraded the polycarbonate panels on here so that the R value (the insulating power) on here is really, really high. The good thing about a geodome is that you’re not talking glass panels. Glass panels shatter in the hail and the winds and they’re much trickier for upkeep and maintenance.”
The planning of the Capitol Hill School geodesic dome proved to be a learning experience for the committee but the group’s members hope they will be able to share their knowledge in the future.
“We had to go through all the city building permits and development permits but it will be easier for the next school,” said Wildman. “Once this pilot project ends at the end of June, other schools will be able to (follow out) the guidelines – they just basically go through this checklist.”
The grand opening of the geodesic dome at Capitol Hill School is scheduled for Thursday.
For additional details regarding the geodesic dome, including information on donating to the project, visit YYC Geodome - GoFundMe .
With files from CTV's Alesia Fieldberg
