By Ashley Harrington

newsroom@austindailyherald.com

David Wolff is greeted with an empty classroom Wednesday morning as he starts another day of the Project E3 program at I.J. Holton Intermediate School. While it may seem strange for other summer programs, Wolff embraces the benefits of learning outdoors.

“There shouldn’t be four walls to our classrooms, we should be outside,” Wolff said.

“We team-teach with nature,” he added.

Wolff is the coordinator and lead teacher of Project E3, an environmental and engineering program for students entering grades fourth through sixth. The program strives to promote a hands-on learning experience for students who are eager to discover.

Their focus is not only to improve quality of life, but also take a look at how humans impact habitats and animals. The students meet for twenty days in the summer as well as one Saturday a month from November until June.

This year marks the second of the program’s three-year theme, focusing on conservation. Habitat conservation is the focus for this summer.

“We have no textbook or curriculum,” Wolff said.

“It’s hands on, it’s fun, it’s energetic for kids,” Wolff added.

Monarch butterflies, milkweed and the lady slipper are just a few things the students are striving to preserve. Through taking measurements and graphing data, the students learn about a variety of topics that are centered around what they can do locally.

According to Wolff, the teachers ask high-level, open-ended questions that make the students think and encourage curiosity in what they are learning about. The teachers also share with the students important background information that supports activities that promote deeper learning. He hopes this encourages the students to become “citizen scientists” and solve problems. This program promotes going outside and giving the kids the opportunity to learn and experience themselves.

Ten-year-olds Phoebe Holst and Erin Boorsma of Albert Lea are experiencing their first summer at Project E3.

“I liked going outside and writing,” Phoebe said.

“I agree, but I also like going in the garden during the day and working on plants,” Erin added.

Phoebe and Erin are just two of the 75 students currently participating in Project E3. The program looks at the student’s academic performance, as well as their potential to continue to achieve.

“We find kids that have the potential and we give them extra support,” Wolff said.

For 10-year-old Dejan Tadic of Austin, it’s been amazing learning about habitat conservation by going outside and doing things themselves.

“I’m studying my plant and how much it’s grown over a week. I’m making observations if there’s any animals on it and we’re watering it after all of that,” Dejan said.

The program not only offers a fun and different experience, but it’s also been shown to improve the student’s cumulative test scores. Wolff said students participating in Project E3 slow the decline in their test scores from the spring to the fall, otherwise known as the “summer slide.”

Through unique teaching mechanisms and academic opportunities, Project E3 encourages students to be advocates not only for their environment, but for their community. Next year, Project E3 will focus on energy conservation.

“They can leave with the idea that they are citizen scientists. They can make a change,” Wolff said.

For more information, visit www.projecte3.weebly.com.