The Singapore American School Comprehensive Rainforest and Nursery Proposal

The Singapore American School Comprehensive Rainforest and Nursery Proposal

Presented By: Roopa Dewan Primary Contributors: Jamie Alarcon Simbulan, Martha Began, Alice Early, Steve Early, and Kattina Rabdau-Fox With Input From: Kate Thome, Rindi Baildon, Natalie Grimbergen, Mike Ferguson, Beth Burnett, Nancy Von Wahlde December 2014 1

Table of Contents Executive Summary Background Project Proposal Project Goals and Benefits ● Current Curriculum ● Proposed Curriculum Timeline Funding Requests Appendices

2

Executive Summary: SAS has the rare distinction of having its own one and a half acre rainforest that should serve as a unique space for learning and conservation. SAS Classes across all Grade levels, invariably incorporate some element of nature and environmental learning into their curriculum. We believe this rainforest can be enhanced and developed to become an outdoor classroom and a living laboratory which will foster science engagement, discovery, and sustainability across all divisions.

We must develop a comprehensive Biodiversity Education Program in order to regenerate and conserve our rainforest.

This outdoor classroom will play a significant role in educating teachers and students of all ages about our natural ecosystems, including the cultivation and conservation thereof.

Experts agree that the majority of native plants in South East Asia will become extinct in the wild in the next 30 years because of environmental pressures from palm oil plantations, development, and climate change. This space, if managed wisely, can become a sanctuary for endangered local plants, insects and animals species most at risk. Every student and SAS community member may then learn to appreciate and respect the beauty, interconnectedness, and complexity of endangered tropical forest ecosystems through direct encounters with our rainforest.

Implementation of a comprehensive Biodiversity Education Program will take 12 months – 24 months and be completed in three (3) simultaneous phases. The science curriculum review committee is currently exploring how we can leverage the SAS forest to achieve the Next Generation Science Standards.

Total funding for this entire project is projected at S$600,000 to S$625,000. Once implemented, incremental annual maintenance will be required. The Singapore Botanic Gardens will provide in kind, and gratis, donations of plants, consultancy, and training valued at S$100,000. The facilities office anticipates needing a part-time staff to undertake maintenance and management of the rainforest.

3

Background: On 22nd September 1993, the Science teachers Richard Frazier and Steve Early, requested the purchase of the forest and wrote to the administration saying; “We have a unique

opportunity to have as a part of the campus a piece of the rich heritage of Southeast Asia. In a sense, the entire region owes its current economic importance to the wealth of forest products that formed the basis of trade over five hundred years ago...The value as a resource is immense­­from the academic to the aesthetic­­from science to social studies­­even to art and literature. In the future, our city will need every bit of green space it can protect. Our school can participate in the plan for an urban environment which is in harmony with nature. Keeping a patch of forest on the school ground with its accompanying biodiversity is having an incredibly rich biological library and storehouse for no cost at all. If the educational value were calculated against the monetary cost, the forest would be the best deal economically of any part of the school plan” (Richard Frazier). Thus SAS procured a rainforest as part of the purchase as a unique space for learning and conservation. Currently, classes in the 4th, 7th, and the high school environmental science programs use this space for exploration and research.

Outside of these classes, few teachers are aware that this unique resource exists on campus.

Our rainforest is a storehouse of endemic biodiversity. Studies of our rainforest conducted by 7th graders over the past three years have identified over 500 species of plants, animals, insects, and fungi and reported it to scientists at Project Noah. Rare animals such as the Green Crested Lizard and heritage tree species such as Pulai and Terentang call our rainforest home. Maintaining this space will help SAS students preserve species that might disappear from the wild.

Our K-12 curriculum provides a constant spiraling of science topics related to ecosystems, plant life, biodiversity, with a strong emphasis on application projects. Our rainforest and nursery program will enhance what we already do, building a cohesive bridge between different grade levels in teaching and learning and it will do so by springboarding on already existing programs offered throughout the school.

In January 2014, SAS was invited to partner with the Singapore Botanic Garden (SBG) to transform the rainforest into a home for native trees and to set up our existing middle school garden as an endemic forest tree nursery. Elango Velautham, the Director of the 4

Singapore Botanic Garden Plant Resource Center, visited our rainforest and garden space to provide consultation. He advised us on how we can ensure the safety of visitors to the forest by helping us identify invasive species and/or damaged trees that needed removal. He suggested making investments in infrastructure, including installation of a simple watering system and replacement of the cement trail with gravel or boardwalk that will help enhance the health of the forest for years to come. He also supplied us with preliminary design suggestions for a tree and plant nursery where students could propagate native plants. Dr. Velautham gave his advice to create a standard operating procedure for managing the rainforest and garden space.

Through this strong partnership with the Singapore Botanic Gardens, SAS will receive saplings of endemic plant species as well as ongoing nursery training for teachers and staff.

Through development of our pre existing curriculum, students will become custodians of this nursery and become invested in planting, germinating, and studying them in our own rainforest. Our students will become mentors and guides for younger students. This program will make SAS a center for international conservation education and help fulfill our vision for SAS to be “a world leader in education cultivating exceptional thinkers prepared for the future.�

In the interest of preparing students for academic, professional, and interpersonal success, a great school needs go beyond traditional academics to expand its understanding of what is required of a 21st century education and monitor the growth and achievement in these areas. The proposed outdoor classroom would serve to address our DSLO’s - Character, Collaboration, Communication, Core Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking, and Cultural Competence by providing a real space and authentic opportunities for experiential and integrated learning. SAS could become an internationally renowned center for conservation education moving toward a sustainable future.

5

Project Proposal: In order to regenerate and conserve our rainforest, we must develop a comprehensive biodiversity education program.

This outdoor classroom will play a significant role in educating teachers and students of all ages about cultivation and conservation of our natural ecosystems. Timeliness is crucial for the rainforests of SE Asia. As this is our science curriculum review year, the timing couldn’t be better. Our rainforest will serve as a resource for education – both for students and teachers, a living laboratory to save rare endemic species, and a space to apply best practice in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Every student and SAS community member may learn to appreciate and respect the beauty, interconnectedness, and complexity of endangered tropical forest ecosystems through direct encounters with our forest patch and Proposed Nursery.

Program Goals and Benefits: ● Create “hands-on” learning about the diverse components of the rainforest and their intra-dependencies and interdependencies to excite all students K-12 about nature and science. See Potential Biodiversity Education Initiatives for examples of how we could learn in this space throughout every division using pre-existing curriculum and programs that are in development. ● Educate students about forest conservation both in theory and practice ● Cultivate an understanding of nature’s role in local culture, heritage and the economy, focusing on trade and geography ● Facilitate hands on scientific investigation and field research and publication on endemic species. ● Generate collaborative, interactive opportunities for problem solving & implementation ● Provide opportunities for reflective and scientific writing and communication ● Create global awareness for related challenges/solutions ● Create opportunities for student led database management ● Use as a hub for Language Arts and Social Studies classes. ● Generate AP Capstone projects Hands-on research and experimentation in our own rainforest will raise awareness and empathy and provide a platform for collaborative inquiry and problem solving consistent with SAS’s future development goals. In time, our unique rainforest can serve as a learning bridge between local schools and the SAS community.

6

Project Timeline: 2014 Implementation of the initiative will take 12 months – 24 months and be completed in three simultaneous phases.

Phase 1.

Establishment of a forest tree nursery on the SAS campus for the propagation of endemic and highly endangered saplings. To this end, establish the following:

1. Diversity and Health Assessment - Embellish the existing Grade 7 biodiversity survey of the campus rainforest (nearly 500 species already identified) with a biodiversity survey of the entire rainforest to identify existing rainforest species and clear non-endemic species. A professional survey would produce an accurate contour map with species identified and pinpointed. Get a professional arborist to evaluate the health of individual trees and take action with tree removal as needed.

7

2.1 Potting Shed – Build a covered open working space as an outdoor classroom to facilitate students’ hands-on gardening of endemic species. The potting shed will store pre-mixed soil, pots, gardening tools, gloves and watering cans. Inside the shed construct a large flat cement working table (big enough for 25 people to stand around), cement benches , deep sinks with running water, The potting shed will be used by students K-12 to germinate endemic seeds, and transplant seedlings.

Potting shed at SBG Plant Resource potting shed. Note the high roof with open top to keep the area rain free and cool. The building is open on all four sides. Soil, sand and compost is delivered here, stored and mixed. Cabinets store garden tools, a separate room stores pots, there are two deep sinks with running water. A large central cement table provides working space. Behind the shed is the mist house (ICU) and to the left are shade cloth covered plant nurseries with endemic species.

2.2 Mist House - This structure would provide a precise “intensive care” environment to nurture the germination of endemic tree seeds, and support young saplings with a precise automated time released mist spray.

SBG Mist House (Plant ICU) at the Arboriculture, Plant Records and Plant Resource Center. Note the shade cloth supported on the roof, metal hog­wire fence surrounding the mist house. Most plant pots are on top of waist high tables.

2.3 Shade House – To house the potted plants and allow for a timed watering system to support the young saplings to a transplantable age. This is the next step after the care of the mist house.

Shade house as part of the SBG Plant Resource Center ­ note the waist high tables constructed of old railroad ties to hold pots, cement walkway, overhead pipes to spray water and metal frame to held the shade cloth.

Shade cloth surrounds the entire structure on three sides.

8

Phase 2: 2014-2015 1. Hydration System : ● Restoration of existing rainforest with helps of NParks - Botanic Gardens ● Install an automated hydration system for the SAS forest inclusive of rainwater recycling tank and pump station.

2. Boardwalk and Safety: ● Remove the sections of the cement path which are obstructing the root systems of some large trees and replace these with elevated boardwalks.

Phase 3: 2014-2016 Education, Research, and Training: ● Engage a biodiversity educational consultant to work with educators to develop integrated grade appropriate initiatives and goals. ● Teacher training as part of curriculum adoption. ● Develop Local and regional links to provide students with practical, rainforest conservation. ● Become a regionally recognized center for conservation education. Build partnerships with National Parks, Singapore Botanic Garden, National BioDiversity Center, National University Singapore, and Yale-NUS. ● Make our rainforest a showcase for conservation education. This will provide a model for an outdoors classroom.

SAS students transplant Dipterocarpus seedlings into nutrient rich soil on the large cement table in the SBG Plant Resource Center.

9

Funding Request: Total funding for this project is projected at S$600,00.00 - $625,000.00 1

2

3

Endemic Forest Tree Nursery

$215,000

a. Consulting fees: Landscape Architect, Land Surveyor, Arborist

$75,000

b. Physical Facilities - Potting Shed, Planting Tables, Mist House, Shade House, Shelving; Compost Recycling Plant

$140,000

Rain forest Protection

$360,000

a. Hydration System

$250,000

b. Boardwalk and Safety (Tree Surgery, Signage)

$110,000

Education, Research and Training

$50,000

a. Professional Development

Current PD, OOL Funds

b. Enhanced K-12 Curriculum Development

Curriculum Review Cycle

c. Comprehensive Biodiversity Survey & Database Mgt

$30,000

d. Partnerships with SBG, National Parks, National Biodiversity Center, Yale-NUS

$20,000

TOTAL

$625,000

Once implemented, incremental annual maintenance will be required. Singapore Botanic Gardens will provide in kind donations of plants, consultancy and training valued at S$100,000. The school’s existing horticulturist would undertake maintenance and management of the Rainforest.

10

Appendices: Current Biodiversity Educational Initiatives Potential Biodiversity Educational Initiatives Rainforest Photos Student made Google Rainforest Tours Management Plan Report from Singapore Botanical Gardens Standard Operating Procedures

11