School plays to natural curiosity

Students at the West Parish School in Gloucester can learn about gravity, friction, force, and other physical science concepts while they're playing.

That's the intent of Science Park, a new playground at the West Gloucester school whose features were designed with science learning in mind.

The equipment, also intended to offer a flavor of Gloucester, includes a 70-foot long gravity boat complete with fishing lines, block-and-tackle pulleys, and other interactive science gadgets. It also has a 40-foot long swordfish and a raised topographic map of Cape Ann.

The school community, led by West Parish's PTO, built the park entirely through private funds. The PTO raised about $110,000 in cash. Another $200,000 was donated in services and equipment, according to Amy Ballin, who chaired the PTO subcommittee that oversaw the project.

There are a number of science-oriented parks in existence, but the one at West Parish is the first in Massachusetts, Ballin said.

Largely completed in the fall of 2003, the park is starting to get its first active use as a curricular tool.

"I'm incredibly excited," said fifth-grade teacher Dan Warren. He said the park allows the opportunity to "go beyond the words" to explain a scientific concept in a tangible way.

"It's a tremendous resource," said Jim Gutstadt, the school's principal and an active participant in the park's creation.

Ballin, a West Parish parent and former science teacher who now works as a guidance counselor, came up with the idea in 1999 when she saw a similar park in Ithaca, N.Y. .

"Part of the reason I got involved was that teachers are now feeling very overwhelmed," Ballin said. "They have tons of material they are supposed to cover. What happens is sometimes science doesn't get done as much. And most elementary school teachers are not trained as science teachers.

"Here is a way that you can easily integrate science into so much you are doing," she said. "And here is a way kids can play outside and be learning science concepts. You don't have to add anything to their day. It's right there."

Tom Rockwell, a grandson of the late artist Normal Rockwell, designed the playground with input from West Parish students. Rockwell's Ithaca, N.Y.-based firm also designed the playground Ballin saw there.

All the playground equipment provides opportunity for both fun and learning.

On the gravity boat, children can scurry up and down three types of ladders, two types of slides, a fire pole, and stairs, giving them "an interactive lesson on working with and against gravity," Tom Rockwell said in an interview with the Globe last year. Using the block-and-tackle pulleys and air blowers contained within the boat's towers, they can experience "lifting things up and watching them fall," he said.

Students can learn about acoustics playing with the swordfish's musical chimes and resonant pipes. A topographic map provides insights about geography.

The playground's standard equipment also was designed to teach science -- swings for example, are built at different heights to demonstrate different pendulum actions.

Complementing the playground are two other science-oriented facilities: nature trails built behind the school in 2002 and gardens built last year.

This fall, with grant money, the school has hired a part-time scientist-in-residence, Leslie Beaulieu, to help teachers in kindergarten through second grade in using the playground.

John Nadama, a science consultant to the overall district, has been hired separately by West Parish this fall through a grant to work with its third- to fifth-grade teachers on using the playground. And with funds pooled by PTOs from all five Gloucester elementary schools, he will be using the park to teach science concepts to fifth-graders from across the city.

Some of the use Science Park is getting is spontaneous. Warren came up with the idea of taking his class out to the playground one recent day when they were discussing gravity concepts.

Casey Ballin, 10, a student of Warren's, enjoyed the experience.

"It was much more fun than sitting inside and listening to him explain what gravity it is," said Ballin, who is Amy Ballin's son.

Science Park already is attracting outside interest. An article on the playground in a national PTO magazine has generated calls from several school groups in other parts of the country interested in carrying out similar projects.

Closer to home, a physical sciences class from the private Waring School in Beverly recently spent two hours at the playground.

"I think my class was surprised when we said were going on a field trip and we pulled up at a playground," said Neil Glickstein, one of the Waring teachers involved. He said they ended up having "a lot of fun. It's a wonderful facility."