Rural Education
Developing Conservation Minded Individuals in Rural Communities
 
GREEN FEATURE: Live Fence in schools– Cradle for Green Children/Citizen
Protection to a property means, constructing a wall with cement and brick or metal
wire or an iron pole. We do not seem to expect any other services from these fences
other than protection. They not only keep away the human intruder but also other
living beings with whom we do not want to interact. But we can make our fence to
provide various other services in addition to protection, if we “grow” our fence
with green plants rather than “construct” it.
Plants are usually grown for one or very few usefulness, however unknowingly we benefit in several ways. For example, we primarily cultivate groundnut just for their groundnuts. But unknowingly we reap oxygen, mineral rich biomass, nitrogen etc. Also the root nodule of the groundnut plant acts as a home for nitrogen fixing microbes. So by planting a single plant we support two living organisms and reap many other requirements. Similar to this by using a plant material as a constituent of the fence we can benefit in several ways. If we make the fence with varying plant species, fence can really become a small forest around the house in which we live and that could provide wide variety of services to the owner of the property. Live fence in a school can become a live teacher for the children. Live fences can be a living laboratory for children from where they can learn many biological aspects, most of which, however, cannot be learnt in the concrete walled laboratory of their school. Children can have a chance to observe the life history of plants right from seed germination to seed set. Live fence will provide them a chance to observe how a drab seed or a stem cutting interact with the soil by producing roots, come into life and bring life to the environment. It will be possible for them to observe the unfolding of new leaves; changes in colour of flushing leaf into a mature leaf and can continue to observe when the leaf falls. Similarly they can keep track of events right from flower bud initiation till the flower blooms. They can learn about the visitors to the flowers and watch the pollination processes. If the live fence is made up of various combinations of plants that produce flowers in different shapes, sizes and colors, equally diverse pollinators can be seen. Children can get to know how birds and animals disperse seeds far and wide. Similarly they can monitor the animals’ life history such as butterflies, moths, birds etc right in the live fences of their schools. Live fences can be a theatre where children can watch the drama how a butterfly identifies its larval food plant, lays its eggs, emergence of caterpillars, half eaten leaves, swinging caterpillar at the end of silk, encapsulation of the caterpillar and finally emergence of the colorful butterfly. If live fence have a few garden lizards, children can watch how it predates on insects, threaten sits competitor, changes in color while they breed, egg laying and emergence of young garden lizard. Above all this the children who learned lessons from the live fence around their school, will have a sense of appreciation for nature and try to care for their green teacher throughout their life by growing more plants wherever possible. A live fence in a school can graduate many children as responsible citizen who will love nature and protect it.
 
|
He may seem big and ugly to you, but to someone with heart disease,he’s a prince.(The Houston toad produces alkaloids, which can help prevent heart attacks)
|
Feather fad: What you wear today is what they were yesterday
|
|
|
|
