By the time “Bill’s Backyard” is ready to receive visitors next year, some of the seeds planted by local students at a Nov. 16 groundbreaking should have taken root at the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.
Named after former museum board member Bill Sullivan, the 27,500-square-foot outdoor expansion will double the museum’s exhibit space. More importantly, says museum staff, the 10 exhibit areas in “Bill’s Backyard” will connect children to the natural world.
“We know that children from low-income neighborhoods in the museum’s urban setting have fewer opportunities to explore natural places,” said Marilee Jennings, the museum’s executive director. “Our goal…is to bridge these gaps.”
Subtitled “A Bridge to Nature,” “Bill’s Backyard” is slated to open in June 2017 and feature science and education exhibits that offer solutions to environmental issues such as California’s ongoing drought. To that end, the seed pods thrown by second- and third-graders from Horace Mann Elementary School at the groundbreaking were for native drought-tolerant plants.
Other features of the outdoor learning environment will include three tall trees connected with sky bridges to engage children in climbing; a junior ranger station with maps, signs, fossils and touchable animal skeletons; a fort building station designed to encourage children to design, build and create with natural materials; and a dig pit filled with smooth stones for shoveling.
These features are being designed with an eye toward research by the Children and Nature Network that shows a direct connection between daily exposure to nature and cognitive well-being.
“The museum’s intention is to … help the next generation acquire environmental and sustainability behaviors,” Jennings said.
For more information on “Bill’s Backyard,” visit cdm.org/campaign.