Students at Corl Street Elementary School in State College got some new -- and educational -- playground features, thanks to the efforts of Penn State landscape architecture students. On Saturday, April 30, the Penn State students installed a human sundial and solar system on the school’s playground as part of a third-year course in community design.
In March, Peter Aeschbacher, who teaches the community design studio and has a child who attends Corl Street Elementary School, learned the school was interested in installing a human sundial, and the Penn State students’ project was born. They began by meeting with the elementary students and asking them to “draw recess.” Meetings with the PTO and teachers followed, leading to a design that addresses three needs: open space for active play, smaller spaces for imaginative play and a space to serve as an outdoor classroom.
In a human sundial, an individual stands in the center and serves as the blade, or, in scientific terms, the gnomon. The sundial at Corl Street was painted in the center of the playground, where three main paths meet, and serve as the sun in the solar system. The planets, represented mainly through paint on asphalt, orbit around the sundial. Two of the planets -- Jupiter and Saturn -- are represented by an existing jungle gym and a planting bed. Synthetic grass was used to form the ring of Saturn. The sundial will point to a different planet every three hours.
According to Grace Byrne, a landscape architecture student working on the project, the design itself becomes an outdoor classroom, especially for grades in which the solar system and telling time are part of the curriculum.
“Although this project has undergone many stages of development, the most valuable outcome has been the opportunity to work alongside Corl Street Elementary School and its enthusiastic staff, parents and students, who have given us new perspectives, challenges and their support," Byrne said.
This project has been supported in part by the Hamer Center for Community Design in the College of Arts and Architecture, the Corl Street PTO, and Joel Myers, founder/president of Accuweather and father of a Corl Street student. Penn State’s Center for Sports Surface Research, Joseph E. Valentine Turf Grass Research Center, Lion Surplus and the Beaver Stadium grounds crew donated materials and provided guidance on installation of the synthetic grass.
For more information, contact Grace Byrne at 484-574-1187 or geb5050@psu.edu, or Tommy McCann at 814-321-4560 or tjm161@psu.edu. For photos, visit http://live.psu.edu/flickrset/72157626632986210 online.