Putting Scientific Principles into Practice in the Tetons
The Upper School’s Teton Trip to Wyoming has been a staple at Principia since the early 1980s, with this year as no exception. Started in 1982, the trip was designed by science teacher Ted Munnecke (C’57)—lovingly known as “Munn”—to provide interdisciplinary education before “interdisciplinary” became a buzzword. Munn understood that, like an ecosystem, each subject in school is connected to something else. The Teton Trip makes those connections explicit.
The trip, once optional, is now part of the Field and Natural History class curriculum. In February, the class spent just under a week discovering connections between science and art and between the Tetons and Town & Country, where Principia School is located. For example, as science teacher and Teton Trip leader Lynne Scott (C’01) points out, the contentious issue of whether or not to feed the elk in the Tetons has parallels to deer population control in Town & Country. Linking these kinds of location-specific issues allows students to transfer knowledge and to experience firsthand the value of scientific research. To make the scientific process even more relevant, students complete a research project start to finish—from creating the research question to collecting and dissecting data to synthesizing results. In preparation for this, Scott identifies essential questions, or learning goals, to help students link best scientific practices and principles to their projects.
At the start of their time in Wyoming, students are guided through the Tetons by experts from the area and led in the practice of meaningful observation by School art teacher Caitlin Heimerl (US’06). In addition, Joel Allen, who co-teaches Field and Natural History, works closely with the students to help them understand the geology of the Teton range.
Through this initial exploration and observation, students begin to form and then pose a scientific research question they are interested in tackling. This project is “the culminating piece of the trip,” Scott explains, and includes both field research and findings from peer-reviewed journals. She continues, “They have a symposium at the end. Once they’ve gathered their data, processed their data, and put it in perspective within the broader scientific community, they present that.” After the trip is over, students continue their work back on campus, doing a formal write-up and diving further into peer-reviewed journals in order to situate what they’ve found in the larger scientific world.
Through the Teton Trip, students have the chance to explore a real-world issue inspired by careful observation and then turn it into a well-researched project. The lessons about how to observe, create, implement, and then draw conclusions about their research question will benefit them no matter what field they pursue in the future.