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Surrounded by Science
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The just-opened Phelps Science Center puts students and teachers in the thick of learning—and Exeter at the forefront of science education.
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Two days ago, Daniel Greenberg '03 was standing knee-deep in a tide pool on a stretch of New Hampshire seacoast, collecting green algae and starfish with 13 of his marine biology classmates.
Today, he is back on campus in an airy, light-filled classroom lab peering through a microscope at
Paguras longicarpus of the Paguridae family-more commonly known as the hermit crab. He is making a quick sketch of the elusive marine creature when his instructor, Dr. Sydnee Goddard, directs her students' attention to the image projected from her microscope onto a full-size screen at the front of the room. "Here's the green algae we collected," she tells them. Together students and teacher examine the intricate fronds of the algae and
discover an unexpected bonus-nematodes flitting across the screen.
With its spacious classroom-labs, Phelps Science Center enables students like Sloan Smith '04, John Rollo '03 and Flora MacIvor '03 to move easily from discussion to experimentation and back again.
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This may sound like a typical marine biology class, but much of what the students and
their teacher are experiencing on this fall morning is utterly new, made possible by the
spectacular facilities in the Phelps Science Center. Constructed at a cost of $27 million,
with an additional $11 million set aside for an endowment to fund the building's maintenance,
the state-of-the-art science center places Exeter in the forefront of science education.
Each of the 20 classrooms in the 72,000- square- foot facility is equipped with a Harkness
table, an adjoining lab area and a wireless audio-visual system. The building is divided
into wings-biology, chemistry, physics and multi-science-with five classrooms in each
wing arranged around a common lab large enough to accommodate two classes at a time.
Glass walls and large windows are a prominent feature of classrooms and the common
labs, allowing passersby to observe the student scientists in action while creating
a bright, open atmosphere.
Today's marine biology class is a case study in the difference the new science center
makes in teaching and learning at Exeter. Class begins with discussion around the Harkness
table and review of the marine specimens the students collected on their recent field trip.
The students carefully note where each species was found-in the low-, mid- or high-tide pool.
With the conclusion of discussion, students move from the Harkness table to the common
lab that adjoins Goddard's classroom, where they retrieve their specimen buckets from
the cold storage room, a large walk-in refrigerator with humidity and temperature controls.
Finally, they return to the classroom and sit at circular lab stations to view their finds
through the microscope.
The inclusion of Harkness tables-one in each of the 20 classroom-labs, a first for the science department-is perhaps the single greatest change made possible by the new facility. "When students come into a classroom and sit around a table," says biology instructor Rich Aaronian, "they're different people."
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"In Thompson we weren't able to sit together around a table for discussion or even
move around the room easily for lab work," Goddard says, referring to the former
science building. "The transition from the Harkness table to the lab is very efficient
in the new classrooms, and the proximity of the common lab means we can move back and
forth between the two. The design allows the students and teacher to circulate, to go
from discussion to experimentation and back."
Daniel Greenberg agrees there's a whole new feeling to being a science student in
Phelps. "The circular lab stations are like mini-Harkness tables. In Thompson, we had
long benches with no stools. You were standing the whole time, and you could only talk
to the people on either side of you. With the circular lab stations, you can ask for
help from everyone at the table." In addition to encouraging greater interaction between
students, the lab stations are equipped with networked computers and flat-screen monitors.
Data from any computer can be projected on the overhead screen for all to see.
For Charlie Guadano '02, a four-year senior from Durham, NH, it's more than the
changes in the classroom that make the difference. New equipment like the marine tank
in the common lab allows for scientific investigation that simply was not possible in
the old facility. "Having the water table allows us to keep the animal specimens we
collect much longer. We can really observe them," he says. The shallow touch tank is
home to an array of aquatic organisms, including the hard to spot eel.
| A marine tank and adjoining cold storage room allow biology students to preserve specimens they have collected along the New Hampshire seacoast and observe them over time.
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A Celebration of People and Possibilites
Gathered on a clear, crisp autumn weekend were many of those who
had worked to make the Academy's dream of a new science center a reality. Beginning with a
dinner for donors on Friday, October 26, and finishing up on Saturday, October 27 with a
chance to see students and teachers using the building, the dedication weekend was truly
a celebration of the people who made the Phelps Science Center possible.
A team effort: joining together to cut the ribbon at Phelps Science Center are (left to right) senior class president Una Thiong'o '02; project manager Amy Bailey; Garrett Bertolinni of Pizzagalli Construction; Byron Rose '59, chair of the PEA trustees; Betsy Phelps; science department chair Chris Matlack; Stan Phelps '52; Principal Ty Tingley; architect Bill Grover; student council president Kris Tillery '02.
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Chief among those people were donors Stanford N. Phelps '52, and his wife, Elizabeth. Speaking
at Friday's dinner, Stan Phelps said, "When the Spanish conquered Gibraltar they had a coin made
inscribed with the words 'ne plus ultra,' meaning 'nothing more beyond.' After Columbus discovered
America, they changed the coin to say 'ultra' or 'more beyond.' Exeter's new science center sets a
higher standard; it is just the beginning of 'more beyond.'
"The Lord made the world in six days. On the fifth day he made the birds and the fishes.
Our faculty was smart enough to salvage one of Jonah's whales to stir the curiosity of student
minds. This is one of the main goals of the science center.
"Science and technology are changing the world, and a new science center is right where Exeter should be," says donor Stan Phelps '52, shown here with his wife, Betsy, and Principal Ty Tingley.
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"Never be afraid to try something new, just like Thomas Edison. Remember, amateurs built the ark,
professionals built the Titanic. We learn from dinosaurs, but young scientific minds create our
future. The faculty, students, trustees, alumni and workers all contributed to the science center.
Betsy and I thank you, one and all.
"You will be remembered for what you give, not what you get. Leaving a legacy is not the goal
of life. The only reason you put your name on anything is so that people behind you will give more
to a good cause. Exeter is one of the best causes available."
The next morning, more than 1,500 members of the Academy community gathered under a tent on
the Academy Building lawn for the formal dedication. Principal Ty Tingley praised "the
collaborative spirit that has guided this project from its very inception," a theme echoed
by other speakers, including science instructors Rich Aaronian and Scott Saltman (who served
as the science department's liaison for the project) and science student Pema McGuinness '02.
Following a keynote address by Chet Raymo, professor of physics and astronomy at Stonehill
College and a science columnist for the Boston Globe, the group moved to the front entrance
of the science center where Stan and Betsy Phelps cut the ceremonial ribbon with help from
some of those instrumental in the center's construction. The crowd poured into the building
for an afternoon of tours and teacher- and student-led workshops. Ranging from "Can Reactions
Run Backwards?" to "Let's Read Skulls," the workshops gave visitors a glimpse of how the
center is transforming the sciences at Exeter.
—Julie Quinn
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