The
Five-Kilometer Classrooms are booklets being produced by Winterline Foundation that use observations understandable
to elementary school-age children covering a local area or a stretch of a road or geographic vicinity that would be of immediate
interest to them.
Referencing
observable examples that a student would encounter on the walk, the booklets make comments about local biology, geology, sociology,
history, culture, and so forth. Their equally important point, however is to communicate several indirect messages:
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That a local
student is not existing in isolation, but is instead a player on a large stage.
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That seemingly
mundane things around a student are anything but—they are meaningful.
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That in the
sense that the local booklet is one of a series, a student is entitled to feel ownership and pride in the notion that their
locality is an irreplaceable part—their part—of a larger undertaking.
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That the
student's own locality, or his or her stretch of road, is significant and linked in very real ways to a regional and ultimately
global reality.
The
booklets are based on a concept originating with Richard Wechter, a science teacher at Woodstock School, in Mussoorie. Woodstock published the first booklet in the series in 2005.
It covers a stretch of Tehri Road running from
Bhattaghat to Kaplani, just east of Mussoorie. It is available in Hindi and English.
Winterline
is currently working with The People's Science Institute of Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, on three additional booklets covering areas near:
Ukhimath in Rudraprayag District
Garur in Bageshwar District and
Khurpa Tal in Nainital District
Winterline welcomes inquiries about use or reproduction of the booklets,
and from individuals or organizations interested in helping develop additional booklets in the series.
