The eco+STEM Outdoor Classroom Network

Led by Southern New Hampshire University’s Office of Sustainability and made possible by the Bosch Community Fund, the eco+STEM Outdoor Classroom Network is a series of outdoor classrooms with locations across Manchester, NH. Their goal? To provide hands-on STEM education and sustainability-focused learning experiences to public school students.

The project was a collaborative effort. SNHU students and staff — alongside Manchester middle schoolers — worked together to install picnic tables, chalkboards and raised garden beds in dedicated outdoor spaces. They also added special monitoring tools, like weather stations and sensors, to help students interact directly with the environment around them.

Now, 7 unique outdoor classrooms are up and running — and the work is just getting started.

Outdoor Learning Activities

In addition to physical spaces, the eco+STEM Outdoor Classroom Network also provides learning activities for teachers to use with their students across grade levels. These experiential activities have been developed in alignment with Manchester’s public school curriculum and aim to support the city’s ongoing efforts to advance local STEM and sustainability work.

With a focus on inquiry-based learning, collaboration and real-world application of STEM concepts, the activities are rooted in disciplines such as:

Whether students are testing soil quality or identifying insect species, these activities give teachers the freedom — and structure — to integrate outdoor learning directly into existing curriculum frameworks.