Namaste!
The visit to UBC Japanese garden i.e. Nitobe garden was very refreshing as always. I have been here many times but with a little twist today. The sound of construction around the garden was creating unwelcome noise and causing so much disturbance to the garden neighborhood was aesthetically not pleasing at all during the visit. In spite of all that odd, there was a great learning experience. As you enter the garden, you will get a feeling being in the different dimensions of life as if everything just slowed down. This is something very special as does not mean that you are being slow for your future actions rather it gives more time to reflect on your past actions. You know it seems philosophical and but to some extent its true.
Every aspect of Nitobe garden such as its design, ambiance or its components eg. Trees, moss, water, fish sculptures to name a few have the definite meaning and carry a history to tell you about their existence. We learned that this garden was founded and donated by Dr. Inazao Nitobe to UBC who was famously known for his philanthropic approach and agribusiness background. One of the most distinguished elements of this garden was its canvas like design rather a symmetrical design. The statue of the Dr. Nitobe is provided in the image below. The presence of Lanterns/pillar all around the garden seems to play an important role not only as guardians to the landscape but also involves details on the use of directions, specific mention of animals (12 in particular combination). The story of moss in the garden tells us the history of the garden and anything that is in relation with moss which depicts the measure of change over the time for various species of trees and moss around it. These are just a few glimpses of what I could capture during our short visit to the garden. There is so much to learn and appreciate how a garden can provide and be used to bring sensory and experiential learning tool in a variety of ways..
The visit to UBC Japanese garden i.e. Nitobe garden was very refreshing as always. I have been here many times but with a little twist today. The sound of construction around the garden was creating unwelcome noise and causing so much disturbance to the garden neighborhood was aesthetically not pleasing at all during the visit. In spite of all that odd, there was a great learning experience. As you enter the garden, you will get a feeling being in the different dimensions of life as if everything just slowed down. This is something very special as does not mean that you are being slow for your future actions rather it gives more time to reflect on your past actions. You know it seems philosophical and but to some extent its true.
Every aspect of Nitobe garden such as its design, ambiance or its components eg. Trees, moss, water, fish sculptures to name a few have the definite meaning and carry a history to tell you about their existence. We learned that this garden was founded and donated by Dr. Inazao Nitobe to UBC who was famously known for his philanthropic approach and agribusiness background. One of the most distinguished elements of this garden was its canvas like design rather a symmetrical design. The statue of the Dr. Nitobe is provided in the image below. The presence of Lanterns/pillar all around the garden seems to play an important role not only as guardians to the landscape but also involves details on the use of directions, specific mention of animals (12 in particular combination). The story of moss in the garden tells us the history of the garden and anything that is in relation with moss which depicts the measure of change over the time for various species of trees and moss around it. These are just a few glimpses of what I could capture during our short visit to the garden. There is so much to learn and appreciate how a garden can provide and be used to bring sensory and experiential learning tool in a variety of ways..
I would not hesitate to attest this personally that the Nitobe garden and its atmosphere was the perfect site for any teachable area and for a great learning experience. To me, this site was full of Science! As you all know I am being biased here due to my teachable area. I could find connections instantly for all different areas of science and physics in particular. The biological connections can draw using the symbiotic relationship of moss and tree species and presence of other flora and fauna (visible and invisible to our eyes), physics connections by looking at the hydraulic gradient to supply the water throughout the landscape, merging of noise to just the sound of running water. The chemistry connects the quality and quantity of water in this small ecosystem keeps species self-sustainable. Of course, we did not forget the mathematical connections as we still need to find the number of species thrive in such microscopic terrain. Without a doubt, whenever I say I visited this place number of times, but end up leaving the place with a unique experience each time.
Thank you,
Ashok
Thank you,
Ashok
No comments:
Post a Comment