To the untrained eye, it’s unclear how shooting a potato across a football field relates to environmental education, but environmental policy and science professor Kevin Harrison knows there’s more than one way to open a student’s mind to science. “Spud-chucking” just happens to be the most fun.

“I want to get them tinkering in order to rekindle the spark of child-like curiosity that will help them find innovative solutions to the problems they will solve as future leaders,” Harrison says about the students in his freshman seminar Environmental Problem Solving, one of 33 first-year courses designed to expose students to exciting new fields of study.

In the class, students read Silent Spring, the 1962 classic by Rachel Carlson that triggered the modern environmental movement. But where other courses might end in a class discussion and a research paper, Harris’ freshman seminar is different. What better way to appreciate the value of conserving the environment than an afternoon kayaking trip?

Call his methods unorthodox, but the message is sinking in. Peer mentor Kate Chilson ’07, who attends classes with the freshmen to provide support and guidance, says, “Students are interested and engaged in the material, are active in class discussions, and many are planning to join the college’s Environmental Action Club, too.”

For Harrison, there’s nothing like seeing a class full of students buzzed about science. “I’m more of a guide on the side than a sage on a stage,” Harrison says. “If students are thinking and talking about the subject, there’s more of a chance they’ll learn.”