BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP)   A Maine college is giving nearly a half million dollars to a local school district to pay for a new classroom that focuses on hands-on learning.

Bowdoin College says its $450,000 gift to the Brunswick School Department will fund construction of a “discovery classroom” at an elementary school. The college says the 1,000-square-foot building will be a space that allows for science experiments, small group presentations, visiting programs and other activities.

The college says construction of the facility will begin in the fall. Brunswick School Board member Sarah Singer says the new classroom will “provide the opportunity for the children at Kate Furbish Elementary to experience nature-based learning, science, gross-motor movement and music in a space designed specifically for those activities.”