My students need 6 trowels and 2 packs of jiffy-pots to transfer plants to the outdoor garden, a wind vane and rain gauge to measure weather conditions, and an indoor garden to grow.
Help our children experience nature daily! These low socioeconomic students have very little interaction with the world around them and the landscaping around the school yard is lacking due to the geographical region.
We are a medium suburban K to 5 Title 1 school located in Texas.
Our students are low socioeconomic status with over 50% on free or reduced lunch. Approximately 40% of our students speak a language other than English. These students are limited in their experiences outside of the classroom and eagerly absorb any experience, activity, or knowledge they are given. The school climate is one that encourages these students to pursue their dreams and the staff supports them through everything.
My Project
Due to the natural landscaping and the population served, the students have very little interaction with the natural environment. The landscape consists of Texas scrubs so very little grows due to the limestone bedrock and limited amounts of topsoil. In the 2011-2012 school year, the students will build and maintain a raised garden on the school property to interact with daily and encourage a love of nature. This garden will use Xeriscaping, native plants, Texas vegetables, and butterfly attractant plants to create a welcoming habitat for the students to develop deeper environmental knowledge firsthand. The garden will be maintained by the students with the guidance from the teachers. Hopefully the garden will attract several insects and butterflies for the students to observe, record, and learn about the life cycles. There will also be a weather station so that the students can apply their knowledge about meteorology in a hands-on, consistent manner.
As the world retreats more indoors, students are losing the joys nature can provide.
By building a safe place for the school to learn multiple life science concepts, the students will also learn important life lessons that only nature can teach.
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