My students need books, binoculars, gardening tools and bird identification charts so that they can become familiar with the ecology and environment of their school yard.
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
I teach fifth grade. My students are curious and excited about learning. They are typically engaged in daily assignments that require critical thinking and student discourse. They also enjoy long term projects that require research with a visual and oral presentation of their work.
"Let nature be your teacher." - William Wordsworth
My students enjoy nature walks on the school grounds, making observations and talking about what they encounter.
Many of them are "city kids" who don't spend a lot of time with nature.
Although our school is about 66.8 percent free and reduced lunch, it is located in the suburbs and has a beautiful campus, just right for a garden, bird watching and studying nature.
We also want to hatch chickens as part of our study of gardening and agriculture.
My Project
Our class is planning a garden for our school. The garden will have vegetables, herbs and flowers. They will learn everything they need to know about planting a garden and taking care of it through all four seasons. They will use the books and garden tools I have requested for that purpose.
Students will harvest food from the garden and use it to make healthy recipes or wash it and eat it fresh.
We will use the incubator to hatch chicken eggs. We will journal observations of that process.
We are also citizen bird watchers. We will use the binoculars and the bird identification charts so that we can learn to identify them. We'll learn about their migration patterns. We will try to attract wildlife to observe also. Students will learn to keep records of observation data in a journal. They will be reporting information regarding bird watching to Cornell University's citizen bird watchers program.
All students everywhere need to be better connected to nature.
In the age of technology, so many children are glued to their devices, television and video games and forget about the great outdoors. There is so much to learn from planting a garden and watching it grow. There is so much to learn from being in nature and observing native wildlife in its habitat. As William Wordsworth said, "Let nature be your teacher."
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Johnson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
