Kids Go Green

Students will plant a vegetable and flower garden. The objective is to teach students the how Garden Growing helps the environment, helps economically and are healthy. Students will apply critical thinking, time planning, organization, math, science and geography skills during this project. Our goal is for the students to learn about the "Going Green" projects all over the world, and how they can learn to apply good environmental habits locally and in their daily lives. 

Organic-veggie-patch-.com explains organic gardening is quite simply gardening without harmful chemicals. The way it was done before chemicals were invented (almost so old it’s new again!).

If your school has a a lot of empty land, petition to use a section as a garden. Safe solution is to build a frame garden, the soil can be prepared from safe sources and there won't be any threat of lead. Lead can exist in neighborhood soils from the years of construction and debree. Brain Pop JR has a great games and rading to teach more about soil.  Food-from-the-Garden.com says the first rule if you want to improve garden soil is that there is no such thing as bad soil.

Once the garden is planned, built, and sectioned off, students can begin planting seeds. You can either transplant plants you began indoors, or plant straight from the seeds.

Marcia Goudie (1998), published From Seeds to Plants lessons show that students will be able to:  1. Identify plant parts, where seeds come from and how they grow. 2. Determine what plants need to survive 3. Recognize how plants are a benefit to people and our planet. Marcia Goudie, Montessori Children's School, Vacaville, California

Students watch the garden grow, and you can explore environmetnal factors that effect palnt growth and development, such as weather, sunlight, rain, and bugs. During exploration students will employ math and science standards.  You can learn more about Standards from School Garden Wizard . 

There are valuable resources for teachers at Getting to Know your Garden.

Goudie, M. (1998). From Seeds to Plants. Information Institute of Syracuse. Retrieved from http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Agriculture/AGR0010.html on June 13, 2011.