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Goal

Hands-on learning is an increasingly popular method of providing opportunities and educational/social-emotional skills and support to students in both school and community-based settings. Through this grant opportunity, students will work cooperatively as well as individually, to research botany; obtain and engage with; and amalgamate classroom content and real-life experiences by producing their own school garden. Students will become comfortable with the basics of gardening as well as upholding the responsibility needed to maintain a thriving garden.  

What will be done with my students

Through the funding of this grant, students will be able to engage in our Florida Standards for science and language arts and the National standards for STEM in a hands-on way at a Title I School. In January students will research the best plants and produce to grow in the SW Florida area; investigate a prime location based off of sunlight and temperature; access resources at the school for their garden plot, and begin drafting a blueprint for the project. Students will also read the novel Seedfolks by Paul Fleishman to learn about the impacts of uniting a community through gardening. From February to March, students will create a raised-bed garden; fence the area off from rabbits; prepare the plot, and begin planting their produce and spices. From March to May students will maintain and record the progress of their garden, modifying any changes as needed in their own gardening journals. As the produce becomes ready, the students will harvest their plants and learn about the health and nutrition that goes into eating organic vegetables. The students will then use their produce to make salsa that will be sold to the community. This will showcase their hard work and help raise money for an educational trip to ECHO or the Naples Botanical Gardens.  

Benefits to my students

Using a hands-on education model to get the students interacting with science allows the students to work collaboratively in real-life settings that go beyond classroom instruction. The students will gain confidence in working with others and visually witnessing the growth of their garden through proper research and application. The students will learn a wealth of content-specific vocabulary words and transfer these to their gardening journals. This project will not only teach the students how to work together in critical thinking and problem-solving solutions for the success of their garden, but will also connect the students with their community through showcasing the fruits of their labor and discussing their triumphs and failures.  

Budget Narrative

All of the items listed are needed in the implantation of starting a basic salsa garden. The students will need tools to create the garden, seeds to plant the garden, fencing to protect the garden, watering tools, and feed to maintain the garden.  

Items