1. NGSS in the Garden
By Lari Powell

2. Introductions – Thank you for coming!
My name is Lari Powell. I have been teaching for FCUSD for over 20 years. I am the Elementary Lead STEM teacher for FCUSD.
I have worked as an Adjunct Professor at two colleges:
University of Phoenix – CTEL certification
William Jessup University – Master’s in Teaching - Curriculum & Instruction Design
Contact Information:
Phone: , ext

3. Who are you? Tell us your name and your connection to education.
What do you know about school gardens?

4. Why School Gardens? Environmental Stewardship
Community and Social Development
Healthy Lifestyle
Academic Achievement

5. Real School Garden Movement

6. Academic Connections
Garden Pathways Map

7. STEM Education Benefits
Third, fourth, and fifth grade students who participated in school gardening activities scored significantly higher on science achievement tests compared to students that did not experience any garden-based learning activities. Klemmer et al. (2005)

8. English Language Arts
In a summer school project that used a whole language approach with gardening as the central theme, the most significant student gains were in self-esteem and achievement in reading, reading comprehension, spelling, and written expression. Sheffield (1992)

9. Social Studies
Linking storytelling with garden programs may serve to educate children about the processes that underlie and interweave diverse cultures' seasonal traditions. Bowles (1995)

10. The Arts
Gardens are often the most accessible places for children to learn about nature's beauty, interconnections, power, fragility, and solace. Heffernan (1994)

11. Cultural Understanding and Diversity
Gardening helps young people understand the value of diversity by exploring historical contributions from cultures worldwide to what we eat today.

12. NGSS Alignment Science and Engineering Practices (All 8)
• Asking questions and defining problems
• Developing and using models
• Planning and carrying out investigations
• Analyzing and interpreting data
• Using mathematics and computational thinking
• Constructing explanations and designing solutions
• Engaging in argument from evidence
• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

13. Performance Expectations - K
K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive
K-ESS2-1 Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time
K-ESS2-2 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs
K-ESS3-1 Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants of animals (including humans) and the places they live
K-ESS3-3 Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment

14. Performance Expectations – 1st
1-LS1-1 Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs
1-LS3-1. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and/or animals are like, but not exactly like their parents.

15. Performance Expectations – 2nd
2-PS1-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties
2-LS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
2-LS2-2 Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants
2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats
2-ESS2-1 Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land

16. Performance Expectations – 3rd
3-LS1-1 Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
3-LS3-1 Analyze and interpret data provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms
3-LS3-2 Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
3-LS4-2 Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
3-LS4-3 Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

17. Performance Expectations – 4th
4-LS1-1 Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
E-ESS2-1 Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.

18. Performance Expectations – 5th
5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
5-LS1-1 Support and argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
5-LS2-1 Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.

19. NGSS Accessibility – Appendix D
Children with learning disabilities, who participated in gardening activities, had enhanced nonverbal communication skills, developed awareness of the advantages of order, learned how to participate in a cooperative effort, and formed relationships with adults

20. Step 1 - What should you do first?
Seek Administrative Approval
Have you done this? If so, please share how you did this and what was effective.
What about maintenance and facilities? Share your experience with this.
Does your school have a school garden policy? How can you find out?

21. Step 2 – Create a Network
Have you created a support network? Write 3-5 sources to gather support.
Stand up, hold up your post-it, share and trade with someone else. Keep sharing and trading for 5-10 minutes.
Share the post-it you ended with for the group.

22. Community and Social Development
Studies show that school gardening increased self-esteem, help students develop a sense of ownership and responsibility, help foster relationships with family members, and increase parental involvement.
(Alexander, J. & D. Hendren, (1998)

23. Who Maintains Gardens? www.lifelab.org/schoolgardensurvey
All bar graphs and charts are from data gathered from the 2011 CA School Garden Survey. 500 School gardens responded.
Note the varied types of individuals that support gardens. Mention teamwork once again.

24. Step 3 - Identify Goals and Link to Curriculum
Start with NGSS-what topics do you want to teach?
What plants do you want to grow?
How often do you want to use the garden? When? Who will facilitate?
Year long planning and unifying themes and concepts for the school community

25. Month
Kinder
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Garden Theme
August
Senses and Soil
Soil & Compost
Soil vs. Dirt
Sept.
Seeds
Seed Dispersal
Beginning of life
October
Plant needs
Plant Parts
Plants Change
Gone to Seed
Structure and Function
Nov.
Reduce Impact
Human Impact
Dec.
Winter garden
Winter Garden
Partner Planting
Winter Native Plants
Greenhouse Effect
January
Worms world
Worms Role in the Garden
February
Seasons
Matter
Wind and Water
Heat energy in compost pile
Cycles and Systems
March
Nutrition
Plant offspring
Habitat diversity
Life Cycle
Energy Transfer
Photosynthesis & Seasons
Cycles and transfer
April
Monarch Life Cycle
Beneficial Insects
Role of Insects in the Garden
May
Pollinator
Solar Cooking
Native Plants and ethnic food
Nitrogen & Carbon Cycle
Garden Diversity

26. Academic Gains
Participants in a school garden program experienced significant gains in overall GPA in math and science. (Murphy 2003)
Students engaged in hands-on gardening lessons showed increased positive attitudes towards content material and learning in general. (Bell 2001; Waliczek 2003)

27. Other ways gardens are used
Survey Slide of other areas that garden are used
All bar graphs and charts are from data gathered from the 2011 CA School Garden Survey. 500 School gardens responded.
Non Core Subject Matter taught in school gardens.

28. Grade Levels That Use CA Gardens
All bar graphs and charts are from data gathered from the 2011 CA School Garden Survey. 500 School gardens responded.

29. Core Subject Matter Science 97% History/Social Studies 56%
English Language Arts 75%
Mathematics 67%
Over 40 NGSS K-5 standards are connected to a school garden
All bar graphs and charts are from data based on the 2011 CA School Garden Survey. 500 School gardens responded.

30. Who Teaches in the Garden?
All bar graphs and charts are from data gathered from the 2011 CA School Garden Survey. 500 School gardens responded.

31. Step 4 – Design Your Garden
Every school will look different: some will have beds, some will have planters, come will have wheel barrows, some will have trays.
Grants typically want a written/sketched plan
How will your garden get water? Sunlight?
Share with a neighbor how you see your garden at your school. (Suggestion: Start simple and grow)

32. Step 5 – Funding and Supply Needs.
How is your garden funded? School district? Grants? PTA? Donations?
Get in groups of 4-5, identify 3 possible funding sources, write them on the white board.

33. How are School Gardens Funded?
All bar graphs and charts are from data gathered from the 2011 CA School Garden Survey. 500 School gardens responded.
It often takes a diversity of funding streams to support a garden.

34. Step 6 – Planting, Maintaining, and Sustaining
Planting Day – Celebration!!
Student engagement and responsibility. How will you get your students out there? Schedule? Docent? When? Share with a neighbor
What about the summer? Additional funds? Share ideas for how to sustain this over the summer and from year to year. Record top 3 ideas on the white board.

35. Who Cares for Gardens over the Summer?
All bar graphs and charts are from data gathered from the 2011 CA School Garden Survey. 500 School gardens responded.
Note the varied types of individuals that support gardens. Mention teamwork once again.

36. When are Gardens Used? www.lifelab.org/schoolgardensurvey
All bar graphs and charts are from data gathered from the 2011 CA School Garden Survey. 500 School gardens responded.

37. (*BMI 30, or about 30 lbs. overweight for 5’4” person)
Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 1990, 2000, 2010
(*BMI 30, or about 30 lbs. overweight for 5’4” person)
1990
2000
2010
No Data <10% %–14% %–19% %–24% %–29% ≥30%

38. Nutrition Benefits of a Garden
Students who received garden-based nutrition education were more willing to try vegetables than students who received nutrition education without gardening activities. This changed behavior continued for at least six months after the nutrition education program. (Morris 2002)

39. Additional Benefits of School Gardens
Reduces Stress
Increases Physical Activity
Reduces Family Food Expenses

40. Teaching Channel

41. Conclusion
Gardening isn’t an add on, but rather an integral part of the whole curriculum.
What can you do to help a school develop a hands-on, engaging, integrated, outdoor classroom?

42. Exit Ticket I liked …. I learned …..
I would like more information on ….