Green STEM Learning

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Teaching Future Ranchers, Farmers and Decision Makers? Climate Change and the Water Cycle, USDA curriculum for 6th - 12th graders in the Southwest

Reposting from USDA Blog Posted by Albert Rango and Caiti Steele, Southwest Regional Climate Hub, on May 19, 2016 at 10:00 AM

Want to teach relevant, experiential projects on climate change and the water cycle to your teen future farmers, ranchers and decision makers?
Here is a new standards-aligned experiential learning curriculum for 10 hours of projects on climate change and the water cycle designed for 6th - 12th graders living in the Southwest.

"USDA has created a curriculum for teaching today’s students about climate change and educating tomorrow’s farmers, ranchers, and decision makers. The Department’s Southwest Regional Climate Hub has partnered with the Asombro Institute for Science education to build “Climate Change and the Water Cycle,” a scientifically rigorous education unit for 6th -12th grade students. Intended for both formal and informal educators, the unit includes 9 activities which can either stand alone or be taught over 10 instruction hours. These hands-on activities are designed to help the students understand the scientific concepts behind different elements of the water cycle, climate change, and how to analyze data and communicate results. "

Friday, May 6, 2016

Growing Green Community: APS School Garden Meetup at Carlin Springs Elementary School

By Mary Van Dyke for Green STEM Learning

April showers bring May flowers!

Between morning showers and an evening hailstorm, on a sunny afternoon the APS School Garden Meetup gathers in the garden courtyard of Carlin Springs Elementary School.

Whatever the weather, we are all here to talking about growing green communities. Our hosts: Carol Sabatino, Community School Coordinator, and colleagues include Jeff Postell, PE staff, and Josh Allen, 4th grade teacher, Carlin Springs’ community volunteers and other organizational partners. It takes a partnered community to successfully garden at schools and “grow greening”. Our guests are members of the APS School Garden Meetup group. We are all here to learn and exchange tips and best practices, and to grow our green networks too.

Courtyard Garden Carol introduces the courtyard habitat and goals.

L to R, Robin Whitmore, Liz Macklin, Carol Sabatino, Elenor Hodges. Photo by Mary Van Dyke.

5th grader's piece on how to use the Garden Courtyard from this month’s school newsletter.

Nonprofit partner Lands and Waters grow lettuce with an after school group

Lands and Waters have partnered with Carlin Springs school for many years now. Lands and Waters first helped with habitat restoration. Growing lettuce is one of their newest projects. Lands and Waters representatives host 10 students in a gardening club that meets weekly for 1 ½ hours after school. They are funded by a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant.

In previous years, Carol’s job was also sponsored through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal after school grant, although now her position is funded through Arlington Public Schools. In the courtyard we also admire the pond and learn about its history and how it is sustained. Artist, Liz Macklin, shows us some of her photos drawing in after school classes with students.

We listen to the calming sound of the waterfall and birds singing. A turtle suns itself on a rock. In the corner of the courtyard, I see a birds nest on a window ledge.

Robin Whitmore discusses the pond and turtle habitat with PE teacher, Jeff Postel

One of the community volunteers, Robin Whitmore, brings her expertise to care for the pond and the turtle habitat. Robin tells us that there have been lots of toad and frog spawn this year, and sometimes on spring mornings there are frogs all over the courtyard path!

Turtle habitat and bird’s nest on window cill

One goal in the courtyard is to increase native plantings to help create habitat for wildlife, and to reduce the amount of lawn grass so the custodians have less mowing to take care of. The courtyard is accessed from two indoor spaces that make useful and beautiful classrooms for preparing outdoor lessons. Grow Lights as a partnered project with 4-H and Extended Day. Next on our tour, we stop by a classroom with grow lights.

Grow lights on loan from 4-H with seedlings being cared for by Extended Day staff and students The grow lights are a simple “build your self system” from PVC pipes with “off the peg” lamps. This low-cost arrangement is on loan from partners at Arlington’s 4-H.

The big challenge was not building the grow light system, but how to care for seedlings at school? Young seedlings need attention, and maybe watering once a day. Here at Carlin Springs, Carol invited the Extended Day staff with a group of students after school to take care of the seedlings. The students are growing quick germinating seeds including sunflowers in recycled lunch containers and egg boxes. The system is simple. If the group wants to take it to the next level, they could perhaps get a timer to turn off the lights? Giving seedlings only 18 hours of light a day, and a dark rest period at night would help the seedlings grow to be less leggy. This experiment however, as it is, is already successful. The students and staff are engaged, and delighted with the learning process!

Pre-K's Garden

Pre-K Help Create Their Own GardenWe continue outside to pre-K’s new garden. The pre-K class brought the mulch to the garden, bucket by bucket and the stones one by one from the parking lot. What a wonderful teaching in collective team work. Carol and Jeff describe other projects they have in mind for this area. Perhaps the area could be developed to include a vegetable patch and even a foraging forest? Virginia Native Wildflower Garden partnered with Master Gardeners and Master NaturalistsNext we go to see the wildflower area, in the median at the entrance of the school. This area is now being looked after by students with the guidance of Master Gardener Nancy Davis and Master Naturalist, Joan Gottlieb. Together with students and volunteers, they have restored a VA native plant wildflower garden that was planted here several years ago by Master Gardener Judy Funderburk and others. This garden already has a long history and legacy - but it needs many hours of work each year to keep in good health and thriving - or the weeds simply take over.

Red Vetch cover crop to suppress weeds in the wildflower garden

Weed Suppressing Techniques: Cover Crops and Paper, Mulch, Corn GluteNancy and Joan are unable to be with us today on the tour, but share some of their weed suppressing tips and techniques. They are using cover crop of red vetch in the wildflower garden. In one vegetable bed they are experimenting with covering the bed in the fall with layers of wet newspaper and about 5 inch of mulch and sprinkling on corn gluten. Will that help suppress crabgrass?

Gardening with students as part of PE in school and after schoolJeff Postell, PE teacher and Nancy worked to bring groups of students out here to work in the wildflower garden. During PE groups of students came out after their cardio workout for 20 minutes. But Nancy and the students felt that 20 minutes is not really long enough to do gardening, however even 20 minutes was a good start to the school community’s revitalization of interest in this wildflower garden project. Now volunteers are working on providing students with a longer time to work in this native garden as an activity or club during after school time.

Virginia native wildflower garden in early May

Signs to highlight ecology of some VA native plantA Master Gardener intern has made signs describing the ecology of the native plants, including the Red Bud tree, Butterfly Weed, Virginia Copperleaf and the Prickly Pear Cactus. Soon the signs will be on display in the garden

Signs for the native wildflower garden showing ecological relationships and plant lifecycles
Made by Master Gardener intern as capstone project

Weekend Work Sessions with Families and VolunteersWe also discuss weekend work sessions at Carlin Spring Gardens. How frequently and how are they facilitated? Carol organizes a couple of work sessions, for families and volunteers in spring and fall on Saturdays. They usually run from 10 AM to 1 PM, then they serve refreshments. The parent organization sponsors pizza and the cost of some plants too. Usually 35 families participate, and Master Gardeners help guide teams. Perhaps one or two teachers will be there to help too, and someone liaises in Spanish-language.

Donations to support Schoolyard GardeningChristy P, Garden Docent at neighboring Campbell Elementary School shares that some companies, including Chipotle can be invited to donate refreshments to school work parties. That is something to consider for other school and community events. Schools can also be eligible for free seeds from Seed Savers Exchange donation program and from Southern Exposure seed company. It’s late in the season for seed donations now, but it’s never too late to think ahead! We also pass along the tip that saving seed catalogs is fun for classes to use for projects. I have used images from upcycled seed catalogs to make scavenger hunts, matching games and for mod-podge decoupage projects.

Front Entrance in May
Flowers include: roses, iris, pansies, Virginia sweetspire and Stachys byzantina

At the end of our guided tour, we stop by the front door and admire the vibrant roses, irises, and planters full of pansies. How about harvesting petals for pot-pourri and pressed flower crafts?

Growing Green Schools and Communities As we say goodbye, Carol reiterates that the school’s former Building and Grounds Committee was transformed into Carlin Spring’s Growing Green Committee. The goals include to:

improve school buildings and grounds

connect with and enriching academic instruction, and

meet the needs of the whole child.

Our tour around the gardens today show the strength of community networks needed to achieve these goals. We see projects that enhance the grounds, connect to and enrich students learning - and above all the joy of children contributing to their community.

Artwork made by students Spring in the garden at Carlin Springs

I thank Carol and colleagues, and look forward to keeping in contact as we continue to network and exchange ideas and best practices and mutually support each other to grow greener programs at schools in Arlington.

APS School Garden MeetupAPS School Garden Meetups are an initiative of the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability, and have been meeting monthly during 2015-16 at ten different schools. We aim to continue visiting APS schools during 2016-17. Please contact growinggreenschools@gmail.com for further information.

Photos by Mary Van Dyke unless otherwise credited.

Resources:

Carlin Springs Elementary School, Arlington

Lands and Waters

VA Cooperative Extension sponsored programs include

21st Century Community Learning Center Grants

Plant NOVA Natives - for our region's wildflowers

Chipotle - FAQs including donations of food

Seed Savers Exchange - donation program

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

APS School Garden Meetup - the April newsletter Earth Day Every Day is at http://eepurl.com/bY2sFv

Compiled list of local Resources on Sustainability and Outdoor Learning for Arlington are at LINK

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

APS School Garden Meetup Tours Arlington Career Center Native Plant Garden and Greenhouse

By Mary Van Dyke

Today the APS School Garden Meetup group is at the Arlington Career Center.

Arlington Career Center

Our host is Joan Horwitt, volunteer with the Program for Employment Preparedness (PEP) and President of Reevesland Learning Center. This afternoon’s tour is introduced by Margaret Chung, Principal at the Career Center. Ms Chung highlights the collaborative teaching and integrative experiential learning practiced at the Career Center, and their new initiatives in Sustainable Technologies and Arlington Tech.

New Native Plant Garden at Career Center

PEP teacher, Rosemary Donaldson, shows us the work in progress on a new native plant garden to encourage more Monarch butterflies and other pollinators to feed on and enjoy the habitat. Students from the Sustainable Technology program are constructing the garden fence. PEP students and volunteers planted the garden, including Milkweeds for Monarch caterpillar food and nectar, as well as a selection of native plants to provide flowers with nectar and pollen from spring through to fall. There are now over 100 native plants here. This will be a wonderful showcase for the Plant NOVA Natives campaign. This year, the garden will be graced by many insect pollinators.

Then we go round to the Career Center's Greenhouse.

Arlington Career Center Greenhouse

Joan Horwitt, volunteers each week to help PEP students practice life skills including horticulture. The Greenhouse is a great resource to the community. Margaret Chung, as principal of the Career Center, is very supportive of re-energizing use of the Greenhouse. Other staff, including Robert Johnson, Michael Cruse, Rosemary Donaldson and many others, have helped too, creating an environment for integrative learning and partnerships.

In the Greenhouse

You can see many examples of the students’ work in the Greenhouse. There’s a tank of Grasses for the Masses being grown for the Chesapeake Bay. In another area a new tank is being built for aquaponics: rearing Tilapia fish and growing greens.

Aquaponics Tanks in Construction

Here are some sweet potatoes slips that students are beginning to sprout,

Growing Sweet Potato Slips

and some Begonias that the students have started propagating from cuttings.

Begonia Cuttings

One of the special projects initiated by Joan, is to grow micro-green sprouts. The students are growing different kinds of radish sprouts, daikon sprouts and pea sprouts. They are very tasty, and freshly grown. The students are marketing the sprouts they grow to Bistro 360. This is one example of a business employer that the students are working with.

Joan Horwitt Highlighting Micro-Geen Sprouts

Career Center Students with Micro-Greens

Writing a Label and Reusing a Yogurt Pot

Another project that the Career Center students are working on, in partnership with the Reevesland Learning Center, is to make compost bins and inspire others to compost. The compost bins are fairly small and made of timber with a hardware cloth lining. That way the bins keep vermin out, and the compost in. Students fill the bins with a mixture of food scraps from the Culinary Arts Students program and autumn leaves. This gives a good mixture of "greens and browns" (nitrogen- and carbon-materials). The compost mixture decomposes quite fast and at fairly high heat. Even on this cool spring day, the ambient temperature in the greenhouse is 85°, and the compost is probably around 120°. The finished compost is sieved to be fine. The students use their school-made compost and Promix to grow the micro-greens and find their own compost is already a great growing medium!

Compost Bin Designed and Built by Sustainable Technology Students

Compost

Compost Bin

The APS Superintendent is an "early adopter" of a compost bin made by the Sustainable Technology students. I’ve ordered two bins for Jamestown Elementary School. Contact Joan Horwitt or Robert Johnson (robert.johnson@apsva.us) to order up a compost bin. The compost bins cost $65 each. Please order yours now so the students can program in to make one for you too!

Like to join the APS School Garden Meetup googlegroup, and receive our occasional e-newsletter? If so, please send an email to growinggreenschools@gmail.com.

Next APS School Garden Meetups:

Monday April 4, 4- 5 PM, place to be confirmed
Monday May 8, 4- 5 PM at Carlin Springs Elementary School

LINK to March e-newsletter The ComPOST at: http://eepurl.com/bS17o

APS School Garden Meetups are an initiative of the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability. Author Mary Van Dyke serves on the APS Superintendent's Advisory Committee on Sustainability, and helps organize the APS School Garden Meetups.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Green STEM Learning 2015 and Vision for 2016 in Support of an Environmental Literacy Coordinator for APS

Here's the year end report for 2015 for my business Green STEM Learning, including work for clients Jamestown Elementary School PTA and Meridian Homeschool.

My cover photo shows Jamestown School yesterday. The Weeping Cherry Tree and Vegetable Beds are still under their blanket of snow! In the background, you see the big Willow Oak tree that is at the heart of the school's courtyard, and creates a wonderful shady place for classes to gather on hot summer days!

Green STEM Learning Report Year 2015 by Mary Van Dyke from Mary Van Dyke

This spring and summer at Jamestown School, I'll work on some of the projects highlighted in the report. While the snow is melting, it's a good time for me to meet with teachers to plan the vegetable gardens, native gardens and student outdoor projects.

And for Meridian Homeschool Club this spring, I'll continue working with the older students on their year-long Earth Force/Caring for Our Watershed civic engagement project. A couple of weeks ago, we went outside and measured the trees at the church where we meet. Then we calculated the ecosystem services the trees provide with i-Tree Design. We also identified the invasive plants on the property: there's lots of English Ivy and Bush Honeysuckle. Next stage, the students are making a video for the church congregation and our partner schools in NM and PA. I don't yet know what the students will come up with as a solution to the issues they are finding, as the project is student-directed and we have a few months to go!

Other projects for 2016, include my continued volunteer advocacy for enhancing sustainability and outdoor learning coordination within the Arlington Public Schools.

Why not invite the APS School Board to fund an Environmental Literacy Coordinator position? I spent a couple of snow days this week making an aspirational pitch deck for the job - as if the School Board had funded the position. So stay tuned!

Want to help with advocacy in the meantime?

Please do write to the APS School Board school.board@apsva.us with your comments in support of the APS Science Advisory Committee recommendations that include for cultivating integrative learning and also funding a Sustainability and Outdoor Learning Coordinator position.
A Sustainability and Outdoor Learning Coordinator (aka an Environmental Literacy Coordinator) as recommended by the Science Advisory Committee could help to more effectively evaluate programs, and share standards-aligned curricula and best practices through a collaborative and integrative approach that facilitates more creative problem-solving opportunities for students outdoors!
There's other priorities for the School Board, including the capacity issues and needing more seats for students.
So now's the time to ask for a balanced budget to include for this sustainability and outdoor learning coordinator position.

Mary Van Dyke, works part-time for Jamestown Elementary School PTA

as Visiting Horticulturalist, and as a volunteer she has interests in coordinating outdoor learning for schools in Arlington.

Mary serves on the APS Science Advisory Committee,
the APS Superintendent's Advisory Committee on Sustainability
and the Advisory Committee of NoVA Outside,
a regional alliance of environmental educators.
All opinions expressed in this article are the author's own.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Winter Weather Lessons and Snow Learning

Here are some links to get you and kids learning about winter weather and ideas for learning while schools are shut due to snow.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/01/lots-of-lessons-about-winter-weather.html#.VqJg8FMrIcg

and the Arlington Public Schools Snow Learning Page

And reposting some other links of snow-related interest:

Friday, December 11, 2015

Biodiversity and Outdoor Learning

by Mary Van Dyke, September 30, 2015

Today I take time to look at a beautiful Monarch butterfly “eclose”. The butterfly steps out of its chrysalis-shell, unfurls and begins to pump up its wings.

In the classroom, insects always have six legs, and yet I can see only four of the Monarch’s.

So I google “Monarch butterfly anatomy” and find out that the Monarch is from a class of butterflies that has four prominent legs and two residual ones tucked up by the thorax. I consider the adaptation and evolutionary pathway of these butterflies, as I watch the butterfly taking shelter from the rainstorm today, waiting until the weather warms up so it can set out to fly to Mexico for the winter.

I have been wondering too why I never see any fig flowers?

And yet there are fruits budding and ripening on the fig tree alongside where I find another Monarch chrysalis attached to the underside of a fig leaf.

I google my question about fig flowers. On Wikipedia I discover I have 10,000 years of history of the cultivation of figs to catch up. I learn about the intricate relationships of the fig’s internal flower structure and the plant’s symbiosis with pollinators: the fig-specialist male and female wasps.

Outdoors, I discover more variety and more interesting patterns than the examples I am often invited to consider in classrooms indoors. In the "real-world" I have lots of questions to ask, and my predictions are not always correct. This is the power of “authentic learning” that happens when students and teachers observe, ask questions and learn together.

Next week, I am taking several groups of students outside to learn about sunflowers, leaves, and water issues. We will be observing: building awareness and appreciation, while taking time to discover and discuss patterns, ecology, communities and interrelationships between plants, people and other animals and biodiversity. We will cover standards of learning at the same time.

Going outside supports our need for biophilia: simply our love of life!

As E.O. Wilson points out in this week’s Washington Post interview, research now confirms the imperative that with increasing urbanization, we all need to go outside more (not less) to appreciate and learn about the diversity of life around us.

Resources

Monarch butterfly anatomy http://monarchwatch.org/biology/index.htm
The Common Fig https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_fig
E.O. Wilson explains why parks and nature are really good for your brain by Chris Mooney, September 30, 2015, Washington Post