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Edible Schoolyard Project and Truck Farms

February 28, 2012Kelly Tenkely2 Comments2928 views

What it is: There are some things that I think should be essential to every school experience. Some place where kids can sink their hands down into the earth and have a part in growing something is one of those essentials. Edible Schoolyard is an incredible site with a goal to bring children into a positive relationship with food by connecting it with nature and culture. The great part: good health is the outcome. The Edible Schoolyard Project shares a food curriculum for schools around the world to put into practice. I share their dream of making an “edible education” as part of the core of every school in the country. I love that Edible Schoolyard wants to provide every student with a free nutritious lunch and interactive experiences in the classroom, kitchen and garden…transforming the health and values of every child.

So…what exactly does the Edible Schoolyard project do?

Maps the grassroots efforts of edible education programs around the United States.
Gathers and shares lessons and best practices of school gardens, kitchens, and lunch programs.
Documents 15 years of Edible Schoolyards.
Trains educators at the Edible Schoolyard Academy.

How to integrate Edible Schoolyard Project into the classroom: The Edible Schoolyard Project has some excellent lessons, tips, guidance, and encouragement for starting an Edible Schoolyard Project at your own school. The great thing about the resource collection on Edible Schoolyard Project is that it has been created by educators. The lesson plans aren’t just focused on food, they are all tied in to a variety of disciplines…you know, like it happens in real life.

There is something so human and important about growing food. It is something that we have separated ourselves from and as a result, we are happy to stuff ourselves with a combination of chemicals and additives. I have taught students who truly didn’t know that potatoes grew. Seriously.

At Anastasis, we are working to start our own Edible Schoolyard Project. Our challenge: we lease space from a church. There is no little piece of land that we can call our own. We don’t let anything stop us at Anastasis, we just have to be more creative. In the past few weeks our students have been composting in 56 2-liter bottles. It can be stinky…but the kids are learning so much about decomposition! My next plan for our own little edible school yard project:

Truck Farm. I learned about Truck Farms from a way cool little restaurant here in Colorado called Beatrice and Woodsley. They take advantage of Truck Farms for some of their produce. Brilliant idea. A truck farm is an old pick up truck whose bed has been retrofitted as a container garden. The result: fresh produce that is mobile. SO great for a school that puts everything on wheels! While it isn’t exactly like getting your hands into a plot of land, students will be able to have their own little kitchen garden that they can grow.

****As a side note, if anyone has an old pickup they would like to donate to Anastasis or help funding this project, please let me know!

Tips: Explore the Movement is a section on the Edible Schoolyard Project where those in the US can find others in their state to network with.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Edible Schoolyard Project in your classroom!

BBC Science Clips

June 3, 2010Kelly Tenkely6 Comments3443 views

What it is: The BBC has excellent educational games, activities, and resources. The BBC Science Clips are a collection of science related activities and games for students who are 5 to 11 years old. Students can grow virtual plants, experiment with pushes and pulls, hearing and sound, forces and movement, electricity, rocks and soils, simple machines, light, solids and liquids, friction, habitats, life cycles, changing states of matter, reversible and irreversible changes, forces, and much more. The site is organized well, by age group, and has several activities at each level.

How to integrate BBC Science Clips into the classroom: BBC Science Clips has a little of everything science. It is sure to have some great interactives that correspond to your science curriculum. Each of the interactives is high quality and lets students experiment with new concepts that they are learning. The activities are short enough to be used as a science center on classroom computers where a few students complete the interactive as part of a rotation. The activities can also be used for whole class demonstration and experimentation using an interactive whiteboard or projector connected computer. If you use the interactives with the whole class, have the scientists who are observing take down some observational notes in a special science journal. Often, real life experiments can be too quick moving for young students to write or draw observations as they are happening. This site lets them work on those observational skills at their own pace. This is also great for those experiments that may take too long to observe in a classroom setting. Each activity includes a short online quiz that students can go through to check understanding. The quiz can be read independently or students can click on the speakers to have the quiz read to them. This is a great feature for struggling or non-independent readers. A “what’s next” button at the bottom of each activity encourages students to keep exploring. Students can self level by choosing an activity that is a little easier, harder, or the same.

Tips: Check out the resources for teachers page. Here you will find online and offline lesson plans related to the activities, an accompanying worksheet, activity and quiz.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using BBC Science Clips in your classroom.

The Great Plant Escape

September 16, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment4180 views

What it is: The Great Plant Escape is a wonderful interactive website created by the University of Illinois Extension for fourth and fifth grade students. Every school that I know of teaches a plants unit at some point in the curriculum. This is a great way for your students to interact with their learning in science class. Each lesson in The Great Plant Escape introduces students to plant science. Activities engage students in math, science, language arts, social studies, music and even art. The Great Plant Escapeincludes six mystery cases that students must help solve. They do this in a variety of ways depending on the activity. This site can be played in English or Spanish making it great for your ESL or ELL students as well as those kiddos learning Spanish as a second language!

How to integrate The Great Plant Escape into the classroom: The Great Plant Escape offers a lot of flexibility depending on your classroom setup and student abilities. Students can work individually in a lab setting or in groups as a center in the one or two computer classroom. This site would also be appropriate for whole class instruction with a projector or interactive whiteboard. Each activity has an accompanying teacher section that will familiarize you with the material covered in that “case”. Be sure to check out the Links page for some excellent resources for additional lessons and websites dedicated to teaching kids about Plants and life cycles. This site is sure to add a lot of interest to your plant unit in science. My students have really enjoyed it!

Tips: Visit the Teacher’s Guide for a free poster for The Great Plant Escape for your classroom.

Leave a comment and share how you are using The Great Plant Escape in your classroom.