School Gardens

Why a school garden?

School gardens provide hands-on learning in a wide variety of disciplines including science, math, language arts, and visual arts. Being involved in school gardens get students active, engaged, and teaches them important life skills such as responsibility. School gardening of fruits and vegetables also positively influences students health and nutrition attitudes and actions. School gardens also:

·         Increase science achievement scores.

·         Improve social skills and behavior.

·         Improve environmental attitudes and stewardship.

·         Instill a love and appreciation of nature.

·         Improve life skills such as responsibility and teamwork.

·         Instill healthy eating habits and attitudes.

·         Improve health and nutrition knowledge.

·         Provide wonderful opportunities for hands-on learning.

·         Increase physical activity.

Do you want to get started? Read below for how you can get your school garden started today!

Support

The first step in starting a school garden is to get support from the school district, administrators, and community. The web site School Garden Wizard “Make the Case”   has a wonderful proposal template to help you get started.  Some things to include in your proposal are: case studies of other school gardens, benefits, and funding sources/ideas.

Funding

Get your community involved. Community involvement fosters ownership of the school garden and will lead to better and continued support.

·         Contact local businesses for donations of money or supplies.

·         Host a bake sale or other fundraiser.

·         Ask your local greenhouse for plant or seed donations.

·         Look for and apply for grants

Garden Plan

Create a garden design and plan for your school garden. Ask a local master gardeners club, parents, or other knowledgeable community members for help with the design and plan. Involve faculty, and students in the planning process. Vote on themes, plants, colors, etc…The more the faculty and students are involved the more it will truly feel like their garden!

School gardens can be very simple, from a few containers of vegetables in a school courtyard, to elaborate raised beds that stretch around a schoolyard. When designing keep in mind what your school can handle, the money available or raised, and the ability of the school and volunteers to maintain it.

Create

After you have support, funding, and a plan it is time to start creating your garden!! Organize work days for faculty, students, and volunteers to work on the school garden. Work days can be during school hours, after hours, and even on a weekend day.  Assign classes or grades age appropriate jobs. All ages can help and will enjoy being involved in the process!

Learn

Congratulations you now have a school garden! There are many wonderful cross-curricular learning opportunities that your new school garden can provide you. School gardens are wonderful places to study insects, plant growth, rainfall, and much more. They can be a beautiful setting for drawing, painting, and writing. The sky really is the limit!

Maintenance

Remember to have a plan for maintenance of your school garden. Assign daily, weekly, monthly, and/or yearly maintenance activities to grades, faculty, or community and parent volunteers.  Or plan school garden work days for maintenance. Make a plan for the maintenance of your school garden that works best for your school and community. Remember to arrange a plan for the summer months as well.

Websites

Got Dirt? A Garden Toolkit for Implementing Youth Gardens

Got Veggies? A Youth Garden-Based Nutrition Education Curriculum
How Our Gardens Grow: Cultivating Nutrition and Learning Through Idaho School Gardens
Iowa Healthiest State Initiative: School & Community Gardening Resources
Life Lab: School Garden Resources

Kids Gardening (The National Gardening Association)
School Garden Wizard

Books

Ancona, G. 2013. It’s Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden. Candlewick Press.

Aston, D. 2007. A Seed Is Sleepy. Chronicle Books LLC.

Christensen, B. 1994. Edible Alphabet. Dial Books for Young Readers.

Cole, H. 1997. Jack’s Garden. HarperCollins Publishers.

Cole, J. 1995. The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow. Scholastic, Inc.

Cox, M., and DK Publishing Staff. 2009. Wildlife Gardening. DK Publishing, Inc.

DiSalvo-Ryan, D. 1994. City Green. Morrow Junior Books.

Doyle, M. and J. Allibone. 2002. Jody's Beans. Candlewick Press.

Ehlert, L. 1990. Growing Vegetable Soup. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Ehlert, L. 1992. Planting a Rainbow. Harcourt Children's Books.

Gibbons, G. 2007. The Vegetables We Eat. Holiday House, Inc.

Henkes, K. 2010. My Garden. HarperCollins Publishers.

Hickman, P. 1996. A Seed Grows: My First Look at a Plant's Life Cycle. Kids Can Press, Ltd.

Krudwig, V. L., and C. M. Brown. 1998. Cucumber Soup. Fulcrum Publishing.

Lavies, B. 1993. Compost Critters. Penguin Group (USA)

Lovejoy, S. 1999. Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children. Workman Publishing Company.

Lovejoy, S. 2001. Sunflower Houses: Inspiration From the Garden – A Book for Children and Their Grown-ups. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.

MacDonald, M.R. and P. Cummings. 1998. Pickin' Peas. HarperCollins Publishers.

Manning, M. and B. Granstrom. 2003. The Seed I Planted (Wonderwise Readers). Franklin Watts, Ltd.

Schaefer, L.M. 2003. Pick, Pull, Snap!: Where Once a Flower Bloomed. HarperCollins Children's Books.

Scott, E., and C. Duffy. 1998. Dinner from Dirt: Ten Meals Kids Can Grow and Cook. Gibbs-Smith.

Siddals, M.M., and A. Wolf. 2010. Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth. Random House Children’s Books.

Waters, M, et al. 1994. The Victory Garden Kid’s Book. Globe Pequot Press.

April

Wildlife Management

Early Childhood Activities related to Wildlife Management
Below are examples of activities that can be used while studying wildlife and wildlife management. While the idea of “wildlife management” may be beyond what most early childhood children can grasp, you can focus on what wildlife need to survive and how we can help ensure that they have it. This study would be a great time to invite a local naturalist or other natural resources professional into the classroom to talk about what they do for wildlife and/or to do a fun activity with the children.

Growing Up WILD

Terrific Turkeys – Children learn about wild turkeys.
What’s Wild? – Children compare the lives of wild and tame animals.
Wildlife is Everywhere! – Children make observations and understand that wildlife is everywhere.
Wildlife Water Safari – Children discover water sources for local wildlife.

Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood

Trees as Habitat – Children explore how wildlife depend on trees.

Book List

Arnosky, J. 1979. Crinkleroot's Book of Animal Tracks and Wildlife Signs. Penguin Group (USA).
Arnosky, J. 1997. Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Arnosky, J. 1995. I See Animals Hiding. Scholastic.
Auch, A.J. 2002. Tame and Wild. Spyglass Books.
Bishop, N. 2002. Backyard Detective: Critters Up Close. Scholastic, Inc.
Douglas, L. G. 2003. The Bald Eagle. Scholastic Library Publishing.
Giogas, V. 2007. In My Backyard. Sylvan Dell Publishing.
Green, J. 2002. In a Backyard. Crabtree Publishing Company.
Herkert, B. 2001. Birds in Your Backyard. Dawn Publications.
James, S. 1996. Wild Woods. Tandem Library Books. 
Kavanagh, J. and R. Leung. 2001. Urban Wildlife: An Introduction to Familiar Species (North American Nature Guides). Waterford Press.
Kirkland, J. 2006. Take a City Nature Walk. Stillwater Publishing.
Kurtz, J., C. Kurtz and L. Christiansen. 2002. Water Hole Waiting. HarperCollins Publishers.
Landry, S.B. and R.T. Peterson. 1998. Peterson First Guide to Urban Wildlife. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Lawrence, G. and A.M. Tyrol. 2001. A Naturalist Indoors: Observing the World of Nature Inside Your Home. iUniverse, Inc.
Lock, D. 2007. Animals at Home. DK Publishing, Inc.
Montgomery, R.G. 2001. The Living Wilderness. Caxton Press.
Morrison, G. 2004. Nature in the Neighborhood. Walter Lorraine Books/Houghton Mifflin Books.
Ruurs, M. 2007. In My Backyard. Tundra.
Squire, A.O. 1996. 101 Questions and Answers about Backyard Wildlife. Walker & Company.
Wechsler, D. 2001. Peregrine Falcons. PowerKids Press.

Iowa Wildlife Cameras

Watch LIVE footage of several Iowa birds of prey as they raise their young this spring. There are also links to a birdfeeder cam at a county nature center, and a trout cam at an IDNR fish hatchery.

Dickinson County Conservation Board: Okoboji Osprey Camera

http://dickinsoncountyconservationboard.com/osprey-camera/

Decorah Eagles

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

IDNR Falcon Cams

http://www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/SocialMediaPressRoom/IowaDNRVideos/IowaDNRLiveFalconCam.aspx

Scott County Owl Camera
http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/webcams/webcam_120.php

Alcoa Eagle Cam

http://www.alcoa.com/locations/usa_davenport/en/info_page/eaglecam.asp

Scott County Bird Feeder Camera

http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/webcams/webcam_121.php

IDNR Trout Cam
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iowadnr

 

 

 

 

April

Wildlife Management:

Iowa’s Wildlife Management

Wildlife management is the application of scientific knowledge

and technical skills to protect, preserve, conserve, limit, enhance, or

extend the value of wildlife and its habitat.

 When European settlers first arrived in Iowa they found a land teeming with wildlife of all shapes and sizes. There seemed to be no end to the abundance. However, within fifty years many animals had been hunted and exploited completely out of Iowa. In the 1930’s several Iowans, concerned by the declining wildlife populations, developed conservation and wildlife management plans and practices. The first wildlife management organization in Iowa was the Iowa Conservation Commission (which would later become the Iowa Department of Natural Resources).  The ICC worked to establish game law, enhance wildlife habitat, and stock the state with wildlife.

Today Iowa’s wildlife is managed by several agencies including the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The IDNR sets hunting and fishing regulations to regulate the harvest and protection of Iowa’s wildlife. They also conduct research, monitor wildlife populations, and manage land for wildlife habitat.

Wildlife are owned by no one but are held in trust by the government for the benefit of the present and future generations. This is known as the Public Trust Doctrine. Iowa’s wildlife are managed for everyone.  However, only two percent of Iowa’s land is in public ownership. This land is in preserves, refuges, public hunting land, state parks, county parks and other state, and federal land programs. These lands are protected and managed. A large art of Iowa’s wildlife management plan is dependent on private land management. Cooperation between land owners and wildlife managers is essential for Iowa’s wildlife. Programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), among others, are vital for managing Iowa’s lands for wildlife diversity.

Iowa State University Extension: Iowa Wildlife Management
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN401.pdf

Iowa Department of Natural Resources:

Iowa’s Wildlife
http://www.iowadnr.gov/Education/IowasWildlife.aspx

Wildlife Stewardship

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/WildlifeStewardship.aspx

Wildlife Landowner Assistance

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/LandStewardship/WildlifeLandownerAssistance.aspx

Hunting

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting.aspx

Fishing

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing.aspx

Come back next week for classroom activities and book lists on wildlife management!!