Theodore Judah Elementary PTA

Science Alive - Science/Garden Program

Garden Docents: To view and download the Science Alive / Garden Lesson Plans, click here.

• Science Alive Vision

  4/30/2010 12:47:27 AM

  Science Alive has become a living entity on our campus. Look how far we have come in just 2 years! We have so many exciting accomplishments and we are seeing this program grow and change into something that has tremendous impact on our students, staff, parents and community. The following is a list of our accomplishments and a look into our future vision. 

  Achievements

  • Paw Patch established June 08
  • Cafeteria Garden and outdoor classroom established July 09
  • Renewal of front landscape July 09
  • School-wide garden program with at least one docent per class fall 08
  • Coordinated Science and Garden Curriculum started fall 09
  • All classes begin visiting the science lab weekly 09-10
  • 08-09 School year students received 30 mins every other week in garden
  • 09-10 School year students receive 45 a week in garden/science
  • Monthly school garden snack exposes kids to their harvest – fresh vegetables
  • Composting program and greenhouse started 08-09
  • Butterfly pavilion – currently in progress
  • Our first waste free lunch day with 60 students who participated this month
  • Successful fruit and veggie and plant sales take place September 08 and Spring 09
  • Establish a cooperative of community members that begin to brainstorm the greening of our campus (meeting is set for May 10^th at Theodore Judah)

   

  Goals for 2010-2011

  • Continue to improve our garden program with more complete training for our docents and detailed lessons to assure the quality of standards based education students receive in the garden
  • Teachers will take science into the classroom on a daily basis and focus on standards based lessons
  • Science Alive will continue to provide lab set-up for each grade level to enable the use of the lab while not over-taxing our teachers
  • Establish a green team made of students, a teacher and parents that begin changes on our campus relating to a more effective waste reduction/recycling program
  • The greening of our campus will begin to address waste reduction in our cafeteria as well as improving the food our students eat.
  • Student leadership will be encouraged on the green team in relation to lunch monitors, student education and future goals for our school
  • That our school would become a pilot for other schools within our district
  • Take students to visit a local farm/educational program
  • Bring speakers onto campus that will teach our students about waste/energy reduction

• Science comes Alive at Theodore Judah

  9/17/2009 12:28:25 AM

  Well over 200 volunteers worked this summer to improve our campus and to extend our garden and Science learning sites. You may have noticed our torn up lawn and bare grounds but it is all to improve the landscaping, water usage and to provide more learning zones. The front of the school will have a native plant and woodland garden learning zone, along with pathways and sitting areas that will offer our families and community new areas to learn and enjoy.  Many thanks to our garden sponsors Sutherland Plumbing and John Deere Landscaping. They have made some great in kind donations to our landscaping projects.

  In addition to the project going on in the front of the school, we have expanded our vegetable garden. The students will be able to see their food growing!  The area behind the cafeteria has been turned and planted with additional crops to thlep fuel our school garden snack. We have voracious beggie eaters on our campus. This area will also house a new outdoor classroom with a sitting area and shad structure.  All students will meet in this area to start their garden lessons this year You may also notice some beautiful flowers in this zone. These are the start of a butterfly garden/insect pavillion.

  We hope to transform our campus and bring science to life! It is our goal to create hands on science learning zones throughout campus.  This program, called Science Alive will begin this year 2009/2010, with a partnership between Garden class time and Sscience Lab.  Students will be learning  the same subjects during their Science Lab and Garden Units. We hope this will enable students to better grasp the curriculum and get really excited about Science. If you would like to get involved in the Science Alive/Garden Program, call the office for more information at 277-6364. 

  Shannon Hardwicke, Garden Docent Coordinator.