People, Places and Environments

“Because Your Children Live What They Learn…”

By:

Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff

Right Side Box:

Here are some meaningful plant selections to incorporate into your peace garden:

Rhododendron - in Russia, the blossoms signify peace, health, and purity

Mistletoe - in Scandinavia, associated with Frigga, the goddess of love

White pine tree - for the Native American Haudenosaunee, or Six Nations Peoples, the five needles joined together indicate unity

Peace Rose - a rose variety introduced in 1945 to commemorate the end of World War II

Sunflowers - a symbol of freedom from the threat of nuclear weapons during the 1990s. Sunflowers are warm and welcoming; grow in friendly crowds; and produce nutritious seeds for people and wildlife.

Cosmos - named after the Greek word for well-ordered universe; symbolizes peace and order

Education in the garden is a great way to teach kids to live responsibly and peacefully.This philosophy, from the creator of Playschool Child Care, Inc., Carol Acosta, is what continues to guide the program more than 25 years later.

A Visit to the First Public Children’s Gardens in Asia

Submitted by cynthiad on Sun, 01/08/2012 - 15:28

By:

Min-Hyeong (Jasmine) Kwon with NGA Staff

Children's gardens offer a wonderful avenue for encouraging children to interact with horticulture.Children’s gardens are becoming a popular attraction at botanical gardens and arboretums in Asia. These gardens are destinations designed to provide children and families a safe, outdoor environment that is educational and entertaining. This article features six botanical gardens and arboretums in Asia, highlighting key features that were identified as important to the children’s garden setting.

The Future Can Start in the Garden

Submitted by cynthiad on Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:59

By:

Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff

Right Side Box:

Check out this 8-12th grade lesson to get your students learning more about careers in horticulture, Discovering Careers in Horticulture (PDF).

At the Gaylord Opryland Hotel there are over nine acres of indoor gardens. The manager of horticulture at this luxurious resort identifies the beginning of his fascination with plants to first grade. His teacher had students plant zinnia seeds in half egg shells.

Food Roots and Routes

Submitted by sarahp on Wed, 12/22/2010 - 01:54

Overview: Students explore the journey of produce from farm to table and chew on the idea of eating close to home.

NCSS National Social Studies Standards Addressed:
Theme 3: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments.

Bringing Social Studies to Life in School Gardens

Submitted by sarahp on Wed, 12/22/2010 - 01:48

As students sow, grow, and reap the fruits of school gardens, science and math lessons are naturally relevant. But consider the added possibilities for using school plots as a compelling lens for social studies and history. After all, exploring how food is (and has been) raised, transformed, and consumed across the globe can reveal a lot about communities and cultures, economies, human settlement and migration, changing world views, the influence of geography and climate, and more.

GrowLab Geography

Submitted by sarahp on Sat, 05/08/2010 - 12:09

It wasn't a guacamole fetish that inspired Arlene Marturan's Columbia, South Carolina, 7th grade geography class to plant a GrowLab avocado plantation. Their study of rainforest deforestation and their comparisons of monocultures and diverse forests spared the idea. A local Mexican restaurant supplied abundant avocado pits, and the avocado plantation became a simulated monoculture backdrop for their forest studies. Imagine what parents received that year for holiday gifts!

Wondrous Wetlands

Exploring and Preserving these Hardworking Ecosystems

Using Gardens for Multicultural and History Studies

Question: What kinds of gardens can help us with our multicultural and history studies?

Service-Learning: Helping Kids and Communities Grow

Submitted by admin on Mon, 12/07/2009 - 15:35

Right Side Box:

Letting Students Take the Lead In exemplary service-learning ventures, teachers relinquish some control and give students responsibility for working together to shepherd a project through. Challenging? Yes, but worth the effort, says teacher Teddy Johnson from Athens, GA.

"I try to support students' efforts with resources and ideas, when appropriate. But whenever possible, I let them take the lead. I had to be much more flexible to allow students time to puzzle out problems, listen to each other, and reach agreement before decisions were made. Although it was sometimes slow and tedious, they really did work through issues together. They learned that the responsibility for democracy can be challenging, but so can the gains."

Across the country, garden and habitat projects are inspiring students to connect with and serve their communities. They create "ethnic" plantings that reflect a community's cultures, build intergenerational partnerships, involve neighbors in schoolyard planning, teach citizens about recycling waste, share harvests with populations in need, and create urban oases for respite and renewal. And that's just for starters.

Living Geography Lessons

Submitted by admin on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 12:37

"A committee of teachers in our middle school had set a goal of meeting curriculum standards and bringing life and depth to our world geography studies," reports Gaston, SC, geography teacher Angie Rye.

Funding from a local foundation enabled the school to create an international garden to represent seven different world regions. Angie's students set out to discover what they could about the cultures, foods, and crops of Africa and the Middle East.