Creating a School Garden

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Creating a school garden is an effective way not only  to connect students to the natural world and improve their attitude of respect towards nature, but also to provide lots of learning opportunities  and develop a range of skills targeted by many curriculum subjects.

The school gardens vary in terms of size, number and  types of plants, but in all situations, there are a few  compulsory steps that should be taken  when building a school garden:

1.Select the site of the garden so that it has sufficient light and sun exposure, good soil and it is easily accessible for students and teachers.

2.Design the garden: this could be done in a collaborative way, involving many classes and students that will express their”vision”of the school garden and will draw plans of the garden that will show where the beds, the paths, the decorations etc. are placed.

3. Purchase tools to be used in gardening.

4.Prepare the site, dig,  make the beds and the paths.

5. Seed and plant

6. Maintain the garden - water, weed, etc.

7.Use the garden as an ”outdoor classroom” where teachers and students meet to participate in activities organised within the school  core and extra class curriculum.

 

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Teachers can use gardening as a way to support learning in various subject areas, for example:

- Science: experiments with plants, plant seeds and watch them grow, effects of water, plants profiles, analyze soil for pH content

- Arts: drawings of the garden/ flowers/ plants, photography etc.

- Language and Literature: write notes on plants, keep a garden journal

- Mathematics: measure, collect data, calculate

As an extension, students  could  develop a Garden Portfolio  by documenting the  garden in writing, photography, data collection, drawing or painting.