Environmental Education Project
CEIP Gadir
Tree to Tree Project: School gardening and green spaces
We know the gardens of the school:
In many areas of the city the children live surrounded by cement, concrete, and asphalt. Nature is situated behind walls and fences and are not within reach for the kids to explore. Because of this, in many circumstances the kids don´t understand that food grows in the earth. The program of the school garden is to be able to make nature and agriculture come to life in the schools. We have seen that a school garden can be a powerful tool for learning, waking enthusiasm, and forming teamwork.
The school gardens offer to the children the opportunity to understand their relation with nature. It can teach them to conserve natural resoureces and protect the environment. A garden often increases confidence in themselves as well as the feelings of responsibility and feeling part of a community.
What we want to achieve:
· Awareness for the students of the rhythms and cycles of nature, as well as how to achieve a postive attitude and respect towards the environment and conservation of it.
· Provide to the center an alternative education and one that is suitable for using green spaces as an educational resource.
· Develop attitudes that are in contact with and aware of reality, starting with something as concrete and basic as attention to our plants and tree to develop an awareness to improve our environment.
· Take advantage of natural means to improve the life of plants and learning about the areas of science and the environment.
· Specifically incorporate the students of the Autism classroom, increasing the level of self-esteem and socialization. In addition, the integration will benefit a group of children that are going to share with our students during many days of experiences and activities realizing that different people exist, learning how to accept them as so and to learn how to understand them.
· Enhance teamwork, making habits of working together, sharing material and dividing up the tasks and taking responsibility for them.
How we are going to do it:
5th grade and a specific autism classroom composed of 4 students will participate. The reasoning for which we have chosen this course is because the year before an autistic student was successfully incorporated in this class, specifically through Physical Education. We saw that the students in 5th grade demonstrated a great sensitivity towards this student, receiving as one more in the group and understanding his needs. All in all, the experience was very postive.
We will form 4 groups in the class and within each group will be an autistic student.
Also within each group will be the lead student, which will rotate and will be the one responsible for making sure that our student from the autism class will be integrated and doing the same activities as the others and attempting to always, with the helps of the others, directing and motivating him/her.
The teacher from the autism class and from 5th grade will always present and available, guiding and suggesting to all the students in a way that serves the guide for learning.
What we are going to do:
We will complete the follwing activites:
-Irrigation and mowing the lawn
-Pruning trees
-Cleaning gardens and wastes
- Sowing and transplanting plants
- Compost, fertilizer
- Seeding
- Sowing and irrigation of potted plants
Human resources and materials
In regards to human resources, we count on the collaboration of the entire educational community, that commits to helping and assiting when it is necessary. The group most directly impacted with this work will be two teachers and an assitant.
The material resources that we will use are: tools, gloves, soil, plants, seeds, fertilizer, and planters.
The idea of putting this educational project into place in general form has raised much interest among the educational community, which has committed to help in whatever form possible, so that our progect can develop and move forward.
