Garden Weedos in the news!

Ella’s time at Malcolm X Elementary School Garden

Ella Bhat  In the Fall we learned about the seasons and observed how the garden changes at different times of the year. We observed the falling leaves on deciduous trees and the persistent green leaves on our evergreen trees. With the pre-K and kindergarten students, we learned about decomposition and how fallen leaves and dead…

Malcolm X Elementary Garden

Brittany Honig When I first stepped foot in the garden at Malcolm X Elementary School I was wearing jeans, a nice shirt, lots of jewelry and my usual zebra print bag. I was greeted by Rivka and the smell of soil. I immediately realized it had been far too long since I had dirt under…

LEGUMES & THE NITROGEN CYCLE

We LOVE science! We LOVE plants! We LOVE microbes! The third graders learn about life cycles in their classroom, so we taught them about the nitrogen cycle in the garden! We focused on how special plants called legumes are able to trap and harness atmospheric nitrogen in little Rhizobia-filled nodules in their roots that we…

A BALANCING ACT

Which is heavier: a piece of fennel or a brassica inflorescence? Find out in the garden! We gave students an assemblage of objects from the garden including rocks, sticks, and plant parts. They were asked to choose one object and compare its weight to their partner’s. First, students made a prediction. “My object will be…

SPRING ROLLS!

Spring has sprung everybody! The brassica flowers are blooming, the California weather is warmer, and the beautiful birds are singing! This week in the garden we made delicious spring rolls using plants the kids had grown. First, we took rice paper wrappers and soaked them in cool water while we walked around the garden foraging. The…

MATH IN THE GARDEN

As the second graders learn about inches and centimeters in their classroom, they get to practice those skills in the garden. Students pair up and bring a yard stick, pencil, and graph paper with them as they search for plants to measure. Once they find a suitable plant, they place one end of the yard…

TEA TIME IN THE GARDEN

While many children make nutritious snacks in the garden, some also formulate creative beverages during lunch! A group of fourth-grade girls bring cups of water into the garden and fill them with flavorful herbs. These students brightened up their water with sour grass, lemon balm, mint, curly kale, fennel, and miners lettuce. Combine it all…

THANKS FOR HELPING ME GROW FROM A SEED TO A PLANT

As each school year comes to an end, my school mailbox fills with love letters from many students. One that stood out for me this year was from Zev a graduating 5th grader who was the first student that showed an interest in saving seeds on his own, in his backyard garden. I gave him…

WHAT’S FRESH IN THE GARDEN

With all the NGSS, (New Generation Science Standards) classes are geared to inspired curiosity of the natural world, which allows students to learn how to communicate about things that really matter to them. Whether they are graphing the temperature of the compost pile over time, learning about soil microbes or practicing to measure calculate or…