GardenABCs
School Garden Workshops and Training
These workshops will give you insights on how to connect kids to the garden, and create, maintain and sustain youth garden projects. Also check out these helpful resources:
Become a GardenABCs Partner
Just like a garden, our community is GROWING! Learn how to become an official partner, advertiser, and more! Contact us.
Just like a garden, our community is GROWING! Learn how to become an official partner, advertiser, and more! Contact us.
Training & Workshops
Chicago Botanic Garden Outreach Programs
JANUARY 23 – MARCH 30, 2012
Enrich your curriculum and have the Chicago Botanic Garden come to you! Choose from a variety of programs that feature plant topics appropriate for specific grade levels.
Details: Tuesday and Thursday, 60-minute program(s) between 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m., $115 for one class (maximum 30 students), $100 for each additional class on the same day at the same location
Schools located more than 20 miles from the Chicago Botanic Garden will be charged a $50 mileage fee.
SURPRISING SEEDS (PRE-K – 2)
Maximum number of students: 30
IL Standards Supported: 12A1a, 12A1b, 12C1b
What is inside a seed? As junior botanists, students learn about seed parts and how they work together to produce a new plant. Students will pot a seed to take home. Tentative activities include the following:
• Seed Dissection
• Build-a-Seed
GARDEN GROCERIES (PRE-K – 2)
Maximum number of students: 30
IL Standards Supported: 12A1a, 12A1b, 12C1b
Students will discover the relationship between plant parts and the foods we eat. An exploration to study some living examples is included. Students pot an edible plant to take home. Tentative activities include the following:
• Plant Parts Puzzle
• Plant Parts Sorting
FLOWER LAB (3 – 5)
Maximum number of students: 30
IL Standards Supported: 12A2a, 12B2a
Why do some plants make flowers? As junior botanists, students learn about flower parts and how flowers, with help from pollinators, produce seeds. Students will pot a flower seed to take home. Tentative activities include the following:
• Flower Dissection
• Build-a-Flower
Openlands Building Urban Gardens Program
Saturdays, Jan 28 - Mar 3
BUGs (Building Urban Gardens) is a series of 6 hands-on classes taught by experts in the field of urban horticulture. Each class builds on the next, starting with drafting a basic sustainable garden design and filling it in after each following class with the most ecologically appropriate hardscape features, plants and maintenance elements.
BUGs is designed to support local access to healthy food in addition to supporting community gardens and improving the natural environment in our metropolitan area. Class enrollment, as well as full or partial scholarships, are based on prospective students’ interest and willingness to promote these goals.
BUGs faculty and graduates are committed to ecological, inexpensive, and creative ways of making our area’s green spaces thrive. ..naturally!
BUGs Graduates who have taken all the classes, volunteered 16 hours and passed a practical exam outdoors in community gardens are awarded a Lady Bug pin and certificate as proof of their BUGs skills. Aurora University Graduate Credit is available.
One of the perks of taking this class is spending 6 wintry Saturday mornings starting January 28, 2012 and running through March 3rd in the wonderful and warm Garfield Park Conservatory.
Email jsamuels@openlands.org or call Julie at 312/863-6256 for the full brochure and registration form.
Healthy School Environment
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: A Centerpiece for a Healthy School Environment: Part II - 2012 Winter/Spring Season
Dates: February & March at various locations in California
Topics to be covered:
Serving up More Fruits and Vegetables in School Lunch
Promoting Fruits and Vegetables in Schools
Regional Farm to School Efforts
Greening School Grounds
Building a Support Team
Nutrition Education in the Garden
Nutrition Education and Academic Connections
From the Garden to the Classroom
From the Garden to the Cafeteria
Comparative Tastings to Support Nutrition Education
Power Play Presentation
Chicago Botanic Garden Educator Programs
Art and Science with Found Objects: A Workshop for Preschool Teachers
Feb 18 at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Feb 25 at Kohl’s Children Museum, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Fee: $150 ($120 for Educator Members),
Grade level: PreK – 2, CPDU credit: 15, CPS Lane credit: 1, Graduate credit: 1 (An additional fee for graduate credit ($100 per credit though Aurora University and $140 per credit through National Louis University) will be collected on the first day of the workshop.)
The Chicago Botanic Garden and Kohl’s Children Museum are excited to partner for the first time to offer this workshop for preschool teachers. This workshop will focus on creating art using re-purposed materials and incorporating science using natural materials into your classroom. This class is designed for preK educators but is adaptable for preK – 2.
Citizen Science in Chicago Wilderness: A Workshop for Educators
Monday, February 20, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Chicago Botanic Garden
Workshop Fee: $40 per person, Exhibitor Fee: $65 per person (includes lunch and exhibit space), Exhibitor registration deadline – February 13, 2012
CPDU credit: 6
Sponsoring Agencies: Chicago Wilderness, Chicago Botanic Garden, Audubon Chicago Region, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
Citizen science projects provide authentic learning opportunities for students and classrooms to explore wildlife conservation and biodiversity recovery efforts within the Chicago Wilderness region. This workshop is designed to introduce teachers and non-formal educators to local, regional, and national citizen-science data collection programs taking place within our region's living landscapes, and provide opportunities for your students to become citizen scientists. Featured programs include "The Habitat Project" of Chicago Wilderness, "Project BudBurst" of the National Ecological Observation Network, "eBird" and other projects of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and model citizen science projects taking place in Chicago Wilderness.
Year Round School Gardening
Mar 17 at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Mar 24 at Arturo Velasquez Institute,
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Fee: $150 ($120 for Educator Members), Grade level: PreK – 12, CPDU credit: 15, CPS Lane credit: 1, Graduate credit: 1
(An additional fee for graduate credit ($100 per credit though Aurora University and $140 per credit through National Louis University) will be collected on the first day of the workshop.)
Greenhouses and cold frames help you extend your fruit and vegetable growing season past the summer months in your school garden. Gain the resources to restore greenhouses or build simple low tunnels, hoophouses, or cold frames for your school garden. Outcomes include developing a crop plan, learning about organic gardening techniques, and observing successful working models at Dyett/Washington Park Green Youth Farm.
Life Lab Spring 2012 Educator Workshops
at the Life Lab Garden Classroom on the UC Santa Cruz Farm
New Offering!! Supporting English Learners in Science
March 10 - 9am-3:30pm
This one-day workshop is designed for K-12 classroom teachers of English Learners. Science content and process skills provide an excellent opportunity for students to develop their English language skills. Using science lessons, based on current grade level standards, we will discuss effective strategies for creating reading, writing, listening and speaking opportunities for your students. $150
The Growing Classroom: Introduction to Garden-Based Learning
March 22-23 - 9am-3:30pm
This two-day workshop is ideal for those interested in supplementing their existing science program with garden-based learning. Using The Growing Classroom activity guide for grades 2-6, you’ll experience hands-on activities, learn basic science concepts and gardening techniques, and develop management strategies for a school gardening program. $300
Plant It, Grow It, Eat It: Garden-Enhanced Nutrition Education (Spring Version) - March 30 - 9am-3pm
This one-day workshop will help you make the connection from seed to table. In a fun and delicious way, you will explore ways to teach nutrition to elementary and middle school students through gardening, harvesting, and meal preparation. In the spring version, we will cover food groups, cultural connections around food, theme plantings and tastings for spring, and more. $150
New Offering!! Science Inquiry in the Garden
May 17 - 9am-3pm
This one-day workshop will offer a process for developing science inquiries in your schoolyard or garden. Designed for K-8 teachers, you will learn strategies to encourage your students to explore the world around them. Based on the current content standards in science, we will use a model that can adapted to any grade level. $150
Sowing the Seeds of Wonder: Discovering the Garden in Early Childhood Education - May 19 - 9am-3pm
This one-day workshop gives you the opportunity to see the garden through the eyes of a young child. Learn to set up a garden space to encourage children to explore, ask questions, and connect to the natural world. Using Sowing the Seeds of Wonder: Discovering the Garden in Early Childhood Education, you will learn activities to engage children’s curiosity and enthusiasm while introducing fundamental ideas in environmental science and nutrition. $150
At a Life Lab Garden Classroom Workshop you will:
• be inspired by our model educational garden site
• take a walking tour of the 25-acre UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems' organic farm
• meet and learn from other garden-based educators
• enjoy a farm-fresh meal
• take home a Life Lab publication or lesson packets to use in the garden or classroom.
1 semester credit of graduate education credit available for an additional $60/workshop day.
Green Teacher Webinars
Topic: Schoolyards Re-Imagined: School Ground Innovation in the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond
Tuesday, March 27, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. EST
Presenter: Sharon Danks
Schools around the world are using their grounds to enhance hands-on teaching and learning, enrich outdoor play, and improve the ecology of their neighborhoods. Sharon Danks will present a vibrant slideshow that takes us on a journey to explore the growing movement toward "green" school grounds. Along the way, we will “visit” some of the world's most innovative green schoolyards including schools with: edible gardens with fruit trees, vegetables, chickens, honeybees, and outdoor cooking facilities; wildlife habitats with ponds or forest ecosystems; schoolyard watershed models, rainwater catchment systems, and waste-water treatment wetlands; renewable energy systems that power landscape features or the whole school; waste-as-a-resource projects that give new life to old materials in beautiful ways; curriculum connections for a wide range of disciplines from science and math to art and social studies; and creative play opportunities that diversify school ground recreational options and encourage children to explore the natural world while they run, hop, skip, jump, balance, slide, and twirl. The talk will also ground these examples in a practical framework that schools can use to make their schoolyards more comfortable, enjoyable, and sustainable, and describe a participatory design process to engage school communities as stewards of their own public spaces.
Suitability: All formal and non-formal youth educators, school administrators, parents, environmentalists, and design professionals
As you become certified, not only will you become more knowledgeable and able to create your own spectacular Square Foot Garden, but you will also have the opportunity to officially teach in your community and elsewhere.
Green Teacher Network 2010-2011 Workshops
Chicago's educational resource network for schools with gardens or “growing windowsills" that use gardening activities to support curricular goals. The first workshop will be at Dyett High School in Chicago on October 8th.
From Seed to Seed: Plant Science for K-8 Educators
National Gardening Association, At-home study
Certifications & Networks
Natural Teachers Network
Whether you are a Natural Teacher in schools, parks, nonprofit organizations, or government agencies, or someone who wants to learn more about the process, the Children & Nature Network invite you to join the Natural Teachers Network. By joining, you will find support for your efforts, through teacher-to-teacher connections and sharing. Additionally, C&NN plans to provide a Natural Teachers toolkit, with resources that will help you continue to act on your conviction that “nature is often the best teacher."
Michigan Recycling Coalition Recyling Cerfication Program
Register your school! MRC Certified Recyclers will stand apart from their peers as they demonstrate a commitment to make choices that conserve resources, reduce waste, recycle, and purchase green.
Natural Teachers Network
Whether you are a Natural Teacher in schools, parks, nonprofit organizations, or government agencies, or someone who wants to learn more about the process, the Children & Nature Network invite you to join the Natural Teachers Network. By joining, you will find support for your efforts, through teacher-to-teacher connections and sharing. Additionally, C&NN plans to provide a Natural Teachers toolkit, with resources that will help you continue to act on your conviction that “nature is often the best teacher."
Michigan Recycling Coalition Recyling Cerfication Program
Register your school! MRC Certified Recyclers will stand apart from their peers as they demonstrate a commitment to make choices that conserve resources, reduce waste, recycle, and purchase green.
