Green Our Planet’s turn-key Outdoor Garden STEM Program is now the largest and one of the most comprehensive school garden programs offered in the United States. It is also the only school garden program in the United States accredited by STEMWORKS, a national organization that rigorously evaluates STEM programs using strict criteria.
Outdoor Classroom Garden Curriculum
Green Our Planet’s Pre-K through fifth-grade STEM garden curriculum, which follows Next Generation Science Standards, allows teachers to teach STEM subjects directly in the school garden instead of in the classroom. Released in the Fall of 2014, it is now in its third edition.
Special Needs Curriculum
In 2015, Green Our Planet secured funding for Jennifer Davis, a special education teacher at Desert Oasis High School, to create a new curriculum to train special needs students in vocations related to gardening so they can find employment after graduating high school at a nursery or in landscaping. This curriculum is aligned to Nevada State Standards and became available in 2015. It can be used by middle and high school teachers throughout Nevada.
Outdoor Classroom Garden Design And Build
Green Our Planet is always there to help with school garden design and builds. As a C-10 Licensed Contractor-Landscaper organization (license #0084705), our in-house garden builders are capable of designing everything from a standard, 6-bed school garden to the most complex of garden layouts.
Garden Educator
Each week, a Green Our Planet garden educator visits the school garden for one hour to show students and teachers how to successfully grow a variety of produce. The garden educator models science lessons in the garden and provides horticultural support (what types of crops to plant, when to plant and harvest). Our garden educators use regenerative and organic farming methods as they pass their knowledge onto the next generation of farmers.
Garden Coordinator
The most sustainable school garden programs are those that are run by garden teams composed of a teacher from each grade level. We help form these teams, and assign coordinators to attend the monthly Garden Team meetings to help schools achieve their vision for a school garden. Our coordinators are college-educated and bring a wide variety of skills to the schools, including architectural design, hydroponics, graphic arts, horticulture, and health sciences.
Virtual Academy
Teachers can deepen their students’ knowledge of STEM subjects by having their students watch curricula-aligned video lessons taught by Green Our Planet’s farmers, teachers, and hydroponics experts. With new videos added each week, there’s always more to learn at Green Our Planet’s Virtual Academy!
Additional Program Features
Check out our additional program features that help make our program one of the most comprehensive school garden programs in the United States. From holding farmers markets or having chefs teach students about nutrition, there’s all sorts of opportunities to incorporate experiential, hands-on teaching that is guaranteed to give students the knowledge and skills that will benefit them in the future.
