Youth Education Resources

Gardening with Youth, Schools, and Families
Internet Resources

South Bay
California
UC Programs
Nationwide
Worldwide
School Gardening Curriculum
Worms and Composting Activities and Curriculum
Wildlife Activities and Curriculum

South Bay

Getting Going Growing

Susan Stansbury at Getting Going Growing provides support for school gardens. Phone 650-938-9300 (x11) or email.

Getting Going Growing is a non-profit community collaborative that provides support to school gardens in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.
http://conexions.org/wordpress/?page_id=33

They also have a Yahoo! Group for discussions and notices regarding school gardening. Subscribe to this group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GetGoingGrowing/

Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County

You can ask Master Gardeners your general gardening questions through the hotline M-F 9am-noon at: 408-282-3105

or post inquiries online at:
http://www.mastergardeners.org/email.html

If you need woodchips for your garden, ask an arborist.(avoid diseased trees, bay, eucalyptus, and walnut) For a list of Santa Clara County Certified Arborists, look one up on the International Society of Arboriculture website.

The Watershed Project

An excellent source for learning about teaching youth about gardening is the “Kids in Gardens” workshop put on by The Watershed Project. These classes are held year-round throughout the Bay Area. For the latest class schedule visit:
http://www.thewatershedproject.org/default/index.php?q=educ_prog/educators/workshops/KIG

California

California State Board of Education

Academic science content standards for kindergarten through grade twelve, adopted by the California State Board of Education.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/scmain.asp

For a guide showing how garden-based education (GBE) strongly supports the state’s academic content standards take a look at
A Child’s Garden of Standards.

California School Garden Network

The School Garden Network serves as a central organization to distribute school garden resources and support throughout the state.
http://www.csgn.org/

California Foundation for Agriculture

California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom publishes a monthly email newsletter with numerous agriculture related topics for educators and students. They also sponser an annual educators conference.
http://www.cfaitc.org/

Life Lab

Located at UC Santa Cruz, Life Lab helps teachers with school gardens and hands-on science programs using school gardening curriculum, providing fieldtrips, and educator workshops, and more.
http://www.lifelab.org

UC Programs

General information on Poisonous Plants

Your Plants... Safe or Poisonous? Information on plant toxicity.

http://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/ce/king/PoisPlant/

Vegetable Research & Information Center Science Fair Projects

Science fair projects suitable for elementary school students. They teach simple horticultural concepts with vegetable crops.

http://vric.ucdavis.edu/history/science.htm

Children's Garden Program at UC Davis

Offers a working farm and garden site for school children to visit and learn about garden ecology and growing food, and offers hands-on training for college students, teachers, parents and volunteers who work with school gardens.
http://childrensgarden.ucdavis.edu/

UCANR Farm to School

UCANR's program to build connections and collaborations in agriculture, youth development, and nutrition education.
http://groups.ucanr.org/F2S/index.cfm

Alameda County Master Gardeners School and Community Gardening

List of resources for school garden organizers
http://groups.ucanr.org/ACMG/School%5Fand%5FCommunity%5FGardening/

School Gardens at UCCE San Diego County

Information on starting a school garden, growing tips, activities, and more.
http://commserv.ucdavis.edu/CESanDiego/Schlgrdn/HomePage.html

Common Ground Garden Program (UCCE Los Angeles)

UC Cooperative Extension's Common Ground Garden Program Manager, Yvonne Savio, maintains an eList of school garden resources and funding possibilities. Although many of the opportunities are for Los Angeles County, she brings interesting and relevant news. Email her at ydsavio@ucdavis.edu to subscribe. Also visit the website at:
http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/Common_Ground_Garden_Program/

Nationwide

Kids Gardening

Kids Gardening through the National Gardening Association provides monthly ideas for use in both the classroom and at home: http://www.kidsgardening.com/

School Garden Weekly

A Los Angeles based Master Gardener, George Pessin, has created a weekly blog devoted to school gardens. The site contains useful links, how-to videos and tips. This is truly a useful site for school gardens state-wide.
http://www.schoolgardenweekly.com/

Worldwide

The Growing Connection

The Growing Connection (TGC) is a grassroots project developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the American Horticultural Society and other partners. TCG links people and cultures in a revolutionary campaign that introduces low-cost water efficient and sustainable food growing innovations hand in hand with wireless IT connectivity.
http://www.thegrowingconnection.org/

School Gardening Curriculum

Junior Master Gardener

The Junior Master Gardener program is a curriculum out of the 4H program in Texas.
http://www.jmgkids.us/

Growing in the Garden

A K-3 gardening curriculum designed for classroom use from the Iowa State University Extension.
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/GrowingintheGarden/

Terrain for Schools

Terrain for Schools provides a curriculum for high school and college age, created by the Ecology Center in Berkeley. It is free on-line at
www.ecologycenter.org/tfs

Better Understanding Garden Science (BUGS) Program

The Brittan Acres Elementary PTA in San Carlos CA sponsors a program that allows students to enjoy hands-on science in an outdoor garden setting. Parent volunteers present monthly lessons.
http://bruin.brittan.sancarlos.k12.ca.us/programs.html

Worms and Composting Activities and Curriculum

School Waste Management Education and Assistance

The Waste Board provides free curriculum that offers accurate and current waste management information that encourages "reduce, reuse, and recycle" in the classroom and at home while making it exciting and interesting for both teachers and students.
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Schools/Curriculum/default.htm

A great vermicomposting guide is available at:
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Schools/Curriculum/Worms/default.htm

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Kids Pages provide vermicompost activities and information.
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/worms.htm

Mary Appelhof

Pioneer of worm composting, Mary was the first to actively educate the public. Her business Flowerfield Enterprises, is a mail-order business and publisher of products and books related to worm composting.
http://www.wormwoman.com/

Wildlife Activities and Curriculum

National Wildlife Federation

Schoolyard Habitats guide is designed to help educators of all kinds to garden for wildlife as part of their teaching.
http://www.nwf.org/schoolyard/

Junior Master Gardener – Wildlife Gardener

The combined resources of the National Wildlife Federation and the Junior Master Gardener Program have helped to shape Wildlife Gardener into an integrated, engaging, and one-of-a-kind experience for kids.
http://www.jmgkids.us/index.k2?did=3353&sectionID=3353

Journey North

Journey North engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/

Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program

WHEP (Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program) is a 4-H youth natural resource program dedicated to teaching wildlife and fisheries habitat management.
http://www.whep.org/