Embedded Files
Outdoor Classroom-Native Plant Collection
Outdoor Classroom-Native Plant Collection
Project Overview
Project Overview
Summary
Summary
As students are working on the school-wide outdoor classroom PBL, our class will create a collection of native plants. The goal is to create a community space that is enjoyable for the students to be in, but that also connects to the history and culture of the community.
Driving Question
Driving Question
How can we design a space that protects and respects local wildlife and the ecology, where students want to learn?
Community Connections
Community Connections
(possible connections)
The Cooperative Extension Office: 4-H Extension Agent (Caroline Goss), Local Food Program Assistant (Jill Cockerham)
Managers of Local Greenhouses and Nurseries: High Country Greenhouse, SunCatcher Passive Solar Greenhouses, Lyalls Nursery, Goss Nursery
Mentoring on plant care, sustainable growing, possible audience for final project presentation
Landscaping Company: Deeply Rooted Landscapes, Wildwood Landscaping
mentoring on design/layout/plant choice, presenting their plans to them
Ashe County Historical Society, Museum of Ashe County History
Mentoring on historic primary sources and other resources
Ashe County Library
Access to local/community historical documents (ie newspapers, county records) and mentoring on how to access/use these documents
Standards/Learning Targets
Standards/Learning Targets
Civics
CL.C&G.3 Analyze the various responsibilities of individuals living in the United States in terms of citizenship, civic participation, and the political process Students will be able to….
Know-the responsibilities of citizenship in their community
(being informed on the issues affecting our community, respecting/obeying federal/state/local law, participating in the local community)
Understand- why it is important to democracy and their community that they fulfill these responsibilities
(ethical and effective participation in the community happens when citizens are knowledgeable on the issues affecting our community and are working towards solutions, and all efforts towards solutions must follow federal/state/local law)
Do- the actions that fulfill the responsibilities of citizenship in their community
(Ensuring that the design of our outdoor classroom is sustainable, and in the best interest of our local community, while taking into consideration the specific problems facing our community
Ensuring that the design and construction of our outdoor classroom is aligned with federal, state, and local law
Participating in the construction of our outdoor classroom, and thinking of ways to involve the broader community
World
I.1.1 Compelling Questions- Identify issues and problems in social studies. Formulate questions based upon disciplinary concepts. Students will be able to…
Know-that Social Studies centers on identifying issues/problems in the community (locally, nationally, and globally)
(economic-related issues, social behaviors, lack of infrastructure, environmental issues, geographical impact on these issues)
Understand- the types of issues/problems that impact our community
(poverty, food stability, native plant decline, environmental changes)
Do- identify these issues/problems in our own community, and follow this up with a question on how to solve it
(develop a question(s) that addresses the outdoor classroom and the issues facing our community)
WH.B.2.2 Explain how competing groups and individual identities have impacted society, now and in the past. Students will be able to…
Know- that our community/area has developed a culture and that this culture impacts our society currently and historically
(local customs, symbols, language, norms, values, and artifacts)
Understand- how our community has used this culture to define ourselves in the context of the larger nation/world
(the various “labels” that have been used to describe our area: Western NC, the Appalachian Mountains, the South, and what these labels mean)
Do- Design a landscape plan and written anthology of this plan that paints a comprehensive picture of our community historically and currently
(involve the use of native plants, a landscape that protects/promotes the environment, plants that represent different aspects of our communities history, and any other creative elements that our students generate)
Skillsets:
Skillsets:
Analyzing historical sources (newspapers, records, interviews with community members, other documentation) and evidence
Interpreting secondary sources
Contextualizing
Synthesis
Patterns of continuity and change over time
Mindset: Creativity
Mindset: Creativity
Students’ ability to problem solve and generate new ideas on their own (in a digital AND physical format)
Students problem solve independently
Overview of Project
Overview of Project
Kick- Off Event
Kick- Off Event
Identifying native plants that are already here
From there, move into which ones are edible in anyway
Buckets:
Edible native plants/medicinal purposes
Traditional legends myths surrounding certain plants
Cultural connections to original tribes
Economic uses of these plants (ginseng, lumber products, tobacco)
Journalist/Documentation Team
Check Points
Check Points
Designs & templates involving native plants
A written explanation for each aspect of the cultural significance of the species, explaining the student’s plant choice and how it connects to the local community culturally and historically
A plan for securing these plants (that does no harm)
Cataloging raditional legends myths surrounding certain plants
Cultural connections to First Peoples
Economic uses of these plants (ginseng, lumber products, tobacco)
Culminating Event
Culminating Event
Typing up and presenting the information in a format that is student planned, professionally appearing, and accessible to future students
Creating a platform which can be accessed and referenced in the future
Checking/editing for errors and typos
Kickoff Event
Kickoff Event
Connection to the Standards:
Connection to the Standards:
To introduce our project to the Civics and Economics class, I gave them the general topic of "Designing a Landscape for the Outdoor Classroom" to plant a seed (haha) in their head about what we will be working on.
Next, I gave them a printed copy of the state standards for this class. These are freshmen, and some of these state standards use complicated language. So the first immediate goal was for them to decipher the concepts/ideas from the standards that the state wanted them to learn. Students decided that the best way to understand their meaning is to 'translate' the standards into phrasing that they understand. They wrote their translations below the original text on each of their copies.
Then the partner groups shared their translations with each other/the class, comparing translations, and make edits to their own.
Students spent the next couple of days brainstorming ways that we could develop a project that connects the outdoor classroom to the standards
Creating "Buckets"/ Roles:
Creating "Buckets"/ Roles:
Students then work together to identify the possible jobs or roles that will need to exist in order to implement their ideas.
They decided that a survey would be necessary, to determine what platforms their target audience most used and how to best reach them.
Brainstorming connections to standards, project ideas, and possible jobs and roles.
Project Timeline
Project Timeline
Examples of Student Work
Examples of Student Work
Flora & Fauna Project (1).pptxFlora Fauna Project.pptxFlora & Fauna Project.pptxflora fauna .pdfPage updated
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