Learning Connections

Actions related to designing, creating and maintaining a school garden may help your EcoTeam complete related EcoSchools Canada Action Cards. 

Related Action Cards: 

• The Bondar Challenge - Take inspiration from the work of Dr. Roberta Bondar and get connected to nature through the lens of a camera!

• Community Clean-Up - Remove litter from the environment, learn about proper waste sorting, and demonstrate the power of working together!

• Community Science - Become a community scientist (also known as citizen scientist) and contribute to important environmental research projects from across Canada, and beyond!

• Connect With Nearby Nature - Grow deeper connections to nearby-nature and share your learning by developing place-based field guides, maps, or signage!

• Create Homes for Wildlife - Support wildlife populations by creating safe spaces they can nest, feed, and play.

• EcoCode - An EcoCode is your school’s environmental policy or mission statement that demonstrates your commitment to climate action.

• Earth Day - Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22nd and is a great opportunity to take action for the environment!

• Environmental Health - Learn about environmental health hazards and ways to protect yourself, your friends, your family, and the environment.

• Environmental Literacy - Deepen environmental literacy by providing opportunities for all students at your school to learn IN, ABOUT, and FOR the environment.

• Grow a Food Garden - Get your hands dirty, grow food for your community, and learn about plants and nutrition in an outdoor food garden.

• Indoor Gardening and Greenhouses - Bring gardening inside for hands-on, year-round learning about plants, food, and nutrition.

• Low-mow zone - Let a grassy area of your school grounds grow wild and start studying with nature!

• Meatless Mondays - Reduce greenhouse gas emission by participating in Meatless Monday!

• Pollinator Garden - Plant a pollinator garden at your school and create a space that is not only beneficial to pollinators like bees and butterflies, but is also fertile grounds for learning

• Professional Development - Enhance your environmental skills and knowledge by participating in webinars, workshops, or conferences.

• Sit Spot - Cultivate awareness and well-being by regularly visiting one specific spot where you can sit, slow down, awaken your senses, and learn more about yourself and the local environment.

• Take Me Outside Day - Commit to spending at least one hour outside with your class for Take Me Outside Day

• Tree Planting and Maintenance - Plant and care for trees on your school grounds and experience the benefits for decades to come.

• Vermicomposting and Outdoor Composting - Get your hands dirty and turn your food scraps into nutrient-rich soil.

The Emerging Green Technologies department at Don Mills CI leads in the development of practices, connections, and possibilities found within an emerging green urban infrastructure. The department connects green concepts for learning design, systems, and environmental stewardship.  The goal is to create optimal learning conditions and facilities and collaborate with industry partners and stakeholders. The school learning environment includes gardens, an outdoor kitchen and eating areas, a small orchard, a vineyard, and an aquaponics system.

For more information:

• Don Mills C.I.: Emerging Green Technologies

The OISE Community Learning Garden is found in six large concrete planters at the front of the OISE building (252 Bloor St. West in Toronto), and each has its own theme related to foundational concepts of OISE's programs: Indigenous Education, Equity, and Inclusive Education, Holistic Education, Creativity in Education, and Environmental & Sustainability Education. The gardens are symbolic of collaborative learning and act as a demonstration site to inspire educators to integrate nature-based learning into their own personal and professional lives.

For more information:

• OISE Community Learning Garden