Past projects 3
PS 84 Fearless Gardeners Urban Roots Outdoor Learning Tools
Funded Sep 18, 2022We have such a wonderful and dedicated team of parents and supporters! THANK YOU so much for funding our project. This will help me with on-the-spot teachable moments in the garden to provide visuals to students' questions or musings. This will be a great enhancement to our program.”
With gratitude,
Ms. B
Help My Students Learn With a STEAM-Based Garden Experience!
Funded Sep 12, 2019Thank you for funding our STEAM Based Science Garden Experience Project!!
My students are thrilled to be using these tools in their classroom and garden!
My fifth graders start their time lapse camera project next week, and are preparing their ideas for filming. Their understanding and vocabulary has exploded with ideas for this project. It is this type of thinking that creates innovative and deeper understanding for the concepts children need to know. We can't wait to share the results with you! We hope to post some of their work on our instagram account. (#ps84fearlessgardeners)
Our 3rd Grade Students made predictions and tested soil with the new testing kits, and learned how chemical differences in our environment affect all other things. Small changes (like your donations) can indeed influence big differences! My 2nd and 4th graders are excited to begin their next unit project with the erosion tables. This has been a three year dream for our school to do real erosion experiments, and we are so thankful for your donations to make this a reality.
Our hydroponic grow tower is up and running again, with thanks to the supplies funded from this project. Students enjoyed planting the seedlings in the new clay bead rock medium, (a much safer and kid friendly way to plant the tower with these new supplies.....) and they were amazed at the harvest. Who doesn't want to work with rocks during class? I know that my students need to DO things in order to learn. They love nature, (and they love to eat food that they grow), and it is thrilling to see them busy in action.
For our youngest learners, they particularly loved our new library resource rug, which is used for their circle time and reading. One student said "this looks like the best grass of all!" It gives the room a grounding with such a calm natural feel, and it is wonderful to see them all seated there, ready to learn! It is surrounded by our library resource area. For our exceptional students, this space is used to help calm their bodies, and center themselves.
Many of the other small manipulatives and supplies from this project are used constantly, and are absolutely necessary for daily work for every single grade. It is such a pleasure to work in a space that is well equipped with hands-on resources, where I can support a multitude of learning styles. I have 658 students, and they are also thankful for your donation to make our classroom a favorite place to learn. THANK YOU for your donations! We hope you come visit some time!”
With gratitude,
Ms. B
Hands-on Learning for Our Environmental Science, Garden, & Nutrition Students
Funded Aug 23, 2018Thank you to our amazing donors who funded our project so quickly!! We were able to receive the supplies, and prepare the room for our students. We were thrilled to be able to use our new projector. This was a necessary part of us being able to show students many new concepts and images that we would not be able to acquire to show them in person. We are able to zoom in on small plant parts and show the whole class. This was an integral part of our teaching, and having this resource made our teaching easier, and made the taught subjects more meaningful for the students.
Our Nutrition classes could not have started without this grant! From beautiful colour coordinated cutting boards, to "kid-friendly" knives, whisks, spatulas, and other tools; our Nutrition classes are now well equipped and Safe! We are thrilled to see the children already putting these tools to use. Our first big roll-out of "Kids in the Kitchen" was the week of October 15th-19th, and it was great fun for our students, other teachers, and parent volunteers!
We were able to repair and reuse a large three-level grow light planter which stands 6 feet tall. With the addition of the new planting supplies of plant markers, row covers, stakes and seedling soil; it has make this project complete. The children are already planting and seeing how seedlings grow. The laminator has made our work able to stand up to the elements ... planting and watering usually make our paperwork and instructions for the children wet and soiled. But now, having a laminator in our room helps us mark things for the students that will last a long time, creates a cleaner environment with less waste, and we will certainly be using it for outdoor signs! We look forward to using the balance of the Gardening items in our new roof garden, which will open up in March! We hope you all come take a look at what we have done with your kind and generous donations!”
With gratitude,
Ms. B
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 11 other donors.