Santa Clara Habitat & Garden

Santa Clara Elementary Schoolyard Habitat and Community Garden

Service and Respect

Intergenerational; a model for bringing together beautification, support of wildlife, and traditional culture including healing and nutrition.

See also the Santa Clara Garden Review activity.

Benefits

The Habitat & Garden project covers all of these disciplines and skills for students:

Art

• Labeling
• Sketching
• Nature art
• Water color
• Illustration
• Landscaping and garden design
• Woodworking
• Multimedia
• Sculpture

Economics

• Professional resources
• Career opportunities
• Grant writing
• Fund raising
• Marketing
• Bookkeeping
• Budgeting

Math

• Problem solving
• Bookkeeping
• Estimation
• Graphing
• Time

Language Arts

• Letter writing
• Grant writing
• Computer skills
• Cooperative planning and work
• Oral presentations
• Journals and reflection
• Reading and research
• Musical composition
• Tewa terms
• Poetry

Science

• Inquiry
• Observation
• Classification
• Health and nutrition
• Life sciences
• Botany

Social Studies and History

• Map making
• Current gardening methods
• Community needs and how they influence living
• Research of traditional plant uses and gardening techniques
• Human, plant, and animal habitats

Challenges

These are the major challenges involved with a community garden project such as this:

• Community involvement
• Management
• Compensation and financing
• Student involvement
• School reform
• Student centered learning
• Time must involve students
• Staff buy-in
• Evaluation of students
• Public relations
• Team teaching
• Parental support
• Traditional leadership
• Location of garden
• Water