Community Chat: Curricular Connections and NGSS in the Garden

This event is hosted by the Kids Garden Community. Join us for a Community Chat on curricular connections in gardens! What is a Community Chat? A dedicated space and time for informal peer-to-peer networking to talk through challenges (big or small!), share ideas, or connect with other members Each Chat will focus on a broad theme with educators and practitioners available to answer your questions Think of these as “office hours” - join for the entire session to listen and learn or hop on at your convenience anytime during the hour to ask a question Next Up: Curricular Connections and NGSS in the Garden Date: Tuesday, September 17th 3:00-4:00PM ET Join this Community Chat to ask your questions and share ideas about all things related to connecting gardening to curricula and standards! We can chat about existing NGSS-aligned garden curriculum and resources, favorite lessons and activities connected to various subjects, tips for building educator confidence in the garden, and anything else you'd like to discuss. From those new to gardening to seasoned educators, everyone is welcome! Sign up below: (If you're interested but can't attend, feel free to sign up to let us know what questions you have or if you're interested in a recording of the Chat) 9/17/24 3PM EST Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAscumvrTgiG9YY73RaJUpt5nVddVQphgyS

Webinar: Some is Something: Healthful, Healing, and Nourishing Herbs

This webinar is hosted by the School Garden Support Organization Network High school students benefit exponentially from time in the garden! In many school communities, deeply nourishing food access is limited. However, some is something! By learning to add fresh herbs that grow abundantly in the school garden to meals, students can significantly impact their own health. According to the work of Dr. Drew Ramsey, simply adding herbs can benefit health physically, mentally, and emotionally. Let’s gather for a discussion on empowering high school students to grow, harvest, prepare and preserve the gifts of the garden. We will focus on five herbs, explore their culinary uses, healing benefits, and preservation practices. Recipes will be shared along with a cooking demonstration for flatbread and herbal butter. Compound butter is a beautiful and delicious way to preserve herbs of the autumn season to enjoy over the winter months. These two recipes are favorites of the students at Newark High School. Presenters will include: - Leona Vrbanac, Culinary Teacher and Garden Manager at Newark High School, Newark, OH. This live webinar is a part of the six month Growing School Garden Summit Webinar Series, featuring presentations from the March 2024 Growing School Gardens Summit

Webinar: Cooking With Kids in the School Garden

This webinar series is presented by Life Lab in partnership with KidsGardening. Join us for a webinar exploring the exciting world of nutrition right from your school garden! Register now. Focus areas will include: Student Engagement: Learn how to engage your students in growing, tasting, and appreciating fresh and healthy foods. Garden and Program Design: Discover how to create a garden space that nurtures both plants and young minds, exploring ideas for garden layouts and learning activities tailored to different age groups. Outdoor Cooking Skills: Discover essential cooking techniques that are safe and suitable for teaching outdoors. We'll cover basic food preparation, fireless cooking methods, essential knife skills, basic food preparation and creating outdoor culinaryexperiences for students. Understanding Young Palates: Gain insights into how to introduce young children to diverse and nutritious foods. Discover strategies to encourage nourishing eating habits in the early years. Deconstructing Food Shaming: We'll address the important issue of food shaming, discussing its impact on young minds and ways to foster a positive and accepting relationship with food. ____________ This webinar is part of a yearlong "In the Growing Classroom" webinar series presented by Life Lab that blends the marvels of nature, the magic of cross-curricular connections, and the joy of culinary exploration! This 6-part series invites you to explore effective outdoor classroom management, integrating Next Generation Science Standards and the C3 Framework for Social Studies into garden education and the culinary arts through traditional and heat-free methods. Learn More and Register for Any Webinar in this Series

In-Person: Engineering in the Garden Workshop

This workshop is held in person at Life Lab's Garden Classroom on the UC Santa Cruz Campus. Learn to facilitate engineering experiences for students in the garden! Participants will engage in a 3rd-5th grade unit designed for Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), in which students design and build trellises for peas in the school garden. We will make observations; design, build and test prototypes; and then build full-size trellises to grow peas. By unpacking this unit, we will learn how to facilitate engineering experiences that address real problems or needs in school gardens. You will leave with resources to lead this unit, and also a framework for designing your own engineering in the garden unit.

Santa Cruz Area School Food and Garden Tour

This event is hosted by Life Lab. The Santa Cruz area is home to robust, long standing school food and garden programs. Join us to visit resilient school gardens and innovative scratch cooking school meal programs that are exemplary of the programming that has been running for decades.

Webinar: Teaching Social Studies in the Garden with the C3 Framework

This webinar series is presented by Life Lab in partnership with KidsGardening. Join us for a webinar exploring the fusion of social studies education and outdoor learning through the lens of the C3 Framework. This session will guide educators, parents, and garden enthusiasts to harness the power of gardens as vibrant settings for teaching social studies concepts, promoting civic literacy, and nurturing active, informed citizens. Focus areas will include: Exploring the C3 Framework: Understand the foundations of the C3 Framework and its significance in promoting inquiry-based, civics-focused social studies education. Discovering the Garden as a Social Studies Classroom: Learn how to transform your garden into an engaging, hands-on social studies classroom where students explore history, geography, economics, and civics in a natural and interactive environment. Cultivating Community Connections: Discover how garden-based social studies education fosters connections with local communities and encourages civic engagement among students. Discussing Real-World Examples: Hear inspiring success stories and practical examples from educators who have effectively used the C3 Framework to teach social studies in the garden. Whether you're an educator eager to enrich your social studies curriculum, a parent interested in fostering civic literacy, or a garden enthusiast passionate about social studies, this webinar will equip you with knowledge and strategies to create a dynamic, garden-based social studies learning experience. ____________ This webinar is part of a yearlong "In the Growing Classroom" webinar series presented by Life Lab that blends the marvels of nature, the magic of cross-curricular connections, and the joy of culinary exploration! This 6-part series invites you to explore effective outdoor classroom management, integrating Next Generation Science Standards and the C3 Framework for Social Studies into garden education and the culinary arts through traditional and heat-free methods. Learn More and Register for Any Webinar in this Series