“Do the central work of your institution with the garden, so that the garden is a valued element of university (or other institutional) programs, rather than a decorative (and dispensable) add-on.”
I think this is a key element to building and maintaining the school garden, as an important part of our institution. I was one of those students who thought school gardens were decorative elements. Although this doesn’t mean it’s devalued or insignificant, the fact I wasn’t able to consider it as an important component to learning is why the above point must be addressed and taught. I remember having lots of fun in my elementary school garden, planting, taking care, and harvesting, as part of a class activity or with the Green Team. This was during grade 3, since our grade 3 teacher was in charge of the school garden, and we would learn simple plant science/biology like photosynthesis!
Although math and the school garden might not seem related, they share similar concepts in the art and design of nature and the garden. Patterns, measurements, angles, geometry can be seen within the plants but also tie in into ideas like the angle of the sun or letting students explore what they can extract from a picture of the garden/plants to find math in the nature. This opens up creativity, and removes the limit on what the students can do with math concepts.
With the exploration activity, it benefits students to engage in hands-on learning while connecting abstract math concepts that they can go beyond what is taught in class (i.e., they can research too). However, some challenges could be time management in assigning a project while having to cover the curriculum, even though we are still relating concepts to units within the curriculum. As a teacher, I will have to make backup plans and schedules to accommodate for different situations, while making sure the students have enough time outside to explore their options during class time.
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