River Road / El Camino del Rio Elementary School

Welcome to the STEM-based garden component of a free after-school program at River Road/El Camino del Río Elementary. All 65+ kids in the after-school program rotated through 'garden', and many chose to repeat it often. While classified as a recreational portion of the academic enrichment program, these garden lessons were also designed to provide inquiry-based learning of science, technology, engineering and math.

Over the 2012-13 school year I led three groups of 1-2nd or 3-4th graders at a time, each for an hour twice a week, with sessions lasting two to six weeks. Groups varied in size, usually under ten, and I had a series of great volunteers to help lead garden stations. Sessions started by identifying garden rules, often followed by tasting and a scavenger hunt (e.g. how many pumpkins... what kinds of fruit trees?). Then we'd move through a module of the 'STEM in the Garden Curricula', compiled by the not-for-profit School Garden Project of Lane County. Modules I taught this year: plant parts, plant need, soil, compost, season extenders, and garden planning.

At right you can click on a few samples of how I applied the STEM curricula, including what worked well and what I'd do differently. What a great year!

Measuring worms in the dark of winter