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Thursday, May 09, 2013
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Educators
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Instructional Aids
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Science
We recently attended a great workshop at the NSTA conference in San Antonio where we acquired a simple and synthesized list of some of the best iPad apps to use in the outdoor classroom. For many of the apps, students took pictures of things outside and used the pictures in the apps to create diagrams, sequences, webs, etc. We thank Judi Kur and Kimber Hershberger, two elementary teachers from Pennsylvania, for sharing this list with us. Looking for ways to integrate outdoor teaching and technology? These apps are kid tested, teacher approved!  Popplet This app allows students ...
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
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Student Behavior
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Science
The wonderful thing about being an intern here at REAL School Gardens is that I get to see some of the amazing things students discover in our gardens every day. Sometimes it’s bugs and plants, and sometimes it’s their true selves. 
Each spring, REAL School Gardens partners with Botanical Research Institute of Texas for our Smart Potatoes program in which schools can plant potatoes, chart and graph their growth, then donate the potatoes to local food pantries. I got an opportunity to visit one of our partner schools to check out a lesson and take pictures last week. In ...
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Thursday, March 14, 2013
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Volunteering
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Student Behavior
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Community
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Instructional Aids
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Science
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REAL Supporters
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Smart Potatoes
REAL School Gardens, Surgical Care Affiliates, The United Way and Richardson Bike Mart were part of an amazing occasion held on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at the Gaylord Texan Resort for the children of the organization, Bea’s Kids. This event was created to increase interest in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, also known as STEM. This event not only reached out to the areas of STEM, but it also gave the kids confidence and a feeling of accomplishment after creating each project. With around 200 volunteers and about eighty children involved, ...
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Tuesday, February 19, 2013
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Environmental Stewardship
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Community
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Family Activities
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Science
Most people probably remember learning about butterflies early in their elementary careers. I remember lessons about butterfly metamorphosis and our teacher purchasing a butterfly habitat for the classroom, but there is one mystery about butterflies that still fascinates students, researchers, and teachers through the years. The Monarch Migration takes place every year during the spring and fall when millions of monarch butterflies make their way from Canada to Mexico and back again. This magnificent spectacle has caught the eye of many onlookers, and recently of IMAX filmmakers.  Flight of the Butterflies is a compelling and awe-inspiring 3D film that ...
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Sunday, February 10, 2013
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Educators
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Instructional Aids
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Science
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Math
My fourth grade students at Holiday Heights Elementary noticed while measuring circumference and diameter on our broccoli plants that the plants next door in the third grade bed were much smaller. They measured these too and wrote the results down in their journals. On fourth grade broccoli C=56cm and D=21cm. On the third grade broccoli C=31cm and D=11cm. The students wanted to know why there was nearly double the difference in both measurements. 
We put our heads together back in the classroom to try finding a variable that could account for the difference. After discussion they ruled out sunshine, ...
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Tuesday, October 16, 2012
| Filed under
Environmental Stewardship
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Health and Nutrition
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Science
 Walking through an elementary school I found the following quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson framed and hanging in the school hall “A weed is a plant whose virtue has not yet been discovered”. This means that of all the tools, foods, medicines and fibers that have been discovered from the world of plants called weeds, there are still new plants and new uses of the plants to discover. The student pictured above has samples of two weeds pulled from the school garden that were plants used historically as a flavoring, a spice and an edible food. ...
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Friday, July 13, 2012
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Educators
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Science
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Math
It’s not exactly news that students in the United States don’t measure up to students in other countries when it comes to math and science. 
But why is this important? According to a report by the National Governors Association, students who get degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and who get jobs in STEM fields not only get paid significantly more, but also experience lower unemployment rates than workers who enter other fields. Something in that NGA report was of particular interest to us. One of the six steps they decided would help accomplish STEM reform was “using informal ...
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Thursday, May 31, 2012
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Environmental Stewardship
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Health and Nutrition
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Educators
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Community
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Social Studies
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Science
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Math
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Smart Potatoes
Kindergarten teacher, Lester Sipma, at George Clarke Elementary (Fort Worth, TX) has participated in the past two years of the Smart Potatoes Program. He shared his experience this year with us below: 
Participating
in the Smart Potato program has impacted me, my students, our George C. Clarke
staff, faculty and families in many ways. Some of the ways in which the program
has impacted our campus were expected and others were wonderful surprises.
I
used the Smart Potato project as a platform to teach a variety of science
lessons such as plant life cycles, soil types, problems and solutions to
gardening, identifying insects, determining ...
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Thursday, May 24, 2012
| Filed under
Engineering
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Community
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Science
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Math
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Smart Potatoes
 Chemical to electrical energy transfer to power a calculator with Solanum tuberosum (Potatoes)
There are several interesting things happening with potatoes during this potato harvest time in the DFW area. One standout is the “Smart Potatoes” campaign initiated by REAL School Gardens in concert with BRIT (Botanical Research Institute of Texas) whereby 30 elementary schools in 5 school districts are growing, tending and harvesting potatoes to donate to their local food pantries. Another potato happening was that on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 -- United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and Texas Instruments in conjunction with REAL School Gardens and ...
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Wednesday, May 09, 2012
| Filed under
Student Behavior
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Science
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Smart Potatoes
On a warm May morning, Ms. Koop's kindergarten class at Bonnie Brae Elementary became an observation train and baby potatoes as we learned to observe potato plant parts and learn about what plants need to grow and thrive.  The school garden potato bed at Bonnie Brae Elementary As we drove around the Brae Elementary garden, our train cars used their senses to observe the plants. "I see a potato leaf." "I hear the birds." "Choo choo! I feel the air on my face." Together under the arbor we pieced together the parts of a potato plant: the stem ...
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