Websites
Best Plants for the Classroom
Weber, C. (2021, December 2). 10 best plants for the classroom. Edutopia.https://www.edutopia.org/article/10-best-plants-classroom/
The author introduces educators to reasons why plants in the classroom are beneficial, which includes stress-relief and enhancing the ability to pay attention. Plants in the classroom can provide students with a connection to the outdoors without the class actually being outdoors, which can allow some students, who might find the outdoors overstimulating, to find a connection with nature they never knew they felt. The list of plants the author provides are broken into categories that depend on how much time the teacher has to devote to the care of the plant, as well as certain characteristics about the plants themselves that many students will find appealing.
Growing Plants in Small Spaces
Growing plants in small places. (2019). Project Learning Tree. Retrieved July 13, 2024 from https://www.plt.org/educator-tips/growing-plants-small-spaces-students/
Project Learning Tree discusses how teachers and educators can bring the outdoors into the classroom when minimal space is all the educator has to work with. Windowsill gardening and using cuttings of plants to grow new plants is discussed. The site also looks at reusing items we often throw away and instead using them as planters for herb gardens, and explains how to build mini-terrariums, how to make hydroponic gardens in Mason jars. This is an excellent primer for starting small in small spaces and introducing students to outdoor education.
Organizations
NYC Parks
The natural classroom: People, place, and parks. (n.d). The City of New York. Retrieved July 5, 2024, from https://www.nycgovparks.org/programs/rangers/natural-classroom
In urban environments parks can play an important role in natural education. Each NYC park is designed around the natural environment the park inhabits, allowing students to engage wuth the flora of each unique greenspace. While some parks contain gardens, and others do not, the parks all represent growth and life cycles and can be used to instruct students on importance flora plays in all of our lives.
United States Botanical Gardens
Classroom resources for plant-based learning. (2023). United States Botanical Gardens. Retrieved July 15, 2024, from https://www.usbg.gov/classroom-resources-plant-based-learning
This resource includes a School Garden Guide and a Greenhouse Manual, as well as other information pertinant to creating a schoolyard garden or classroom plants. These introductory manuals can be downloaded as PDF's and walk educators and administrators through the process of designing, implementing, and maintaining living plants in educational settings.
The School Garden
Marsh, E. (n.d). The school garden. U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.nal.usda.gov/collections/stories/school-gardens
The U.S. Department of Agriculture outlines a brief history of gardening in schools in the United States, and includes photographs and quotes from educators and authors, such as George Washington Carver, describing the importance and the benefit of school gardens. Urban and rural gardens are represented, and the power the outdoors has on childhood development and the very existance of humanity is touched upon.