Title: Using the EarthBox to Integrate Sustainable Agriculture and Service Learning into After School Progr
1Using the EarthBox to Integrate Sustainable
Agriculture and Service Learning into After
School Programming in Urban, Suburban, and Rural
Areas
- 21CCLC PA Advisory Board Committee Chair
- Molly Quinn Philbin
- (570) 343-7921 ext 369
- molly.philbin_at_earthbox.com
2Presentation Goals
- Familiarize participants with the EarthBox
- Familiarize participants with the concept of
sustainable agriculture and its challenges - Familiarize participants with sound nutrition and
its challenges - Familiarize participants with EarthBox
Service-learning Gardens that support sustainable
agriculture, provide solutions for nutritional
challenges - Familiarize participants with the EarthBox
Curriculum that teaches to the standards
3What is Service Learning?
- Through the performance of service in a
program which includes preparation, supervision,
and opportunities for reflection and evaluation,
students learn about themselves and their
connection to the world around them. Through
this process students are able to attain specific
academic goals and objectives
4Understanding Service Learning
- Service learning is a teaching methodology
whereby students use and apply newly acquired
academic knowledge to solve a real-life problem
or community need. - Service learning is more than just community
service. It is a method of teaching and an
experience for students to advance their skills
and knowledge.
5The EarthBox A Garden Anywhere
- A scientifically engineered container garden
- Superior Crops
- No Green Thumbs Required
- Sets up in 10 minutes
- No weeding digging or hoeing
- Automatically feeds and waters your plants
- Naturally more productive
- Reusable for years
- Uses ordinary fertilizer and potting mix
6Key Components to the EarthBox
- The EarthBox gradient system uses 80 less water
to grow 50 more produce with 50 less
fertilizer in a container that prevents pollution
and controls the environment to grow the
healthiest produce without using herbicides or
pesticides. - The EarthBox grows produce anywhere there is a
minimum of 5-6 hours of sunlight in classrooms,
on pavement, on decks, in homes, on terraces and
in schoolyards.
7Sustainable Agriculture
- Sustainability rests on the principle that we
must meet the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs - Responsible stewardship of both human and natural
resources is of prime importance
8Some Challenges to Sustainable Agriculture
- Ignorance
- Topsoil depletion
- Groundwater contamination
9The EarthBox Solutionto the Challenges of
Sustainable Agriculture
- Re-usable potting mix
- Controlled environment that minimizes use of
fertilizer and prevents seepage - 80 less water usage
10Vegetables Provide Sound Nutrition
Food pyramid provided courtesy of USDA DHHS
11Challenges and Solutions to Providing Fresh
Vegetables for Sound Nutrition
- Challenges
- Education
- Accessibility
- Solutions
- EarthBox curriculum
- Hands-on learning
- Growing your own nutritional food in
- EarthBoxes
12School-based Model for EarthBox Service-learning
Gardens
- Teachers provide training preparation,
supervision, and academic instruction - The school provides support for the program
-
- Physical space
- Students
- EarthBox Kits
- Water Supply
13An EarthBox Service Learning Garden
14What is an EarthBox Service-learning Garden
Project?
- A 10-12 week spring-summer extracurricular
program - Each student is responsible for at least 1
EarthBox - Students grow, nurture, harvest, prepare and eat
nutritional crops - Students share nutritionally sound food with each
other, their families, soup kitchens, and / or
senior citizens
15What Do Students Learn?
- Science
- Math
- Reading
- Consumer Science
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Nutrition
- Planning
- Time Management
- Academic Standards
- Civic Responsibility
- Workforce Development Skills
16The EarthBox Curriculum PA Academic Standards
17EarthBox Service Learning Garden Implementation
- Select a site for your garden
- Select students for the project
- Order EarthBox Kits and supplies
- Planning and Preparation Meetings to
- Select Plant seedlings and/or seeds
- Create a Plant Nurturing Schedule
- Create a Plant harvesting Schedule
18Selecting a Site for Your Garden
- Needs
- Nearby water source
- Minimum of 5-6 hours of sunlight daily
- Sufficient space for 20 EarthBoxes
- (see diagram on next slide)
19Sample Layout of an EarthBox Service-learning
Garden
- 20 EarthBoxes (4 rows of 5)
- 4 ft between each row
- 1 ft between the ends of each EarthBox
- 2 ft around the perimeter of the 20 EarthBox plot
21 ft
20½ ft
20Selecting Students for the Project
- Hands-on learning attracts and supports all types
of students
- Academically proficient students apply academic
skills to project-based performance - Students with ADD or disabilities work and learn
equally well with the EarthBox
21Ordering Supplies for the Project
- EarthBox kits include
- Potting mix
- Fertilizer
- Dolomite
- Instructional video
- Charts
- Poster
- Curriculum
- Other materials
- Scale
- Waterproof pens
- Labeling stakes
- Plant support stakes as needed
22Januarys Preparatory Meeting
- Review the EarthBox Instructional Video and Plant
Selection Chart to become acquainted with the key
components of the project - Discuss the nutritional benefits of a given crop
according to the Nutritional Guideline Booklet to
inform seed selection - Use the Germination to Harvest Chart to inform
seed selection as it relates to the time-frame
for the project - Use critical thinking to discuss potential yields
from each crop to satisfy the market needs and
wants - Schedule future sessions to learn to plant,
nurture, and harvest crops grown in EarthBoxes
23Springs Plant/Seed Selection Meeting
- Review the information discussed at the winter
meeting to help the students to choose the crops
they want to grow based on - Nutritional value
- Germination to harvest time
- Crop yield
- Market Demand
24Planting Preparation
- Purchase selected seeds or seedlings
- Review the plant-heat zone map to select a date
to plant the seeds or seedlings - Schedule a planting session
- Near or at the garden site
- With an available water supply
- Have a hose and watering cans on hand
- Be prepared to assign water duties for the season
- Hang the watering schedule at the site along with
a sign-in and out sheet
25Learning to Nurture the Plants
- Visit the library, the Internet, or meet with a
County Agricultural Extension Agent to - Learn about the diseases and pests that plague
selected crops - Learn biological control agents to protect their
crops without using pesticides or herbicides - Learn how to trim and stake crops when necessary
26Schedule Responsibilities
- Students and teachers add new dates for new
duties to the watering calendar and plan for
transportation needs - Trim and stake plants
- Monitor for pests or diseases
27Learning to Harvest and Distribute Crops
- Students
- Visit the library, the Internet, or meet with a
County Agricultural Extension Agent to learn how
and when to harvest their crops - Add more frequent garden visits to harvest their
crops considering transportation
- Discuss and select crop distribution methods
- Arrange for pick-up and/or delivery of their
crops
28Reflection and Academic Standards
- Students can reflect upon
- the value of eating fresh produce with a
standard-based lesson plan that addresses food
quality and sound nutrition - their experience in growing and sharing
nutritional food with each other, their families
and new found friends by writing a
standards-based essay about their Service
Learning Experience - the concept of sustainable agriculture with a
standards-based lesson plan that explains the
scientific and technological contribution of the
EarthBox
29Workforce Development Skills
- The EarthBox Service Learning Garden helps
students develop generic workforce skills
inherent in project-based learning that requires
planning and commitment - Specific horticultural and fiber and food systems
skills that prepare them for their future in the
work place.
30EARTHBOX COLLABORATORS
- Food and Agricultural Organization
- of the United Nations
- www.thegrowingconnection.org
- American Horticultural Society
- www.ahs.org
- Kids Growing Food
- www.cerp.cornell.edu/kgf
- Pathways to a Better Workforce
- www.foodsystemsconsortium.org/pathways
31EarthBox Ordering Information
- The EarthBox
- 1300 Meylert Avenue
- Scranton, PA 18509
- 1-800-821-8838
- Fax (570) 504-0985
- Mention Education Order Code
- M-EDU Service Learning
- www.earthbox.com