Gardening gives a sense of responsibility for our planet
Print Edition
IN many parts of the world, flowers and trees are waking up to the warmth of the spring sun. Over the next few weeks we will continue to see dramatic change all around us. It is a transformation that is necessary and was happening long before we began to enjoy it. Educators are also waking up to a transformation, one that begs us to go outside. As teachers we have a unique opportunity to impart to our students the working knowledge of how to be environmental stewards.
Research has shown that when young children have opportunities to experience and interact with nature at an early age, they are more inclined as adults to have positive environmental attitudes. Many teachers look around for ways to teach language arts, math and science while also trying to cultivate an environmentally caring student body that will lead the way for future conservation.
In classrooms at Shanghai American School, students often take their learning outside. Whether it is learning how to plan a garden while exploring fractional parts in order to divide planting beds, taking poetry outside while learning about how to describe the natural world with adjectives, or discovering the beauty of mathematical and natural patterns, the classroom doesn’t need to be within the confines of four walls.
Gardening education allows teachers to strike a balance between academic rigor while also fostering crucial “soft skills.” In classrooms that participate in gardening, students learn that they are responsible for this planet as soon as they place a seed into the ground.
Many children living in Shanghai lack access to gardening spaces and school gardens can provide them with their only opportunity to dig into the soil and watch a plant grow. When my students planted corn last year, most of them couldn’t get through an hour without asking to go outside and check on their little seedling. They put in the work to take care of nature. It would wither without them watering it. Weeds would overtake it if they didn’t pull them. Pests would eat the foliage if they didn’t carefully check each leaf. While that little seed grew, so did their love for nature.
As we look toward the future of our planet, what better lessons is there to teach than this?
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
