Getting their hands dirty: Bigelow students tend to garden

Findlay elementary students spent Earth Day working on "Finding Bigfoot." No, not the legendary wildman. That's actually the name the students at Bigelow Hill Elementary School gave their newly established garden. The project is meant to help teach the students Ohio's learning standards for earth science and ecology. "Bigfoot" is a reference to carbon footprints. (Insert smiley face here.) They're learning. While the garden is the brainchild of their teacher, Chris Andrews, it's Beth Ann Nissen, Findlay City Schools' project-based learning coach, who paired the garden tasks with the science lessons. Andrews said community benefactors, like the Findlay Garden Club, made it happen. "Our future 'ecologists' will dig in the dirt to learn their earth science standards," said Nissen. "This eco-garden experience will also inspire and empower children to care for the earth and protect our natural resources." For example, the garden includes plantings for birds — mostly berry bushes — meant to teach how organisms and plants benefit from each other in an ecosystem. The school's fifth-grade students are maintaining a compost pile to feed the garden and monitor plant growth. As a formal science investigation, they are being asked to develop a hypothesis, procedures, data and conclusion. The students will plant pumpkin seeds in poor soil, and then begin to add natural materials to the soil to determine how to grow healthy pumpkins. With the help of the garden club, students also planted crops grown in Ohio, including popcorn, edamame, wheat and carrots. There's also a pollinator garden, with Ohio natives like coneflower and lupine. Third-grade students are learning to turn "trash into treasure" by making garden art with recyclable plastic. Students will also design rain barrel systems; and learn to prevent soil erosion using plants, rocks, wood and other material. They will also compare wind versus solar power for water pumps. "These earth science projects will inspire the students to understand and be able to apply the learning standards in order to 'solve the problem.' Students feel that their voice, their ideas and their wonderings are important when they know they will exhibit their work and describe their learning to people beyond the classroom," Nissen said. "What's more, is students will understand why they are learning about ecology, what they're learning and how it relates to the real world." Lessons learned in the garden can also help students take the lead in creating "a more eco-friendly community and educate our school and neighborhoods about the importance of conserving natural resources through a school garden," she said. Grant: 419-427-8412