The Problem
Provide habitat for native pollinators
Our Plan
We will be expanding one of the existing gardens on the school property to plant native prairie forbs and grasses specifically focusing on providing habitat for Monarch butterflies. The garden will also provide habitat for the endangered Rusty Patched Bumble bee and a wide variety of other pollinators. The completed garden will become an integral part of the Green Team activities. In addition to maintaining the garden, the students will learn about the prairie plant species and the key roles they play in supporting the native pollinators. We will be able to focus on the critical role of milkweed to the Monarch butterfly and track the life cycle of the Monarchs that visit the garden. The garden will allow the Green Team to participate in citizen science projects such as the Monarch Watch Tagging Program and BeeSpotter. In addition to these specific citizen science programs, the Green Team will start tracking species that visit the garden. Students will learn how to use field guides to identify the various organisms present. The garden will also compliment current first and second grade lessons on the life cycle of butterflies and the study of local habitats. In addition to providing opportunities for the students at H.C. Storm, the school families will be invited to participate in activities related to garden maintenance and citizen science opportunities. The garden will also serve as an example of how native plants can easily be incorporated into existing neighborhood landscapes. Families will also see the benefit of increasing the number of native plants in our neighborhood for the native fauna. The hope is that by experiencing the beauty of the native garden and witnessing the diversity of pollinators a modest-sized garden can support, families in the community will look for ways to add natives at home.
Themes Addressed
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Biodiversity Loss
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Community
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Education
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Pollinators
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The Benefit
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People
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Animals
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Environment
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Here is how the project went:
Our native pollinator garden is a great success! After a lot of planning and preparing, the planting day went very smoothly. Everyone worked together as a team to dig holes, amend the soil, and plant the plants. After the initial planting day, we regularly tended to the garden, watering regularly and weeding as needed. By the time summer ended and the new school year began, the garden was well established and attracting an abundance of pollinators. The Green Team has been able to utilize the garden space for their fall meetings, learning more about native plants and pollinators. The school's art classes have also been able to use the new garden as inspiration for class projects.
Through this project I/we learned:
This project taught us how to effectively work together to achieve our goal. In addition, it taught us the value of hardwork. Despite the planting day being long and strenuous, the completed project was definitely worth it!
What I/we might change:
Due to extensive planning, this project went smoothly. There were no last minute surprises or hurtles we had to navigate. When planning for future projects, we will take the time to allow for enough planning and preparation so they will also go smoothly.
My/our favorite part of this project was:
Our favorite part of this project is the long term benefit of having this garden at our school both for organisms that utilize it as well as the students who can learn from and enjoy the space.
Some tips, tricks or fun facts about the project:
Within just a couple of weeks of the first flowers blooming after the garden was planted, we saw a huge influx of pollinators that we had never seen on the school property before. By the end of the summer, we had found many butterfly caterpillars including several Monarch caterpillars!
