The Problem
The rolling of seed balls has become a tradition for my third graders in Room 20. The seed balls themselves are composed of a soil matrix containing native flowering plant seeds which, when grown, attract and feed the local pollinators near our school in Thousand Oaks, California. This year’s class would like to make this the 5th year that over 1,000 seed balls will be rolled and distributed to our school community to plant in preparation for the spring migrations of the Monarch butterflies and other vital pollinators in 2020.
Our Plan
My 4 previous third grade classes realized that seed balls made gardening easy, fun, and accessible. They learned that seed balls grow endangered wildflowers needed by pollinators, protect seeds from wind, birds, squirrels, and other critters, and has easy dispersal for more uniform coverage. They also discovered that “planting” the seed balls sometimes didn’t involve a shovel – sometimes, they could be tossed “guerrilla-style” while on hikes in our local park areas. In addition to all these benefits, this year’s class would like to partner up with a first grade class, their “Study Buddies,” and show them how to hand roll the seed balls, too, hopefully “planting the seed” of knowledge that even smaller hands than an 8-year old’s can have a BIG impact on their surrounding environment.