Native Garden Expansion

  • Location
    Batavia, Illinois
  • Status
    Active
  • Age Level
    Any Age
    5 to 7 Years
    8 to 10 Years

The Problem

Despite living in the Prairie State, the state of Illinois has lost much of it's natural prairie and with it the associated pollinators. We are addressing habitat loss and biodiversity loss through our project. We are transforming grassy areas on our school property to native prairie habitat in order to increase the local pollinator diversity.

Our Plan

Two years ago, the Green Team successfully created a native pollinator garden on the school property and has received approval to expand the garden this spring. This will add an additional 100 square feet of native habitat to our school grounds which we hope will lead to an increase in native pollinators in our area. This garden expansion will meet two major goals of the Green Team. The first is to increase native habitat on the school property to help support the native pollinators. We are specifically targeting Monarch butterflies by planting milkweeds and a variety of nectar sources, but this area will provide habitat for a great diversity of native pollinators. The second goal is to provide increased areas for outdoor learning opportunities for every student at the school both in the formal classroom setting and informally through the Green Team. The Green Team students will plant the garden and continue to maintain the garden into the future. They will learn the importance of “leaving the leaves” and proper pruning to leave dead stems to ensure our garden provides necessary habitat for overwintering and nesting. The students will participate in monitoring the development of the plants and monitoring the pollinator species drawn to the garden. The garden will also serve as an example of how native plants can be incorporated into existing neighborhood landscapes. The Green Team will share information on social media about the native garden. The school community will be able to see the benefits of increasing the number of native plants in our neighborhood for native pollinators.

Themes Addressed

  • term icon
    Biodiversity Loss
  • term icon
    Education
  • term icon
    Pollinators

The Benefit

  • term icon
    People
  • term icon
    Animals
  • term icon
    Environment
About Roots & Shoots

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