Pollinator Garden

  • Location
    califonia, New Jersey
  • Status
    Active
  • Age Level
    5 to 7 Years
    8 to 10 Years
    11 to 13 Years

The Problem

Califon Public School has chosen to address the problem of habitat destruction and sustainable agriculture. This project will help us create a school pollinator garden as our Roots & Shoots project. There is a lack of habitats for pollinators on and around our school grounds. Califon is an area of increasing human development and decreasing green spaces. The garden will help educate students on the effects of pesticides and fertilizers while raising awareness of the importance of pollinators, particularly monarch butterflies. The funds will help us to improve the quality of our soil and allow for the purchase of milkweed seeds and plants to encourage monarch butterfly visitors. This project will involve the entire school community from Pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade. This project will provide a vitally needed outdoor, cross-curricular educational space that will be used in subjects from science to art. This is extremely important with the coronavirus pandemic as students are facing unprecedented levels of stress. The improvement of our outdoor space is vital because studies have shown that outdoor activities have a positive effect on student mental health. This project will help our students take their education outside and empower them to improve their school community.

Our Plan

Califon Public School will use the Roots & Shoots mini-grant to support and improve outdoor learning. Our school has plenty of outdoor room for a garden, but lacks the funding to implement a school wide project. There are raised beds surrounding the school that need to be improved before they can be used for planting. For example, one of the raised beds has been unable to support plants due to the high pH of the soil. The mini-grant will help to pay for purchasing plants to attract pollinators and for improvements to the soil. This will enable students to learn about the importance of sustainable agriculture and the effects of habitat destruction. Students will use this project to learn how they can positively impact the environment and our community.

Themes Addressed

  • term icon
    Biodiversity Loss
  • term icon
    Habitat Destruction
  • term icon
    Migratory species
  • term icon
    Sustainability

The Benefit

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

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