From the CitySprouts Garden | December 2021
Posted on 12/14/2021
All fall, classes joined me out in the CitySprouts garden to deepen their curiosity about science and growing food. In the past few weeks, students have helped me clear out our garden beds, harvest compost to add to our soil, finish our final harvests, and more. However, CitySprouts lessons don’t stop when the growing season ends. Students in grades K-5 continue with their CitySprouts science learning through all of the seasons - even winter. Though, we do have to mix it up a bit!
Recently, we’ve been continuing our lessons inside the classroom, while making sure our science lessons are still hands-on and exciting. This week in particular, we are doing everything from investigating worms in our worm bin to starting a garlic growing experiment in our classroom window sills. Through these experiments, students still get to explore their scientific curiosity by asking questions and testing their ideas.
All through winter, we’ll continue to use our CitySprouts lesson time to answer questions about the world around us. Our plans for the winter include exciting lessons such as building our own worm bins, dissecting sprouting seeds, growing mushrooms, and seeing what plants we can grow from food scraps.
All in all, I couldn’t do the lessons I do without the strong support of the teachers and staff. Most importantly, I couldn’t do all of these lessons, experiments, and investigations without the amazing passion and scientific curiosity that all of the students at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School show me when I come into their classroom every week. It’s a community of scientists that I am so excited and thankful to be a part of.
- Gardener Sydney Spicer
CitySprouts is a Cambridge-based nonprofit that partners with public elementary schools in Cambridge and Boston. Our goal is to enrich students' science learning with hands-on, garden-based science lessons. CitySprouts is committed to greater equity in science education and children’s access to nature no matter where they live. If you’re interested in learning more about CitySprouts and all of the work we do in both Cambridge and Boston, visit our website.