Submitted by: Karyn Edwards
School: Fairfield Middle School
Summary
Students learn about gardening as they create a proposal for a youth garden grant. The proposal must include a description, scale model, and a spreadsheet of budgeted costs. The students consult outside experts within the school as they create the grant. Top proposals selected by the group will be chosen for presentation to the school PTA.
TIPC Ratings
The students use a variety of tools to conduct research. They have to evaluate and share authoritative websites. They also communicate with experts in order to obtain information. They choose digital tools such as spreadsheets or presentations in order to display information. The task is real world in that it is actually a grant proposal that will be used to obtain funds for building a campus garden.
In this activity, students work in groups and determine their own roles in order to achieve the desired goal. Students communicate with peers in the school in order to obtain information utilizing a range of different tools.
This activity asks students to create a proposal for an actual grant. Grant writing can be exceptionally challenging as it requires the synthesis of multiple resources. The problem is authentic and requires students to think critically.
Students create a final project in the form of a proposal that includes a scale drawing and a spreadsheet of estimated costs. The requirement is open in the way in which students may develop a product. They will need to synthesize knowledge to come up with a new solution to an existing problem. The teacher facilitates so that students may be innovative in the final product.
Student Artifact
Download Files
- Garden Lesson Plan
- Lesson Resources
- Student Directions
- Garden Report
- Student Presentation Artifact
