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School-aged children from grades K-6 classes need more opportunities to learn about the world of gardening. Many children no longer have the opportunity to have a home garden. Earth Gardens provides hands-on experiential lessons in a school setting. The vision of Earth Gardens is that every individual will have the opportunity to be enriched by gardening experiences. We know that gardening provides a great educational vehicle, but it also requires more than just a curriculum to be successful. Earth Gardens provides that bridge. The mission of Earth Gardens is to enrich youth in school by developing an awareness of our renewable and sustainable habitats with hands-on experiences through gardening. Important concepts that need to be taught today are stewardship of the land, and reduce/reuse/recycle principles. This curriculum has been aligned with the Colorado Department of Education Model Content Standards in Science and it also depicts the SCANS icons (Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills).

Earth Gardens is a collaborative program created by a consortium of educational groups headed by the Colorado State University Extension 4-H Youth Development Program and the Colorado Floriculture Foundation.

There are over 40 classroom lessons for indoor and outdoor settings. The strength of Earth Gardens is in that K-6 school classrooms can participate at whatever level they are most comfortable with. Key points of the program involve up to 30 free seed packets and bedding plants* to landscape schools. Free seed packets can also be used to plant vegetable gardens, herbs and flowers on the school grounds. In addition, Colorado State University Master Gardeners are matched up with classrooms/teachers in Adams and Boulder county who need additional assistance with horticultural subject matter.

 

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*Free bedding plants available in May to participating schools in the Denver metro area. Counties included in this area are Denver, Boulder, Adams, Jefferson, Arapahoe, Douglas, & Broomfield.