The article presents the authors' experiences in designing a storytelling map guide for the botanical gardens of Palacký University, Czech Republic, from a pedagogical point of view. The authors introduce a three-pillared original concept. The overall educational contribution is a combination of educational, thematic and technological knowledge…

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga recently updated their general education curriculum with an eye toward the essential learning outcomes identified by the Association of American Colleges and Universities through its Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative. Like many other campuses across the country, money is tight,…

Sometimes taking innovative approach to learning means changing the venue. Traditional schooling takes place within walls, but an outdoor environment offers significant benefit in terms of learning through experience.

School counselors have the challenging task of implementing a comprehensive, developmental school counseling program to serve a large number of students. We present the creative use of a garden program to promote the development of students through the integration of the natural environment. Additionally, we describe activities and metaphors…

Over the past several decades, there has been an increased focus on health promotion as opposed to individual health determinants and disease prevention. Given the association between health and academic success, health promotion is a vastly overlooked lever for establishing effective K-12 schools. Student, organizational, and community well-being…

Video--once complex and expensive to create with high distribution costs--has become more affordable and highly accessible in addition to being a powerful teaching tool. Self-produced videos are one way educators can connect with a growing number of on-line learners. The authors describe a pilot project in which a series of video clips were…

International activities of FCS professionals take many forms, most often at the grassroots level making a difference in the daily lives of people and their communities, far from their own communities. A 2 1/2-year project, supported by the Monsanto Fund and an International Federation of Home Economics (IFHE) project grant, developed school…

The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are proud to celebrate a fifth round of the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards. For the past five years, we have collaborated to highlight the work of quality afterschool programs that support children, families and communities across the nation. This compendium is a compilation of four…

An experiment is described which uses a real-world sample of lawn fertilizer in a simple exercise to illustrate problems associated with the sampling step of a chemical analysis. A mixed-particle fertilizer containing discrete particles of iron oxide (magnetite, Fe[subscript 3]O[subscript 4]) mixed with other particles provides an excellent…

Suggests that by linking storytelling with children's garden programs, public gardens may serve to educate children about the processes that underlie and interweave diverse cultures' seasonal traditions. These ideas have been developed and tried in programs since 1988 at San Francisco's Strybing Arboretum's Children's Garden. (LZ)

Describes an innovative gardening/nutrition education program in Tucson, Arizona, public elementary schools--Meals for Millions "Sow and Grow"--where children in kindergarten to sixth grade invest time and "tender loving cultivation" into their own school vegetable gardens and learn to like foods--zucchini--that are good for…

During a fieldstudy of children's gardens in the United States in 2005, the author became aware that possibilities for providing learning experiences in children's gardens are bountiful and different styles are emerging. Anecdotally this appears to be a contested area with some within the discipline favoring a narrower definition of children's…

Describes design of three linked databases on gardening which are intended for use by home computer owners. Principles of development of these programs--which are neither expert systems nor databases in the usual sense--are outlined, and the self-education process in which the developers found themselves engaged is discussed. (MBR)

Including teens' needs in the planning and maintenance of urban space suggests new methods of layering utility and maximizing benefit to teens and community. Discusses the Berkeley Youth Alternatives (BYA) Youth Employment Landscape Program and BYA Community Garden Patch. Program descriptions and evaluation provide future direction. (LZ)

For the past four years, a multiage class in Maine has been involved in a pumpkin-growing and -marketing enterprise--a project involving real work and problem solving. Begun with a seed grant, the project raises money for field trips and nonessential teaching materials. Working cooperatively forges strong bonds among children, teachers, and…