Pollinator Garden at St. Philip School
Vision
We will be creating a pollinator garden at the school to connect science and STEM learning that is part of the Ontario Curriculum. We also want to provide hands on opportunities for students to engage with their local environment (Citizen Science) and see how we are all connected (i.e. Food Chain, Food Webs). We want to encourage habitats for pollinators in our community and this will also help us address our Eco Schools Certification where we hope to achieve Gold again this year. We want to engage students with an understanding of the steps that they can take to help reduce climate change and inspire them to take action through this hands-on opportunity as a school community.
Action
With our Eco Team and students we created a pollinator garden. We also added some vegetables and the garden will be managed throughout the summer. In the fall we are hoping to harvest some of the vegetables and we hope to be able to connect to healthy eating and make a salad or a few dished for the Eco-Team to enjoy! We have linking this project as well as lessons in sustainability with our global goals throughout the school year and we will continue to do so next year.
Reflection & Celebration
This was the first time many of our students had any experience with gardening. They learned a great deal about climate change, sustainability as well as pollinators and gardening. we hope to be able to continue this work. We want to thank Riverwood Conservation who helped us with plants that they recommended. We also want to thank the LSF for helping fund this experiential learning opportunity for our students and staff!