Vision

Linden Meadows – Sensory and Traditional Medicine Garden

Inquiry Goal:
As a UNESCO school we establish an inquiry goal for the year around a sustainable development goal , this years goal centers around SDG # 13 Climate Action.
With wildfires, rising temperatures, polar ice melting , and floods, Mother Earth is telling us she needs our help. What are the best and most immediate actions we can take to directly combat climate change and its impacts?”
All our actions revolved around this inquiry goal. Studnets learnt WATOWKAWIN – we are all connected and our actions, big and small all add up.
Our outdoor learning initiatives are designed to engage students meaningfully in climate action through hands-on, land-based, and culturally responsive education. The project action funding has supported several impactful projects aligned with this goal:

Action

Project Highlights

1. Sensory & Traditional Medicine Garden
We established a sensory medicine garden featuring plants such as lamb’s ear, catnip, chives, lavender, and curry for students to touch, smell, and observe. We also planted traditional Indigenous medicine plants—sage, cedar, and sweetgrass—to support land-based learning and Indigenous ways of knowing. These gardens foster mindfulness, connection to the land, and cultural respect.

2. Tall Grass Prairie Expansion
We expanded our tall grass prairie project, planting more native grasses and flowers such as big bluestem, wild rye, black-eyed Susan, Joe pye weed, and goldenrod. This supports biodiversity, provides pollinator habitat, and helps restore native ecosystems that sequester carbon and improve soil health.

3. Food Waste Composting & Seed Ball Project
Our school implemented a food waste collection program for snacks and lunches. Over the winter, we diverted approximately 830 litres (or 3,400 cups) of food waste from landfills, using classroom food cyclers to produce 30 litres of compost. In spring, we used this compost to nourish our gardens and make seed balls with wildflower seeds, reinforcing the importance of zero-waste practices and regenerative cycles.

4. Integrating the Medicine Wheel Teachings
We connected our outdoor learning to the Medicine Wheel, exploring the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of climate responsibility. With the use of a Medicine Wheel teaching mat, students reflected on their relationships with nature and their role as stewards of the Earth.

5. Indoor Plant Growing with Our Plant Tower
We linked our outdoor learning to indoor growth by cultivating tomatoes in our classroom plant tower, helping students understand sustainable food systems from seed to table.

6. Monthly and Seasonal Outdoor Learning Days
We held monthly outdoor learning days throughout fall and winter and weekly sessions in May and June, consistently focusing on our inquiry goal. These days included hands-on work in the gardens, plant education, ecological exploration, and reflection on climate action. These immersive days build knowledge, empathy, and a deep sense of environmental responsibility. Themes included air, winter, signs of spring, fire, earth, birds, migration, water, Indigeous peoples day.

7. Sustainable Practices
We added to our deli sustainable practices of resusable plates and cups and added useable spoons for ice cream that we wash. Eight classes engaged in playing the game Fast Fashion, that emphasized the negatives around fashion choices and the throwaway mentally of fashion. Many classes made dog toys from reused fabrics – old tshirts, bed sheets etc which were donated to a pet shelter.

Reflection & Celebration

SO much to celebrate, the hours of outdoor learning, the beautiful outdoor spaces created, the hours of play outside, time spent in nature, many actions made an impacton climate by decreasing waste, reusing materinals, making compost. Our UNESCO club of grade 5- 8 is so visable in the school that a Junior club was made for the grade 1- 4 studnets.