Course Description
Via a partnership with local schools, students will lead an after-school club that integrates hands-on gardening, inquiry science, nutrition activities, and eco-consciousness. There will be an initial on-campus class session, and then students will perform three hours of service per week in teams at a local after-school program.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will serve as team leaders to guide and direct
the work of the undergraduate students, elementary school
students, school personnel, and other volunteers when they are
on site at the schools. In addition they will meet with the
instructor and school personnel outside of class time to make
plans for each week's activities, meet with teams on site to
plan the work, supervise the work on site, and debrief after
each session with the team and other team
leaders/instructors/school personnel. Graduate students
will be expected to take a leadership role in the design and
implementation of the garden and teaching various science-
related ideas to elementary school students (such as
composting, use of fertilizer, the water cycle).
Athena Title
After-School Naturalists
Non-Traditional Format
Course includes a service-learning project during the semester that either employs skills or knowledge learned in the course or teaches new skills or knowledge related to course objectives. The course uses service-learning as the primary pedagogical tool for teaching course objectives. Students will work on a comprehensive project(s) and may be required to spend considerable time outside the classroom. Students will be engaged in the service-learning component for approximately 75- 100% of overall instructional time.
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will: 1. engage in significant learning through the combination of interdisciplinary collaboration, educational theory and practice in science and early childhood education, horticulture, service, and reflection. 2. develop an understanding of the significant effects of experiential learning on child development through interdisciplinary activities in science, art, and language arts in both a garden and natural outdoor setting at local school sites. 3. engage with community partners to identify and meet the goals of the after-school food garden program. 4. establish relationships with the community and will contribute to child welfare with a focus on elementary school children’s healthy eating, self-efficacy, social relationships, and relationship to the outdoors. 5. develop openness to different perspectives and ways of experiencing the world. 6. develop a sense of community involvement and civic engagement that will continue after graduation.
Topical Outline
• Designing and implementing an effective after-school nature and gardening program • Working with groups of children from a child development and cultural perspective • Conducting interdisciplinary hands-on activities with local soils, insects, pollinators, birds, and ecosystems on the school site or in community garden • Best practices in science education • Vegetable gardening techniques and related nutrition topics • Crops, planting and cooking from a cultural perspective • Related Issues: food security; childhood obesity; nature deficit disorder • Developing a deeper sense of self and nature through related literacy and art activities
Syllabus