October News
Resources for Educators
School Garden Research
Funding Opportunities

Resources for Educators

Free Environmental Jeopardy Game for K-8 Educators
Earth Day Network (EDN) has created the first two in a series of three interactive games focused on environmental issues. Designed like the game show, each edition of Environmental Jeopardy focuses on a specific environmental theme with in-depth answers and supplementary lesson plans. You can download both of the available editions — Sustainability and Organic Food — for free by registering on the Teachers Corner of the EDN Web site.

Plant a Monarch Waystation
Natural populations of plants important to the survival of Monarch butterflies, such as milkweed, are declining due to land development and the widespread use of herbicides in croplands, pastures, and roadsides. To offset these losses, Monarch Watch is encouraging everyone to create Monarch Waystations – clusters of food plants for butterflies and their larvae – in home gardens, schools, parks, zoos, nature centers, field margins, along roadsides, and on other unused plots of land. Their goal is to certify 10,000 waystations over the next three years. Visit the Monarch Watch Web site for information on how to create your own Monarch Waystation.

Plants in the News: Keep an Eye out for Corntainers
They may look like the clear plastic containers we’re all familiar with, but there’s more to this new packaging than meets the eye. Unlike plastic containers which are made from petroleum, corntainers are made from — you guessed it— corn! The benefits? Corn is a renewable resource; it takes 20 to 50 percent fewer nonrenewable fossil fuels to manufacture containers; and corntainers are 100 percent biodegradable! For more information visit National Geographic's Kids News.

Plan Now to Track Spring's Journey North, February - May 2006
Journey North provides online educational programs that engage students across the country in an interactive global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. Standards-based lesson plans, activities, and information help students make local observations and fit them into a larger context by collecting and submitting data into common database. Click here to learn more about the Spring 2006 Journey North program .

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School Garden Research

School Gardening Program Improves Life Skills
A recent study published by Dr. Carolyn Robinson reports that participation in a school gardening program improved the life skills development of elementary school students, particularly in the areas of teamwork skills and self-understanding. For more information check out the article in the July to September 2005 edition of HortTechnology.

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Funding Opportunities

2006 Youth Garden Grants ~ There's Still Time to Apply!
NGA and The Home Depot will award 150 grants in February 2006. Apply by November 30 to win a gift card valued at $250 - $500 for your youth garden program! Click here to download an application.

2nd Annual "Remember Me" Rose School Garden Awards ~ Apply by Feb. 1, 2006
This award will help 20 schools establish rose gardens to commemorate the events of September 11th. Beyond their commemorative significance, each garden will also be catalyst for education in conflict resolution and mediation skills, preparing students to seek and achieve fair and peaceful solutions. For more information and to download an application, click here.

12th Annual Kids Growing with Dutch Bulbs Awards ~ This program of the Mailorder Gardening Association, offered in conjunction with the International Flower Bulb Center, Dutch Bulb Exporters, and the North American Flower Bulb Wholesalers Association awards schools with a package of 200 premium Dutch flowering bulbs and related educational activities. Application deadline: April 1, 2006. Learn more here.

2006 Mantis Awards ~ Mantis proudly announces its expanded 2006 award program in support of charitable and educational garden programs that enhance the quality of life in their host communities. In partnership with Mantis, the NGA will select 25 gardens to receive a prize: 20 will each receive a Mantis Tiller/Cultivator, and five will receive a ComposT-Twin composting system. We welcome applications from all nonprofits — past winners include community gardens, schools, ministries, colleges, master gardening groups, and hospices. Learn more here

Adopt a School Garden Registry ~ This new program from NGA matches schools in need of resources for their gardening and plant-based education programs with people who have the ability and desire to help. NGA will also mentor educators and volunteers, and provide resources to ensure program sustainability.

If your program is already listed in the School Garden Registry on Kidsgardening.com, your listing automatically appears in the searchable Adopt a School Garden (ASG) database on the National Gardening Association Web site. To be sure your information is current, please take a moment now to: