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Introducing...
Mountain Adventures: Exploring the Himalayas, Andes, and Appalachians

With funding from USAID, the National Gardening Association has partnered with The Mountain Institute and the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech University on a project designed to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of native plants around the world. The project has three components:

Six thematic articles introduce readers to the global importance of native plants as sources of food, medicine, and fiber, with an emphasis on native plants in mountainous regions of the world.

An online collaborative project between one classroom each in Nepal, Peru, and the United States challenged a select number of students to investigate the native plants of their region. These international classmates collaborated to create a Web site sharing the information they gathered.

The third component is a curriculum designed to introduce students (grades 5-8) to the role and importance of native plants in the United States and abroad. As students conduct situational simulated expeditions in the tallest (Himalayas), longest (Andes), and oldest (Appalachians) mountain ranges in the world, they explore different themes related to native plants, such as biodiversity and ethnobotany. Throughout the five modules comprising the curriculum students also conduct related local activities, enabling them to learn about their surroundings and to consider local/global commonalities. To learn more about the curriculum, visit the Introduction.

Making Connections Through Gardening: Ghana

During the 2000-2001 school year, the National Gardening Association teamed up with TechnoServe to bring students from Ghana and the United States closer together by encouraging exchanges about customs, cultures, and lifestyles. The goal? To use gardening as a lens to enhance cultural understanding and global awareness.

Although the initial project period has ended, a variety of resources remain available to help you engage students in an exploration of Ghana. A curriculum comprised of five themes guides students through an investigation into the continent of Africa and the country of Ghana. Students are challenged to develop a sense of place, shift their perceptions of another culture, and appreciate the role of agriculture, ecological diversity, and environmental concerns in a foreign country. Students share their new knowledge with schoolmates and the community by organizing an authentic Ghanaian festival, complete with food, clothing, and music.

Accounts from the field, filed by a project field reporter, deepen student understanding by describing different aspects of life in Ghana. Students can read, firsthand, about the responsibilities, daily activities, and favorite school subjects of students their age in Ghana. Other accounts detail the geography, natural resources, and diverse religious and cultural groups of this African country.

To get started, visit the Feature Stories page of Making Connections Through Gardening: Ghana.

Making Connections Through Gardening: Nicaragua

In 1999, the National Gardening Association, in partnership with TechnoServe, launched the inaugural Making Connections Through Gardening International Program. After establishing 46 school-based Ambassador Clubs throughout the United States and Nicaragua, kindergarten through eighth grade American students began investigating the role and importance of gardening and agriculture in this developing country. As part of the project, a TechnoServe staff member traveled around Nicaragua, visiting classrooms, interviewing students and their families, and filing reports from the field. Visit the Feature Stories page to access stories and photos of the kids, classrooms, and communities he encountered.