Garden
The Giddens Garden is a space to grow, explore, and learn about our environment. Check back often for updates about what we've been up to!
Teacher:
Bob Kelly K-1 Fabric Farming
Where do our clothes come from? This is a question the K-1s have been thinking about recently as they have continued their thematic unit on fabrics. Over the last several weeks during our garden time, students have learned about three naturally made fabrics, as well as man-made fabrics. We have explored wool, linen and cotton, and what goes into creating each of these materials.
Fantastic Fliers: Birds, Bees, Bats and Seeds
Over the last two months, our second through fifth graders have been studying up on some of our flying friends found throughout Seattle and the Puget Sound. Lessons on native flying fauna have been incorporated into our weekly garden lessons, even when weather has not allowed us to venture into the wild wind and rain.
Garden Pictures!
Here are some pictures from our garden classes this year! This post will be updated periodically.
Preschool Porch Gardening
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On a (somehow) sunny Friday in February, Giddens preschoolers were hard at work constructing their own garden right outside of their classrooms! Students from Zada’s, Samara’s, Steve T.’s, Steve E.’s, and Kari’s classes exercised their green thumbs by filling pots and containers with soil and compost, sorting some early-season vegetable seeds, and starting their own radish and mustard plants to be cared for through the spring!
Greenhouse Grant Video!
Giddens K-5 students teamed up with staff to apply for a grant to get our school garden a greenhouse. As part of the application, they created a short documentary film about our school garden and how a greenhouse would benefit our school and local communities.
Giddens Students Unite For Greenhouse Project
Over the last week a group of enthusiastic Giddens students, kindergarteners to 5th graders, has been working on an exciting project to help their school and community. The Washington Potato Commission and its partners are giving away five greenhouses to Seattle area elementary schools, plus $1000 in seed money to help get the greenhouse growing. The energy and support we have had from students and staff have been nothing short of amazing. When I proposed the idea to our 4th and 5th graders, more than half of the students wanted to participate in putting our grant application together. Over the next two weeks, students will be creating letters, artwork, and a documentary video to supplement our application.
G.W.A.B.S. of Compost!
What are GWABS you ask? They are the five major components of a healthy compost pile, and our 4th and 5th graders have been working hard and getting compost-y learning about each gob of GWABS: Greens, Water, Air, Browns, and Soil. As part of our unit on learning about each facet of a working garden, we’ve been focusing on the ins and outs of vermicomposting (composting with worms). The students have amended their vegetable beds with compost for the winter months, helping return nutrients and beneficial organisms to the soil, helping our veggies grow strong and hardy!
Preparing for Winter Time In The Garden
Sorry Seattle, but it is about that time of year again. The air is crisper, the sun seems to be setting around lunchtime, and the chlorophyll is rapidly disappearing from the leaves of our playground’s maple tree. As our harvest season comes to a close, our students have been readying our garden for all of the glory of Seattle’s beautiful winter months.
Native Habitat Rescue! Second and Third Graders Give Back to Their Community
Seattle’s native forests are dying! Luckily, our courageous group of 2nd and 3rd graders answered the call, pulled on their boots and gloves, battled the elements, and gave back to their community by participating in a habitat restoration project. Lewis Park, a small green space in Beacon Hill, that was once part of a vast forest that covered our region, has been overtaken by many invasive species due to years of neglect. A few years ago, a group of concerned neighbors to the area, now known as “The Friends of Lewis Park”, spearheaded the effort to return the park to a viable and sustainable native plant community and wildlife habitat.
Cultivating a sense of (worm) wonder
As we make our way through the heart of harvest season, and into the second month of the school year, one thing is apparent: Giddens students love their creepy crawly creatures! There appears to be an inherent connection between pre-school age children and worms, and we’ve spent the last two weeks exploring our legless friends. We’ve read Page McBrier’s wonderful book, The Chicken and the Worm, and learned about the fauna that make our garden grow from the ground up!
A Great Start In The Garden
Greeting from the Giddens Garden!
My name is Bob Kelly, and I am the environmental learning specialist at Giddens. It has been a wonderful start to the school year out in the garden, and we have been busy growing our green thumbs with all sorts of fabulous outdoor fun! We are lucky enough at Giddens to have an outdoor classroom and habitat area that we will use throughout the year as an interactive learning laboratory.
The goals of the Giddens Garden program are to cultivate a sense of wonder through outdoor education, build relationships within our community, and to provide a sustainable and diverse habitat for native flora and fauna.
Welcome to the Giddens Garden!
This week, our 4th and 5th graders harvested over 10 pounds of beets, chives and radishes for the food bank. Our 2nd and 3rd graders have begun a unit on native plants, and have the exciting opportunity to help design and build our own native plant demonstration garden! They will also be traveling to a nearby green space, Lewis Park, where they will be participating in a habitat restoration project with the Green Seattle Project and Friends of Lewis Park. The students will be helping remove harmful, invasive species, they will learn to mulch to prevent weed growth, and they will plant native species in the winter.
