May Environmental Update

Ms. O’Donoghue’s geography students have been collaborating with students around the world in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Delhi, Denver, Genoa, Jakarta, London, Madrid, Miami, Moscow, New York City, Tel Aviv, and Warsaw. The students in Team 7 B at the Andrews have been participating in the Global Scholars Project implemented in the social studies department curriculum all year. In this program students were required to develop and implement a Community Action Project to make their city more sustainable and improve buildings, transportation, or green spaces in our city, and create a documentary video or website to share your work globally. Students were required to begin by having a class discussion to select an issue, determine your goal, and identify a strategy for this project. Already inspired by the wonderful art of gardening many students decided to focus on improving the self-sustaining garden at their school or creating green spaces around it.

Students at the Andrews Middle School have been very busy planning many environmentally friendly projects. After receiving a grant from the P.T.O. the students were able to purchase grow lights for the grow stations kept in their science and social studies classrooms. These grow stations were instrumental in starting the seedlings of many plants that would later be transplanted into the existing raised bed gardens outside built by last year’s 7th graders. Plants such as tomatoes,

peppers, basil, squash, cilantro, peas, string beans, and more were started from seeds in the over sixty re-purposed tin cans collected by staff and students in Ms. O’Donoghue’s class. Teaching students the value in re-purposing household items for different purpose rather than just purchasing new plastic planters with a carbon footprint.

After learning what a cold frame is in Garden Club and how it allows you to grow health food all year long, students decided that they too wanted to construct one for the Andrews Middle School. Students were graciously gifted wood from School Committee Member Mea Mustone and other parents to use to build this structure. Students had a great day outside after a long week of PARC math testing last week and got outside for the self-declared Garden Day with all of Team 7B rolling up their sleeves and building this and other exciting projects.

COLD FRAME PROJECT

Ms. O’Donoghue and the Garden Club were awarded a grant from the Medford Educational Foundation that allowed them to purchase a large stock of wood and green house plastic that will also be used to build a small green-house style cover for the larger raised bed in their garden. The Medford Vocational Carpentry Shop will be collaborating with the students of 7B with building this structure providing some with a nice hands-on exposure to the many wonderful skills they can learn at the vocational high school. This and the other two beds grew fresh vegetables last summer that went to local food banks, senior centers, a table at the farmer’s market for those in need, and low-income families at the school. Students were encouraged to help themselves all summer long as well as take turns sharing in the responsibility in maintaining the garden teaching them the inherent value of team work

and community awareness.l

VERTICAL PALLET GARDENS

In keeping with the gardening and green space theme, some students decided to take gardening to a new level…a vertical level. After learning about vertical gardening methods in Garden Club and Ms. O’Donoghue’s social studies class students learned that you don’t need a lot of land to grow healthy food. That idea and re-purposing proved to be just the trick in creating a vertical

pallet garden to grow strawberries and lettuce. After a quick lesson on invasive plants students realized this was the perfect way to introduce mint to their garden without worrying it would take over. Students studied pallets and learned that you must ensure that the pallet is heat-treated only and not with chemicals in order to ensure the growth of healthy plants. Then they combined their new found knowledge of this gardening method, perennial plants like strawberries, and easy to grow lettuce and mint to grow the ingredients for a yummy strawberry-mint salad.

POTATO TOWERS

After learning about the various ways for societies who lack land may grow food, students decided to experiment with creating potato towers. After learning that potatoes can be started from clippings and save money. Towers may range from two to four feet high, these simple vertical gardens are constructed of a cylinder of metal fencing lined with straw and filled with soil. Simple to build, they also produce a high yield also helping a family’s budget. Students at Team 7B received a grant from the Medford Educational Foundation allowing them to purchase wire fencing, chicken wire, wooden stakes, and student families graciously donated the hay and potatoes needed to complete these towers that add to our crop and don’t take up much space.

HYDROPONIC GARDEN

Another form of Gardening explored in Ms. O’Donoghue’s Gardening Club is hydroponic gardening. Students researched and discovered the value and convenience of creating year-long attractive aquaponic gardens to grow food using the nutrients from fish. Although the students chose to use gold fish for this project they were taught that you could use fish that were a food source like tilapia and catfish. Plants that easily grow in this set up are: any leafy lettuce, pak choi, kale, swiss chard, arugula, basil, mint, watercress, chives, and most common house plants.

Using the wood purchased with funding from the Medford Educational Grant and cut to design by Ms. O’Donoghue herself showing the students the value to vocational skills and re-purposed fish tanks were given from the staff and students. Instruction will be given by Roots Down Hydroponic a small business sin the community who has volunteered to conduct a lesson in Ms. O’Donoghue’s class showing how to set up this fun and scientific way of growing healthy food throughout the year.

GREEN SPACES

After studying that a community green space is an outdoor space that is fully accessible to the whole community, a community garden, or an area, or a wildlife area students were also taught about Urban planning. This new profession has arisen from society’s concerns for health and maintaining wellbeing through poor sanitation, overcrowding, and exposure to environmental pollution. Students in Team 7B decided to plant butterfly buses to attract butterflies after learning that certain vegetation attracts various wildlife or insects. Other students decided to add to the beatification process of the existing school garden by

painting several birdhouses and hanging them in the garden to encourage birds to visit and eat unwanted insects allowing the garden to be grown without chemicals and herbicides to deter bugs from ruining our crop. Other students volunteered to clean up the area near the Mystic River and collect trash and dispose of it correctly, recycling when appropriate. A great day overall for students to get outside, cooperate with one another , paint, plant, and learn how easy a green space can be created for all to enjoy.