Mini-Grant Application for School Year 2017-'18

Submitted by: Kenny Coogan Email: kenneth.coogan@sdhc.k12.fl.us Grade Level: 6-8 Subject: Agriculture, Science
Co-Applicant: Email: Grade level: Subject:

School: Wilson Middle School Type: xxx Grade Levels:6-8 County:Hillsborough

Approx. Enrollment: 670 Number of teachers:40

School Address:

1005 Swann Avenue
Tampa, Florida 33606

Phone: 7164256915 Principal:Colleen Faucett Email: Colleen.Faucett@sdhc.k12.fl.us

Project Title: Vegetable, Herb and Native School Gardens
Project Dates: 9/2017-On going Grade Levels:

Focus Area(s) :technology- science equipment- garden supplies - QR codes / website

Abstract:
This grant opportunity will provide a way for our students to teach each other and the public about healthy eating habits and healthy ecosystems by maintaining a website regarding our school’s brand-new vegetable and herb gardens and soon to be native garden areas. The gardens teach our students state standards including but not limited to genetics, heredity, human impact of the earth, the important part plants play in food chains and webs, and stress ecological principles. The black anodized aluminum plant tags with QR codes will link to a student run and written webpages. The webpage will be part of the website PlantMaps. Plantsmap.com is a website community that hosts botanical collections with customized tools that solve the challenges of documenting, organizing, mapping, tagging and sharing information about plants. Students will be responsible for uploading photos, content, and updates on the garden process using the digital thermometer and measuring tape. The four document camera will be used in both science and agriculture classrooms to connect students with professionals in the field. These virtual guest speakers will speak to our classes for free as we will be working with the Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay, as they are partnered with Florida Tech Corridor Council and stemConnect. The document camera will also serve to record text and photographic data for the student run webpages.

Proposal:

How is your project innovative?   (25 points)
This year Wilson Middle School, located in the Hyde Park area of Tampa, for the first time has offered Agriculture as an elective. With great support from our community we recently have installed 15 edible raised beds each measuring 6 feet long and 2 feet wide along the front perimeter of the school. In addition to our new elective, our proposed project is innovative because the plant tags will each display a unique QR code. The QR codes will link to various plant profile pages which will be operated by students. Students will be responsible for uploading photos, content, and updates on the garden process using the digital thermometer, measuring tape and document cameras.

How will it fit into your curriculum (include standards)? (10 points)
In 7th grade students learn about state standards including Mendelian genetics, heredity (sexual vs asexual reproduction – with plants representing both), human impact of the earth (agricultural practices), the important part plants play in food chains and webs (both edible and native gardens), and ecological principles (niches, consumers, producers etc.). Our native and edible gardens will also address our 225 students who participate in the brand new agriculture course. This grant will help students learn the following state standards; Apply knowledge and skills in biotechnology, apply knowledge and skills in plant sciences, demonstrate knowledge and skills in food science, Apply knowledge and skills in processing and marketing, apply knowledge and skills in environmental resources, Demonstrate the value of responsibility, good work habits, and planning for career opportunities in agriculture, Apply leadership and communication skills, Integrate the use of science, mathematics, reading, geography, history, writing, and communication in agriscience and technology.

How will it encourage long-lasting change in your classroom, school or community? (20 points)
Having buy-in is often the crux of engaging students. With students being accountable for their own plant profile webpages they will not only be engaged in these public broadcasts but also inspired and empowered. Since our main garden (15 raised beds) are proudly displayed along the front of the school, when the community is walking by the school they can quickly scan the QR codes and learn more about the plants, our school and our agriculture program.

How will technology be utilized?  (20 points)
Working with Plantsmap.com the professional, well-built plant tags will allow our students to be able to highlight and organize our garden story, create individual plant profiles and keep photos, notes and links organized. They will also be able to easily share the plant profiles in emails, on our PTSA/school Facebook page and district website. Labeling each edible plant was inspired by the Florida Agriculture Teacher of the Year from last year. With this project we will be able to code all of the plants and trees on campus, not just the ones being grown in the raised beds. Gardening, with our campus as an example, is no longer local even; it is global. Food is now being cultivated in dense urban areas anywhere there is space and being able to communicate that is invaluable. The four document camera will be used in both science and agriculture classrooms to connect students with professionals in the field. These virtual guest speakers will speak to our classes for free as we will be working with the Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay, as they are partnered with Florida Tech Corridor Council and stemConnect. The document cameras will serve as our webcam to communicate with the professionals. The document camera will also serve to record text and photographic data for the student run webpages.

What evidence will you collect to show student gain?   (10 points)
Students are given a pre-assessment at the beginning of both semesters. Students are then given a semester exam 20 weeks later. Benchmarks and state standards will be compared with these assessments. Formative assessments such as group projects, monitoring student work and having students self-monitor will provide timely student gains. In addition to collecting photos and notes for the plant profile webpages, the document camera will be used to quickly grade multiple choice assessments, a function that many of our outdated ELMO document cameras are unable to do.

How will participants share your project results with the community?  (15 points)
This project will be advertised to the local media and in our monthly student created science/agriculture and school newsletters. These newsletters are sent to all of our stakeholders in the community (administration, parents, families). Every time the community walks by our gardens or landscape they can hyperlink to our webpage through our QR codes.

Budget:

I, Kenny Coogan, certify that the application is complete and final, AND I verify that I have received permission to apply for these funds from Colleen Faucett,the Principal of Wilson Middle School and any other individuals required by my school district.

RETURN