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JUNE 2005

From The New York Botanical Garden
Q & A With Dr. Christina Colon About Seeds 2 Curricula: Plant Adaptations

Garden Adventure SEEDS: Science Exploration and Education Discovery Series, is a unique classroom curriculum developed by The New York Botanical Garden to educate children about science and improve their math and literacy skills. The program launched in 2003 with SEEDS I, a unit on plant parts for kindergarten and first grade.

What’s new about SEEDS 2?
The many ways that plants adapt to their environment is the focus of SEEDS 2 which was designed for grades 2–3. The most exciting and innovative element of this new curriculum is that it teaches adaptations using plants as the main focus. This is significant because many children only learn about adaptations as they pertain to animals, but plant adaptations are just as exciting and easier to observe. Another significant aspect of this curriculum is that it teaches about local plants and their adaptations to local conditions such as the change of season. This is innovative because it allows students to apply what they learn in a classroom directly to their everyday lives. For example, one area of investigation is how temperate plants are able to adapt to the changing seasons, while wetland plants are able to thrive in and around ponds. New York is in the middle of a temperate zone and is surrounded by vast wetlands so the lessons learned have immediate relevance.

What do teachers and students like about SEEDS?
Teachers like the hands-on, inquiry activities because they are an excellent educational tool and they get students excited about the natural world. At the same time, they are learning valuable science skills and behaviors like how to make observations and record them, and exciting information such as how plants grow, and what resources they need to survive.

How does a teacher use SEEDS?

Teachers use the curriculum in the classroom as well as in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden. Classroom materials include a comprehensive teacher’s guide, reproducible worksheets, a class set of hand-lenses, beans for planting and measuring real seeds and fruits from local plants to observe, and non-fiction books. The unit includes two class trips to the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden where students experience what they’ve been studying and practice their science skills in a natural setting. The unit includes a full-day teacher training session as well as a teacher pre-trip pass to the Garden. Teachers can earn six units of new teacher credits by participating in the spring, summer, or fall training session.

For whom is this unit appropriate?
All children in grades 2–3 will benefit from SEEDS 2; even teachers of older students also find it appropriate and useful. Teachers who have ESL students or who teach children with special learning challenges have found SEEDS extremely helpful because it uses so many different approaches to teaching these concepts. The curriculum is flexible and can be adapted to accommodate many learning styles. #

SEEDS 2: Plant Adaptations will launch Thursday, June 16th. A reception will be held in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Principals, administrators, science cluster teachers and 2nd and 3rd grade classroom teachers from the New York metropolitan area will be attending to learn about this important curriculum unit. To reserve a spot for the June 16th reception call 718.817.8175. To learn more about the SEEDS curricula visit www.nybg.org/chil_edu/ecag.html#

Dr. Christina Colón is the Curator of Curriculum Development and Evaluation at The New York Botanical Garden and creator of the SEEDS curricula.

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