Science & Garden Programs

Educating Our Children Through Experiences in the Garden
A docent assisted, standards based School Garden Program

This program has been designed to enhance themed units of study throughout the year presented in Open Court. Its “events” are also designed to integrate lessons in science, social studies, math and environmentalism through hands-on garden experiences that connect learning to life and life to learning, opening students up to the possibilities in the larger world around them and their role in it.

This program is brought to your children through your PTA and funded by the generous donations from you and our community through FOLB fundraising activities throughout the year. Just another way your participation enhances education!


	Our solar powered hand washing station
Student designed logo for their agri-business crop		Fifth grade learns about photosynthesis


	Kinder Planting Day!
Students care for the Word Garden		Fourth graders lecturing about their Argi-business to third graders


	Teaching organic pest control! Echhhh!		Butterflies are in the House!

What’s Growing in The Garden This Year....

· Butterfly Lab & Habitat Garden returns! All grade levels will have an opportunity to “grow” butterflies from larva to adult stage in their classrooms and then place them into the Butterfly Towers to watch the life cycle begin again! Coming in April! Towers open in May.
· Second Graders become archeologists in our FOSSIL DIG in the School Garden! A trained archeologist explains the science and technique behind uncovering the ancient finds at our “site”! Our little scientists then participate in a real dig uncovering remnants of another time while entering and graphing their finds in their journals. April!

· WORMS! Lanai’s Worm Farm is coming! All grade levels will learn about the environmental value of waste management/recycling and its benefit to our garden and the world!

· Word Garden returns! All grade levels will discuss and develop a list of words relating to an area of study. These words will be painted on their own flower pinwheel which the class “plants” into the Word Garden. Samples of their writing will also be on display this spring.

· Fourth grade’s Dreams to Jobs Open Court unit comes alive as the students plan, develop and run their own agri-business culminating in bringing their harvest to market at Encino’s Farmers Market. Ongoing!

· Visit the KINDER FARM! Kinder students are introduced to gardening concepts through seed germination, seed spread (Wind), creating habitats (homes) all the way to becoming organic farmers. April!

For more information on the Lanai Garden Program, please contact Geri Miller.

Science Program

For a second year, Team Lanai has been able to fund a fabulous science instructor, Ms. Hinckson, who will oversee experiments in the new laboratory. The science teacher helps support our school’s science program by setting up experiments in the classroom and lab and by assisting classroom teachers by finding and providing materials that are not available at the school (checking materials out through the two LAUSD science centers, finding experiments and resources at the local library or other venue). The current science program follows the science units and their correlation to the Open Court Reading Program used at our school, as well as our Science Textbooks. We use materials from many resources to support the classroom – all found in our Science Cargo Unit and available to our teachers and staff. The Science Cargo Unit houses microscopes, flasks, batteries and wires, as well as hundreds of other consumable and non-consumable resources to support our Science Program. The program is conducted throughout the year and is based on the California Standards in Science Curriculum. The Science Program overlaps with the Garden Program and the Health Is Important Program (HIP), both of which are integrated into our school’s curriculum in all grade levels. We strive to have each grade level and classroom visit the science lab at least one to three times a month. The upper grades visit up to twice a week. New in 2008, we are adding “Science Explosion Days” in which parent volunteers will conduct experiments relevant to ongoing curriculum at Lanai. The Explosion Days will take place during recess or lunchtimes so that the students can have hands-on experience with science throughout the school year. Concurrently, three times a year, the Science Committee will also host “hands-on assemblies”. These days will be announced via eBPN and BPN flyers. The success of the science program is dependent upon good communication and cooperation between the science instructor, classroom teachers and volunteers. Because of our achievement with many other volunteer-based programs, we feel that this program will meet with the same success. The program, administered by Lanai Road PTA and funded by Friends of Lanai Booster, was inaugurated in the 2003/2004 school year.

If you are interested in becoming a science volunteer or you have materials, research books, or children’s experiments that you would like to donate, please contact Miki Chase at mikichase@sbcglobal.net.

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