Living Classroom

The Living Classroom utilizes school gardens and outdoor areas as it provides children with hands-on learning experiences by teaching them engaging, garden-based lessons. These lessons complement the existing curriculum, are standards-based, and provide the opportunity for students to experience concepts taught in the classroom through exploration of the natural world. While challenging, Living Classroom lessons are designed to hold student interest and have proven to be a fun departure from the normal routine for both students and teachers.

Santa Rita features a number of different gardens on our campus:

• “Pollinator and Beneficial Insect” garden
  
  
  
  
• “Heirloom Tomato” garden
  
  
  
  
• “Native California plant” gardens
  
    
  
  
• “First grade Food Machines” garden where students learned how plants make food from sun, water and carbon dioxide
  
  
  
  
• “Three Sisters” garden where students learn about Native American tradition of planting corn, squash and beans together
  
  
  
  
• “Fifth grade Columbian Exchange and American Colonial” garden where students learn how seeds were exhanged between old and new worlds
  
  
  
  
• “Ancient Civilizations” garden where students learn about plants grown in Mesopotomia, Egypt, Greece and Rome
  
  
  
  

For more information, visit: http://www.lasdk8.org/garden/LIving_Classroom_Website/index.html