Garden project teaches Stephens Elementary pupils science, math and writing

Instructional coach Sayda Chapa, left, and fourth-grade language arts teacher Penelope Flores are teaching pupils at Stephens Elementary about science, math, writing and more as they plan and build a garden. Instructional coach Sayda Chapa, left, and fourth-grade language arts teacher Penelope Flores are teaching pupils at Stephens Elementary about science, math, writing and more as they plan and build a garden. Photo: Courtesy Stephens Elementary Photo: Courtesy Stephens Elementary Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Garden project teaches Stephens Elementary pupils science, math and writing 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

For the pupils at Stephens Elementary, there are a lot of fascinating, captivating elements to their STEM Garden Project, but the biggest one might be the chance to get out of the classroom and apply their knowledge.

"You should have seen them when they were surveying the land," said instructional coach Sayda Chapa. "They were so excited to actually see what a meter looks like. It's a concept they're not used to because the metric system is not what we see every day. It's been very meaningful.

"I think the biggest impact of the garden is that our students will be able to apply what they're learning in class. Many times the information ends at the book or the test, but the garden will provide valuable hands-on experiences for our students."

Every day is another chapter in their adventure.

"I'm most excited about getting to look out of the window at our garden," fifth-grader Sam Boyer said. "We are the ones that are coming up with the ideas."

"I like that we are planting something that we can eat," fourth-grader Shivani Singh said.

It all started in November 2013, when Chapa and fourth-grade language arts teacher Penelope Flores decided to research and write a grant for a STEM Garden Project to provide pupils the opportunity to explore, create and communicate a variety of concepts related to math, science, technology, engineering, reading and writing.

Stephens Elementary, 2715 Fry Road, received funds through an Inspiring Imagination grant from the Katy ISD Education Foundation that will allow them to complete the STEM Garden Project in March.

The STEM Garden Project includes five phases. The pupils have finished researching plants that will thrive in the area based on the climate and properties of the soil. Germination will be in February, with planting in March.

Chapa and Flores believe strongly that if the pupils actively participate in the planning, execution and maintenance of the garden, they will be able to apply critical thinking skills in a real-life situation. So every phase of the project is student-based, from creating posters to deciding the name of the garden - they settled on the Super Stallion Garden, honoring their mascot - to the germination and planting.

"We're giving sole ownership to the kids," Flores said. "They're picking the name of the garden, what's planted, the design of garden. They're going to be in charge of maintaining it and making sure it has the proper amount of water, based on their research.

"We want them to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to a hands-on approach that they can then write about and take home a book of their own so they remember the experience."

There are two different components to the project: math and science, administrated by Chapa; and the language arts, administrated by Flores.

During the implementation phase, pupils will be able to apply what they're learning in math by measuring area and perimeter, and designing and carrying out a plan. They will also experience firsthand concepts related to adaptations, ecosystems, soil properties, weather, climate and the water cycle.

"Math is not just happening in the math classroom once a day for an hour and science is not just happening in the science lab," Chapa said. "They're getting it. And that's what we're excited about. They're understanding measurements.

That's a hard topic for them to grasp, because in unit class we cover measurement once and then we don't see it again before we review it for a test. But they're actually grasping the concept and it's staying with them."

Pupils researched what grows best in Texas and in the Houston area, then created posters depicting what they would like to plant based on what they found. That was displayed for all the pupils, from kindergarten through fifth grade, to vote on. Chapa and Flores are counting the votes and will release the results in a graph form, rather than just announcing that one specific vegetable or fruit won.

"There is a good tendency for vegetables," Chapa said. "They like the vegetables."

"When they see their posters, they get very excited. They were looking at the reasoning behind it. So the kids, when they were doing research, had to find out how much water it needs, whether it's perennial or annual. So they're very excited. They're looking forward to germination. I think that will be a cherry on top for the kids, where we actually become like a greenhouse."

Flores' side of the project involves implementing different writing genres within the garden topic, such as persuasive writing, expository writing and poetry during the planning and building phase of the garden.

For example, fourth-graders will write a story in each of the different genres based on the garden project, and the teachers will select one written piece from each student, which will be put into a book and published.

Every student will be in charge of taking care of one part of the garden. A cover will be put over the garden to protect it from inclement weather and an irrigation system will water it throughout summer when the pupils aren't in school.

"We're just allowing these kids to become the creators and the owners of their garden," Flores said.