STEM Enrichment

Evergreen’s garden-based programs use age-appropriate sensory exploration to introduce concepts and encourage appreciation for the outdoors.

Head Start Preschool & Pre-K Growing in the Garden

Designed for children in Head Start Preschool & Pre-K, this program serves approximately 260 children (14 classes) at all seven centers in Allegany County. The children are brought to the Evergreen farm for a half-day field trip, and Evergreen educators visit each class to deliver additional reinforcing programs ranging from seed and vegetable discovery to wildlife exploration. From creating Seed Houses to planting Garden Window boxes, children gain a better understanding of how their world works.

Elementary Edibles

Elementary Edibles, a hands-on education program developed by the EHC Foundation and its partners, focuses on food science and nutrition, teaching children where their foods come from and how it grows, with the goal of increasing food/agricultural literacy and influencing consumption of healthy foods. Elementary Edibles is aligned with the Maryland State Curriculum and supports National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (as developed by the USDA and partners) that include teaching children about agriculture.

Under the Elementary Edibles program, each grade level (K-5) grows a different vegetable, culminating in student/parent salad bar events (one per grade level). Kindergarten students will taste, learn about and plant radishes, 1st-grade mini broccoli, 2nd-grade lettuce, 3rd-grade spinach, 4th-grade snap peas, and 5th-grade herbs. All vegetables and herbs are grown in window box gardens in classrooms. Teachers are also provided grow lights for those classrooms without adequate natural light and/or may experiment with natural versus artificial lights to provide opportunities for scientific investigations. Students care for their plants each day and have a follow-up lesson to check on garden progress. In May, EHC in conjunction with school lunch invites parents and students to a salad bar lunch. Providing the opportunity to taste the same categories of vegetables grown by all grade levels.

Exploring & Investigating: Field Trips

Evergreen, in collaboration with Allegany County Public Schools, provides intensive STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) education field trip programs. Evergreen manages a program of lessons which are carefully aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core Standards, and Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards. If you’re interested in learning more about program specifics, please contact us.

Evergreen’s programs are designed to give students those “ah-ha moments” that teachers love. Moments that inspire youth to connect their classroom concepts to a real-world experience. Through hands-on learning and subsequent reflection, student science literacy continually improves by 25% to 50% per class (per pre/post-tests).

Evergreen’s lessons span the sciences and include the following topics and issues:

Climate Change

Students investigate properties of the biological carbon cycle, and the impact of weather and climate change on phenology (key seasonal changes in plants and animals such as flowering, the emergence of insects and migration of birds.)

Weather

Students examine weather by using rain gauges, barometers, anemometers, wind meters, and sling psychrometers, and later investigate the water cycle and the properties of water. A STEM boat building challenge reinforces related concepts of buoyancy, drag, thrust, and weight.

Alternative Energy

Students explore fossil fuels and alternative energy resources and their impacts on regional ecosystems. A mini-wind turbines STEM challenge provides an opportunity to discuss energy output.

Forest Health

Students hike our forests to uncover factors that influence the health of a forest, such as species diversity and invasive insects. Guided activities reinforce the impacts of the forest on the larger landscape and Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Rocks & Minerals

Students explore underground natural resources and their uses by humans by using maps, observing evidence of land use, examining soil attributes, testing waters, and identifying regional rocks and minerals.

Erosion

Students investigate soil erosion as they see firsthand the impact of runoff and the causes and signs of erosion. By planting a native meadow, they learn about simple but important ways to plants can be used to mitigate erosion in their communities.

Watersheds

Students experience migration as Canadian Geese and learn about watersheds, natural and human impacts on the health of our streams, ponds, rivers, and oceans. Water testing provides additional opportunities for discussion.

Microorganisms & Plants

Students go on a safari to collect samples of small insects and animals and create their own field guides. They evaluate their area’s biodiversity, discover habitats for small animals, discuss interactions between organisms, and even plant a pollinator garden.