Life Lab

Life Lab cultivates children's love of learning, healthy food, and nature through garden-based education.

Category : Garden-Based Learning

Garden-Based Learning Literature Lists

GARDEN-BASED LEARNING LITERATURE LISTS American Horticulture Society/Jr. Master Gardeners Growing Good Kids Book List GrowingMinds.org Farm to School Literature List. Includes books in Spanish. Favorite Books for Kids and Their Educators  from City [...]

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School Garden Support Organization Network Webinars

Resources for School Garden Support Professionals Life Lab is a co-founder of the School Garden Support Organization Network. We have helped to curate and present the largest collection of school garden related webinars found anywhere. Check them out at www.sgsonetwo [...]

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School Garden Support Organization Network


Next Generation Science in the Garden Webinar

Where better to explore ecological interdependence, growth and development of organisms, structure and function, adaptation, and the environmental impact of human activity than in an outdoor garden classroom? In this edWeb webinar Whitney Cohen, Education Director at L [...]

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Garden Tour Promoters Pack

As part of Life Lab's 40th Anniversary we organized and promoted "Santa Cruz County Open School Gardens Day" This was a one day event where 14 local school gardens opened their gates for community building and garden tours. Our post event assessment noted that about 300 [...]

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Engaging University Students in Local School Gardens

Engaging University Students in Local School Gardens:  A Toolkit for School Districts, School Garden Support Organizations and Universities Created by UC Davis Student Farm, Life Lab, and UC Berkeley This guidebook summarizes three different models of U [...]

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kids gardening sewing seeds


Webinar and Curriculum – The Soil Story: Unearthing Connections Between Climate Change, the Food We Eat, and Human Health

  NOAA Planet Stewards Education Project webinar The Soil Story: Unearthing Connections Between Climate Change, the Food We Eat, and Human Health presented by Jessica Handy, Education Coordinator for Kiss the Ground, and Whitney Cohen, Education Director of [...]

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plante stewards


Outdoor Classroom Management Webinar

View Life Lab and EdWeb's Growing School Garden Community webinar on Outdoor Classroom Management View the archived webinar here! View all our webinars. View Life Lab's resources on effective outdoor classroom management Presenters: Whitney Cohen, Education Dir [...]

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girl with binoculars


Steps to a Successful Garden Workday

-by John Fisher Life Lab's Director of Partnerships and Programs This post is part of our Sustaining School Gardens Series Over the years I have led many garden workdays at the Life Lab Garden Classroom and school gardens across California. In addition to the obv [...]

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kids in the garden


One Garden, Many Schools: Multi-Use School Garden Models

Life Lab sprouted at Green Acres Elementary School in 1979. Most of the gardens that we have worked with over the past 35 years are located on, and serve one school site. While visiting school gardens in Denmark and Norway I was impressed by their model of one large gar [...]

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Spring Creek Gardens


Common Core in the Garden Webinar

Life Lab's Education Director Whitney Cohen presented a webinar on Common Core in the Garden on February 18, 2014. View an archive of this webinar at www.edweb.net Download PDF of Common Core in the Garden Slides View all our webinars. Learn to use a garden to [...]

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Regional Support Models for Sustaining School Gardens Webinar

Join Life Lab and EdWeb's Growing School Garden Community for a webinar on Regional Support Models for Sustaining School Gardens. Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - 4pm / Eastern Time View the archived version here. Read our article on One Garden, Many Schools. View all ou [...]

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2014 California School Garden Survey

May 28, 2014 Press Release - Survey Says... School Gardens Thriving in California Results from the California School Garden Survey. Life Lab, in collaboration with the California School Garden Network, conducted the California School Garden Survey to gain insights i [...]

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Common Core in the Garden

Here at Life Lab, we have cross-mapped every lesson in The Growing Classroom with the new Common Core Math and Language Arts standards and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) being rolled out in schools across the country! We've also cross-mapped every lesso [...]

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kids in the garden measuring plants


The Danes Are Here

We have been having a great time showing visitors from Denmark some of the best farm to school and school garden programs in the region. The Danish study tour group, organized by Life Lab, is composed of eighteen government ministers, university faculty and graduate stu [...]

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Fall 2013 Newsletter

View our September 2013 Newsletter View newsletter archives Program Updates Meet Faith - Support our Work Summer Accomplishments Announcing the National School Garden Network The Top Ten of Farm- and Garden-Based Education Garden Tips and Educator Resources [...]

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Inquiry in the Garden Webinar

Life Lab's Education Director Whitney Cohen led an enthusiastic webinar on Inquiry in the Garden as part of EdWeb's Growing School Gardens Community. Inquiry in the Garden: Facilitating Student-Led Investigations for Grades K-8 Webinar covers how to create the "Ahh-h [...]

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Turning Teachers into Gardeners in Washington D.C.

Life Lab has been delighted to work with a very forward-thinking organization in the nation's capital, DC Greens, to train garden coordinators through their Growing Garden Teachers program. DC Greens' innovative approach to regional school garden support was recentl [...]

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School Garden Design Webinar

Life Lab's John Fisher led a photo filled webinar on School Garden Design as part of EdWeb's Growing School Gardens Community. Design Ideas for a Fun, Successful Instructional School Garden Webinar shares school garden design elements from school gardens across the n [...]

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Google Hangout: Training Garden-Based Educators

Life Lab participated in an Edible Schoolyard Google Hangout on the topic of training garden-based educators. We were one of five programs to share different training models and strategies for creating and sustaining school garden programs. Featured Participants and [...]

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December 2012 Life Lab Newsletter

  You don't want to miss our December 2012 Newsletter. In This Issue Garden Tips and Educator Resources Planting Fruits Trees and Vines in School Gardens Sustaining School Gardens - Funding Garden Coordinators Book Review: Our School Garden! Recipe: H [...]

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Sustaining School Gardens – Funding Garden Coordinators

Model Policies and Organizations from Across the Country Written by Whitney Cohen. Life Lab Education Director School gardens are fantastic! (To be convinced, view The Garden, A Master Teacher) But that's not what this article's about, so let me start over. School g [...]

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Summer 2012 Newsletter

  You don't want to miss our Summer 2012 Newsletter. In This Issue Garden Tips and Educator Resources Seed Saving Resources and Video Growing Questions - Inquiry in the Garden Teaching at a Farmer's Market Recipes: Zucchini Baba Ganoush and More Disc [...]

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Spring 2012 Newsletter

  View Newsletter View Archives     Garden Tips and Recipe Make a Human Sundial Edible Crop Planning Recipe - Kale Salad Program Updates The Book of Garden Projects for Kids Update on the California School Garden Training Progra [...]

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2012 Winter Newsletter

You don't want to miss our Winter 2012 Newsletter. In This Issue Garden Tips and Lessons Lesson - Six Seed Trail Mix Making Garden Signs - Tips and Photos Lesson Packet - Feeling Fine With Fresh Foods Recipe - Winter Squash Teacakes Program Updates 2011 Pr [...]

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Asphalt to Ecosystems – Greening Your Schoolyard

Sharon Danks, author of Asphalt to Ecosystems - Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformations, shares a vision of creating outdoor learning spaces as places of beauty and inspiration for natural interactions. From her travels around the world documenting stellar example [...]

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2011 ~ City of Santa Cruz Declares May 1, 20ll “Garden Classroom Day”

Santa Cruz City Council Member David Terrazas surprised us all at our May Day Benefit Brunch by declaring the day Garden Classroom Day in the City of Santa Cruz. The resolution was officially proclaimed at the May 10 city council meeting. View the Mayor's Proclamation [...]

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Cookin’ With Kids

There are lots of activities that can be really beneficial to your children such as getting a tennis coach for beginners, but research on nutrition education and cooking activities with kids consistently point to positive and lasting affects on their perception of f [...]

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2010 – 2011 California School Garden Survey

Also view 2013--14 California School Garden Survey Life Lab, in collaboration with the California School Garden Network, conducted a 2011 survey of California School Gardens. The information gathered from this survey will help those that are creating and supporti [...]

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English Language Development Bears Fruit in School Gardens

Life Lab's Language Acquisition and Science Education in Rural Schools (LASERS)  program showed the positive links between language development and hands-on science using the Life Lab Science curriculum. This theme was recently revisited by the National Gardening As [...]

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Chicken Coop Design

Many folks have asked us for our chicken coop design. Here it is as a four page PDF(1.4mb). This coop is: easy to clean with its side access door crafty with its viewing windows and hinged roof option secure with a nest box and entrance that can be easily [...]

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The Garden, A Master Teacher – An Essay

In our responses to the editor of The Atlantic we ask that they publish The Garden,  A Master Teacher written by a Life Lab Camp parent Kristen Berhan. Kristen writes: One of the complex questions I have been living is the question of education. This is a ques [...]

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Worm Composting

Everyone should learn to compost with worms. They are natures way of recycling so they can be greatly beneficial to the environment. It can be good for teaching kids how to make less waste and how giving back to the envirnment can be a good thing. By showing them wo [...]

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The Garden, A Master Teacher

Printable version with references (PDF) Along with our rebuttals to Cultivating Failure we submitted this essay for publication in The Atlantic.   Preface When I was a child and the world seemed grim I had a place that I would go to and find myself again. [...]

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3 weeks ago

Life Lab

Join our team! Life Lab is hiring!!! Open positions include Development Director, Bilingual Community Liaison, and Garden Instructors. More positions are coming soon! 🌱Apply now! Click link in our bio or visit lifelab.org/jobs🌱Or tag your friends below and help share this exciting opportunity!

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4 weeks ago

Life Lab

Please join us & @greenschoolyards on March 8 at 11:00 AM PT for the first installment of a five-part webinar series on the wide-ranging benefits of the Living Schoolyards Act, a groundbreaking bill that will direct important federal resources towards transforming school grounds into living schoolyards.This session will focus on the equity, educational, and academic benefits of living schoolyards and feature speakers from @thenaaee @tenstrands @naturebasededucation and Life Lab. 🌱Register for this free lecture series and learn more about how you can help us build support for the Living Schoolyard Act: www.greenschoolyards.org/living-schoolyards-act

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4 weeks ago

Life Lab

Register now for our Responsive Classroom Management in the Outdoors Workshop and receive an Early-Bird Registration Discount! 🌱When? April 21st, 9:30AM-3:30PM Where? Life Lab’s Garden Classroom, located on the beautiful campus of UCSC. What? How can we possibly manage 30 students in an Outdoor Classroom?! Participants in this workshop will explore best practices for establishing and maintaining a positive, engaging culture of learning and fun in a garden setting. Together we will experience and discuss setting the tone for equitable and inclusive instruction; garden class routines; station rotations; and specific techniques to maximize student engagement and participation. Graduate education units available. 🌱 To register and for more details please visit: lifelab.org/responsive-classroom-management-the-in-outdoors/For registration info on other upcoming Life Lab workshops please visit: lifelab.org/gcworkshops/

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2 months ago

Life Lab

🌱Calling all Garden Educators!🌱We are excited to announce Life Lab’s 2023 Workshop schedule! Join us for a workshop at our Garden Classroom to get inspiration and information on bringing learning to life in the garden! 2023 Workshops:🌻 Responsive Classroom Management 4/21/23 🌱The Growing Classroom 8/24-8/25/23🔎 NGSS 9/14/23🍎 Plant to Plate 10/12/23To register and for more info please visit: lifelab.org/gcworkshops P. S. Sign up 14 days in advance to receive a discount on your registration! #LifeLab #gardeneducation #gardeneducator #outdoorclassroom #education #schoolgarden #gardeninginschools #gardenclassroom #cookingclassroom

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5 months ago

Life Lab

Become a Life Lab Certified Gardener! 🌱🌻Based on the success of our first four cohorts of Life Lab-Certified Garden Educators, we are excited to announce that registration is now open for individuals to register and be part of our fifth cohort starting January 23rd, 2023! We’ve put together a series of 4 on-line courses that will guide and support educators in becoming a Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator. Upon successful completion of the 4 courses, participants will receive a certificate and the distinction of being a Life Lab-Certified Garden Educator. Each course will last 4 weeks long and include 4 synchronous meetings, at-home work, and a unique coaching model. The total commitment for the full series is 16 weeks. Check out our website for more information! Registration for the full certification series is now open. Please share with others who are looking for ideas and inspiration in the garden! There are 24 spots available and we sold out in our last 4 certification series. We hope you can join us!Life Lab offers a limited number of course fee reductions based on need and anticipated impact. To apply for financial assistance, follow the link below. Scholarship applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis between now and December 1st, 2022 or until all funds have been awarded.

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6 months ago

Life Lab

Thanks Shmuel! and all those that joined the Starlight workday.

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11 months ago

Life Lab

www.lifelab.org/jobs Full-time Bilingual Garden Educators at PVUSD School Gardens and Summer Program Staff at Garden Classroom on UCSC Farm

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Stock up your Garden Classroom

Life Lab provides truly inspiring training. Their breadth of experience, joy for teaching, and commitment to sharing knowledge highlight the best practices in food and garden education.
Erica CurryTraining and Professional Development ManagerFoodCorps
Thank you for such a wonderful field trip experience! Your leaders did such a great job at keeping our kids engaged.
Sheila BrickenKindergarten TeacherSan Lorenzo Valley Elementary
Terry had another awesome two weeks at Life Lab. I think he learns more there than in any other part of his year. School is great, but he’s passionate (and often dogmatic) about what he learns there.
Tara NeierCamp ParentSummer camp mom
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