Bringing the farm to the city

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This article was published 26/04/2019 (2656 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s never too early to develop a green thumb.

On April 25, students at Sherwood School (509 Grey St.) got to experience what it takes for plants to grow first-hand.

“That’s an experience a lot of kids might not have, if they live in an apartment building or their backyard doesn’t have room for it,” Tracie Scott, principal at Sherwood School, said. “Who knows, we may have some future food scientists in our school?”

Over the course of the day, 110 students from kindergarten through Grade 5 visited the Seed Survivor portable lab. Presented by Nutrien Ltd. and Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba, the mobile display features six interactive displays.

“We learned about flowers and plants,” said Grade 1 student Kaitlyn Wirt.

“We learned that plants need food,” Jesse Balean-Adamczyk, another Grade 1 student, added. “We learned about animal poo helping them grow.”

Along with hands-on displays, a virtual reality farming game was a hit with students.

“We got to make the garden grow,” Balean-Adamczyk said. “There was a pretend cloud and when you press the button 20 times, it made it rain.”

Each student was able to plant a sunflower, which they all got to take home with them.

“I already have one plant at home and this is going to be my second one,” Wirt said enthusiastically. 

Erin Thomas, teacher librarian and early years science teacher, has been running the Little Green Thumbs program in her classroom since 2015. She was excited about the opportunity to bring the Seed Survivor lab to Sherwood.

“It fits with all the science curriculum,” Thomas said. “It’s nice for them to know where their food comes from. It’s exciting.”

Thomas’s Little Green Thumbs classes recently harvested a load of greens and celebrated with a salad day.

“The kids were so excited,” Scott said. “We think kids get excited over ice cream and pizza and cookies, but they were so excited to harvest their own food.”

The Seed Survivor program was first developed in Calgary, Alta., in 2005. The mobile classroom tours North America throughout the school year. It rolled into Manitoba in April, and will remain in the province through June. 

For more information on the program, visit www.seedsurvivor.com

Sheldon Birnie
Managing editor

Sheldon Birnie is the managing editor of the Free Press Community Review. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca or call him at 204-697-7112

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