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COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Heritage Farm would love to partner with you and your class! We value our local community and would be happy to serve as the community partner for your PBL unit. If you have a PBL idea that involves a farm, farm resources etc. please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Any entry event or project that you can think of, utilizing our resources, can be developed.
Any project listed below can be further broken down into more detailed steps or made more general to fit the class project goal.
For More Information Contact:
Susan Figueroa: sue.figueroa@heritagefarminc.org
Please call if you have any questions: (315)893-1889 extension 224
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING UNIT IDEA
We would love to see multiple academic areas working together on a project so that the students can see a school wide PBL project completed with our participant groups. Every year we have focus projects.
Heritage Farm Focus-Project 2019-2020: Redesign Herb Garden
Authentic Problem: We have the space to build herb garden that can serve both our participants and community but need help building it and effectively using it.
End Product: A rustic-themed herb garden will be designed as a showcase for new herb clientele. This herb garden will be producing herbs to sell to community stores, restaurants, and individual buyers to increase the community interactions with our participants while developing our participant’s skills in the areas of effective communication, relationship-building and coping as well as money and budgeting skills.
Criteria:
Needs to be ADA accessible
Made with sustainable materials
Include a main seating area
Needs a few resting benches throughout
Connect all areas with brick paver pathway
There will also need to be a compost area in a somewhat out-of-the-way location.
PBL Unit Options (related to Herb Garden)
This is just a list of what we are working on in the next year to two years.
Projects that we have lined up to start working on:
1. Raised bed gardens with similar-grouped herbs will be set in natural-looking containers throughout garden
2. Coy pond will be researched, designed, constructed and develop year-round maintenance schedule.
3. Research, design and price fence that is sustainable and fits in with rustic theme, may or may not have seating options within wall.
4. Research and design creative gardening ideas to implement (like hay bale gardens, tire-pile potato planting, etc.)
5. Research, design, build raised bed containers (possibly steel, wood, stone, cement or combination of these).
6. ADA accessible guidelines will be researched and followed by all aspects of project.
7. Develop paver sponsorship promotion so that community members can purchase pavers in their name or in memory of another person. This program will sustain the herb garden and include cost of buying paver, engraving parameters, promotional flyers, email informational chains, beginning contact lists, ideas for constant addition of new members, etc.
8. Poll, research and define what herbs and what forms (fresh cut, whole plant, dried) the community would utilize and purchase from Heritage Farm. (Michael’s restaurant, Price Chopper, Parry’s, local farmer’s markets, etc.)
9. Develop Herb garden annual calendar for purchasing seeds/ plugs, planting in greenhouse, transplanting into garden, ordering mulch, fertilizer, moving coy from greenhouse to garden, watering/ feeding schedule,
10. Develop Herb garden annual budget (post build) and price point for the various products produced.
11. Research and develop pest control plan to keep herbs safe.
12. Design and create herb-identification signage as well as inspirational signs and art pieces to display throughout garden.
OTHER PBL UNIT IDEAS
1. Develop educational animal lessons for our groups or visiting groups to grab and follow lesson.
2. Develop breeding program for various breeds of rabbits.
3. Create animal breed information signs, animal name signs, animal introduction videos for tours.
4. Plant identification projects in gardens and on grounds.
5. Art projects to display around farm or on farm buildings.
6. Animal care (feeding, watering, brushing, bathing, nails/ hooves, vet visits, farrier visits, animal therapy, leading, handling).
7. Heritage Farm Facebook or website activities.
8. Integrating classrooms with our participants with varying disabilities.
9. Developing a future planning informational process for students and families that may need disability services after graduation.
10. History of ADA, disabilities in America and where we are today.
11. Design individual, computerized personal finance budget for participants that live on their own to follow.
12. Design a video game that could teach money skills: shopping with money on hand, checking account/ ATM deposits/ debits, etc.
13. Study landscape, weather, rain fall, ground studies, different ecosystems within the 200 acres.
14. Identify farm animals, plants and tools in different languages.
15. Cook using garden produce to make recipes from Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican, Ecuador, France, Belgium, Haiti, etc.
16. Music, art, games from Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican, Ecuador, France, Belgium, Haiti, etc.
17. Weld/ provide maintenance to farm machinery or create farm-needed items or art.
18. Shadow various staff for work-based learning to see if working with people with disabilities in a farming environment is a career that students are interested in.
For More Information Contact:
Susan Figueroa: sue.figueroa@heritagefarminc.org
Please call if you have any questions: (315)893-1889 extension 224