ONE COOL EARTH
  • Home
    • Why Gardens?
    • Curriculum
    • Our Services
    • Food Forests
    • Zero Waste
    • Water Wise
    • Find Your Garden
  • About Us
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • Our Story
    • Our Team
    • The Trellis
    • Our Partners
    • Publicity >
      • Articles
      • Impact Report
      • Our Awards
    • Contact Us
  • Donate Now
  • Volunteer
  • Home
    • Why Gardens?
    • Curriculum
    • Our Services
    • Food Forests
    • Zero Waste
    • Water Wise
    • Find Your Garden
  • About Us
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • Our Story
    • Our Team
    • The Trellis
    • Our Partners
    • Publicity >
      • Articles
      • Impact Report
      • Our Awards
    • Contact Us
  • Donate Now
  • Volunteer

Dig In

Our Local Business Partners Investing in One Cool Earth Programs.

11/21/2018

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

3 Ways to Involve Your Children This Thanksgiving:

11/21/2018

0 Comments

 
Small kitchen? Trying to keep the house clean as you make each dish? Why not be grateful to have your children as a helpful hand? With some planning, preparing, and even creation, kids can feel rewarded and even be a time saver if they are included in Thanksgiving.

As many of us understand, a Thanksgiving meal comes together with preparing the meal, straightening up the house, and mentally getting focused with the preparation of it all while children run around in the mix. 

In the school garden, kids have harvested, planted, composted and prepared food to taste with GEM's in the garden and we've discovered the pleasure and ownership a child feels taking care of the garden.

This year, add a little spice and get your children involved with Thanksgiving dinner. You’ll be able to continue your kids to develop ownership and make your day less stressful and overall more meaningful for you as a family. Here are 3 ways to involve your children this Thanksgiving:

  1. Cook and Prep. Teaching kids to cook makes their contribution stand out, especially if they help make their favorite dish.
    1. Shake it - Scared to give a kids a whisk and a bowl and see the dressing on the countertop 10 seconds later? Put those sauces and dressings in a Mason jar that sauce or dressing, have kids shake it to the beat of a song or a count of 100, and allow them taste test after they’ve finished shaking it. You can even experiment making butter from shaking cream!
    2. Smash it - Kids love to smash things. Allow them to mash boiled potatoes, grind garlic and spices with a mortar and pestle, or put pecans in a bag and smash with hands to crush nuts for desserts and side dish toppings.
    3. Season it - Almost all dishes feature flavorful herbs spices that you can help get your kids to start trying. Have kids beautifully slice herbs by designating a set of kids “kitchen shears”. Allow them to smell the differences of Thanksgiving herbs. Allow kids to sprinkle spices in cranberry sauce, stuffing, and add herbs to veggies and more.  
  2. Prepare the Table. Planning the meal is not the only way to get children involved in preparation. Collect nature items like fallen leaves and pinecones to help spruce up the table. Make leaf prints as a placecard with guests names written on their own print. Or, give kids the responsibility of designing a centerpiece on the infamous “kids table”. They can also set the table with utensils and napkins.
  3. Lead a Gratitude Activity. Gratitude is celebrating the good things happening in life. While this practice should happen as much as possible, Thanksgiving is a monumental day for spending time with people we are grateful for and sharing our thanks. Let’s work together with our children to wonder and appreciate the blessings in our lives. Ask your child to start a family gratitude activity. It can be pinning their gratitude to a wall or leading a circle of gratitude. By giving them leadership on the activity, they are more likely to be excited to participate.

Which kid-friendly jobs do you delegate during Thanksgiving?

Picture
0 Comments

One Cool Earth to receive $5,000 from Susan Rodriguez, State Farm Insurance Agent in San Luis Obispo tomorrow 11/21 at 10:30am.

11/20/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Check presentation will be tomorrow, November 21st at Susan Rodriguez' State Farm office on 1317 Broad Street at 10:30am.
 
The event will be attended by Susan Rodriguez, Chris Jones, Principal of Pacheco Elementary School, and the Executive Director and staff of One Cool Earth.
 
Ms. Rodriguez noted that gardens play an important educational and therapeutic role in our community,” and the School Garden being developed by One Cool Earth will enhance the  nutritional and environmental literacy of our young children in San Luis Obispo.
 
One Cool Earth is an organization founded in 2001 to provide environmental and nutrition education and resources to support a sustainable environment.
 
The Pacheco School Garden Program is a partnership between the Miossi Charitable Trust, One Cool Earth, and San Luis Coastal Unified School District. The project includes the development of a new school garden in the middle of campus with a One Cool Earth Garden Educator serving for two years to teach One Cool Earth’s “Earth Genius” curriculum.
0 Comments

Popcorn is Pretty Pop-ular

11/16/2018

0 Comments

 
PictureThese jewels can be saved and grown again.
Grow,  Cook, Eat is an afterschool program One Cool Earth started this year with Atascadero Unified School District's Afterschool Lighthouse Program. In this 3-week program, students learn how to grow, fresh, delicious produce, then harvest and prepare it in healthy recipes right in the school garden.
​

At Santa Margarita Elementary, students participating in Grow, Cook, Eat had the chance to try popcorn. Not just any popcorn. It was Glass Gem Popping Corn grown by students at San Gabriel Elementary who grew this corn from saving their kernels the previous year. One look and you’ll want to grow this beauty yourself. San Gabriel harvested it shared ears of corn with Ms. Natalie’s afterschool class at Santa Margarita Elementary. 


Glass gem, as you can see embodies in a variety of colors; you can see maroon, bright yellow, deep browns, and even grays find their way into each ear. The class took a moment to admire them.

“Who can tell me what part of the plant these kernels are?”, the educator asked during Grow, Cook, Eat.

“SEEDS!”, a student exclaimed.

Once the kernels were dry enough, Grow, Cook, Eat students at Santa Margarita easily popped off corn from the ear by picking the kernels one-by-one.

One student declared, “This is pretty relaxing” while fixing their attention on their own piece of corn, and placing the shelled kernels in a tin can. We ended up measuring 3 cups of popping corn from that day of Grow, Cook, Eat.


Next, we had to clean the chaff off of the corn. We did this by pouring the seeds from one bucket to another slowly. The corn is heavier than the chaff, so the chaff flew away with the outside breeze. 
​

The result is this gorgeous popping corn you almost don’t want to pop, but we were too interested in the taste! The kernels pop white although it would have been pretty thrilling if it was as colorful as the glass gem. Grow, Cook, Eat sampled Pumpkin Glazed Popcorn in honor of the start of fall. The recipe came from Real Food Real Deals. Students taste tested the popcorn the week after shelling the corn.

All in all, it was very exciting to give the students a chance to learn the process of popcorn and the life cycle of seeds. Sometimes, popcorn can get a bad rep, but it seemed pretty pop-ular for the students in Grow, Cook, Eat at Santa Margarita.

Picture
With the help of San Gabriel students and Santa Margarita Elementary Grow, Cook, Eat students, we have Pumpkin Spice Popcorn.
0 Comments

The Story of Seeds

11/15/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
What story are we sharing at county libraries? Now that you’re wondering, One Cool Earth offered “The Story of Seeds”, a 1-hour activity for youth to learn about seeds, at Nipomo, Arroyo Grande, and Oceano libraries. Jenn Marshall, a Garden Educator Manager at One Cool Earth presented to Oceano Library on November 1st.

First, Jenn read two books,  “A Seed is Sleepy” by Dianna Hutts Aston and “Seeds” by Ken Robbins to engage kids in similarities and differences between seeds.  Using real-life props, Jenn presents students with 10 different seeds on a plate with their empty seed packets laid down on the table. The goal of this activity is for students to match the seeds to the corresponding packet based on size, shape, and colors of the different seeds.

The National Science Education Standards asserts that observation is key to inquiry-based and discovery-focused learning in science instruction. We strive to involve students in problem-solving through observation and discourse. Students then are given a chance to share their findings with their peers and then reflect on their own understanding.

After the seed matching game, students are given germinated seeds (seeds that have been sprouted), to observe the structure of the different parts of the seed explore their function. Students search for the seed coat, cotyledon, and roots on their baby plant. Jenn shares, “Kids love seeing germinated seeds! I encourage holding and touching seedlings”.
​

One Cool Earth believes that students learn science best by doing science. Students are able to take seeds home to continue exploration and observations and will be able to draw the answer to the big question, “What do you know about seeds?”​

0 Comments

Pacheco Garden Beds Have Arrived

11/6/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
One Cool Earth has been busy building and delivering custom garden beds for Pacheco Elementary School in San Luis Obispo. Funded by the Miossi Charitable Trust, the project supports the development of a One Cool Earth garden, and a dedicated Earth Genius Garden Educator to support the school's nutrition and environmental literacy education. To sponsor a garden bed, or to support this project through other donations and  volunteering, visit www.onecoolearth.org/pacheco 
0 Comments

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

We Would Love to Hear from you!


Hours

M-F: 9am - 5pm

Telephone

805-242-6301

Email

action@onecoolearth.org
 Copyright © 2001-2019 OneCoolEarth NPO.  All Rights Reserved.