Botany in the Classroom

Moderation state
funded
Grant Applicant
Paula Bossler
School Site
Kings Beach Elementary
Grant Category
Mathematics & Science
Grant Date
2026-06-09T12:00:00
Description

Over the past three years, our Science Lab at KBE has participated in botany research with Magnitude.io and NASA Exolab missions, as well as our local community garden at the North Tahoe Regional Park. The more we incorporate projects with these entities, the more our costs increase.  Botany requires numerous supplies, from soil, fertilizers, and amendments to plant containers, humidifiers, and pest controllers. My current science budget can no longer support science consumables for all grade levels at KBE and our botany research projects. I have exhausted my special project funding through our site's parent-teacher organization and am now seeking additional funding from the Tahoe Truckee Excellence in Education Foundation. 

Benefits of Program

There are a multitude of benefits of a botany program that enhance student learning, including skill-based development centered on students’ engagement with the plant life cycle and the growing process. During this development, students learn what plants need to survive, how to care for plants during the growing season, and the micro and macronutrients obtained from plants grown in our classroom. In addition, students learn the science behind ecosystems and the energy transferred within, pertaining to decomposers, producers, and consumers. Furthermore, students in my classroom participate in the Exolab missions, which explore ecological processes on the International Space Station and compare them to our classroom plants. Student engagement in astrobotany benefits their understanding of growing conditions on Earth and in space. The science behind both of these perspectives improves student awareness of their place in this world and how to care for it. These are skills that will set students up for a future with the background knowledge to grow their own food and to understand where healthy nutrients come from in the human diet. 

Success of Program

Metrics for success will stem from students' ability to make healthier food choices at school and at home, as well as to identify where their micro- and macronutrients come from. Through our continued participation in Exolab missions, students will have the ability to compare how they obtain these nutrients here on Earth versus astronauts on space missions. Funding this program will support growing vegetables in the classroom that will eventually be available to students to eat when they are in the science lab, so an additional metric of success will be that students are, in fact, eating vegetables from our classroom harvest. Furthermore, a successful harvest can and has been used in our classroom cooking lessons using the Charlie Cart, which was purchased with a grant I was awarded from the TTEEF in 2016. We continue to use the Charlie Cart to cook in the science classroom, and a measure of success for this current grant would be the continued use of the cart using food we’ve grown together in class. 

Implementation

Botany in the classroom at KBE is ongoing year-round. Funding this grant will ensure additional supplies can be purchased, growing containers can be expanded, and participation in the Exolab Mission 14 is guaranteed. Implementation of this grant would be fulfilled with the purchase of equipment and registration in the Exolab Mission 14.

Can you share this grant with your grade level or subject team?

I am willing and able to share this grant with science teachers across the District. However, as the science specialist at KBE, I do not have a grade-level team nor a subject team, and supporting teachers across the District would require additional funding. 

Sustainability
Botany in the KBE science lab occurs year-round. It is currently sustained at a level where students are not able to harvest a lot of food for consumption, so funding this grant would allow for a higher probability of food growth for harvesting in the classroom by expanding the quantity and locations of plants grown.
Amount Funded
$1859.00
Individual Budget Items(s)
$1000 - Exolab Mission 14
$100 - Soil
$100 - Fertilizer (organic)
$80 - Pest Control: Mosquito Bits and Neem oil (organic)
$100 - Compostable Trays
$100 - Reusable seed trays
$100 - Soil amendments
$30 - Starter Pots
$30 - Plant Lights (magenta)
Shipping
$100.00
Taxes
$118.90
Other funding sources

In the past, I have funded botany in the classroom through my science Measure AA funds, but I am no longer able to purchase consumables for all grades and botany supplies. This past year, our KBE parent teacher organization funded our Exolab Mission 13 as a special project; however, this funding is not guaranteed for next year. 

Supporting Links
Magnitude.io Exolab
Lettuce Grow