The Detroit Public Schools (DPS) G2 Good Gardens program is designed to advance STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education through school greenhouses and outdoor gardens. About one-third of DPS schools are equipped with greenhouses. G2 Good Gardens “Because We Grow Exponentially” promotes academic skills, participation in science fair projects, social and moral development and employability and life skills.
In support of the goals of the Detroit Food & Fitness Collaborative, the program also promotes health and nutrition and physical development.
G2 Science, Health and Nutrition:
- promotes gardening as a complete process of planning, planting, caring, harvesting, eating, marketing and distributing plants,
- creates a self-sustaining growing environment as emphasis on a greener school,
- shows the enjoyment and benefits of growing food for better nutrition and improved health, and
- provides a connection between the consumption of plants and their health benefits.
- supports and inspires a sense of excitement, adventure, and emotional impact to learning through hands-on, real world projects, and
- improves nutrition, diet and health through greenhouse science, physical exercise and outdoor gardens.
The G2 Good Gardens, in partnership with Eastern Michigan University, will create an environment for pilot elementary, middle and high schools to apply STEM education through school community gardens and sustainable science. The micro and macro laboratory investigations will provide STEM projects in greenhouse gardens and urban gardens for students to learn how to grow fruits, vegetables, and plants. Students will use renewable energy technology to provide electricity for lighting, water pumping, and environment controls to make biomass energy from the crops grown in gardens.
STEM and greenhouse studies can create an environment for applying engineering concepts to real problems, but also prepares students to solve problems, participate as part of a team, conduct research, understand real-world impacts, analyze data and learn outside the classroom.
As the district works to increase high school student participation in the 54th annual Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit in March, the G2 Good Gardens program supports students’ greenhouse projects for the fair.