{"id":12107,"date":"2024-04-26T10:46:47","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T14:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=12107"},"modified":"2024-04-26T11:13:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T15:13:44","slug":"the-great-outdoors-learning-project-plant-a-tree-and-grow-a-better-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/the-great-outdoors-learning-project-plant-a-tree-and-grow-a-better-world\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Outdoors Learning Project: Plant a tree and grow a better world"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Tree planting at Thalia Elementary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Brookwood Elementary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Five Virginia Beach schools are becoming official Tree Campuses, thanks to The Great Outdoors Learning Project.<\/p>\n

Virginia Beach City Public Schools and Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation worked with community partners to help students use their science and math skills and learn about the important role trees play in the environment.<\/p>\n

Arbor Day and tree-planting ceremonies took place at Thalia, Brookwood and Corporate Landing elementary schools, and at Plaza and Corporate Landing middle schools. Each school will be recognized this spring as official Tree Campuses by the Arbor Day Foundation.<\/p>\n

Fourth graders in Thalia Elementary\u2019s garden club recently gathered outside the school to celebrate their school\u2019s new redbud tree, led by principal Nicole Keros and teachers Alison Cooper and Samantha Clover.<\/p>\n

Clover started by listing several benefits trees have.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beautiful trees on our campus, in our neighborhoods, and beyond, provide habitats for countless species of animals,\u201d said Clover, adding that trees cut pollution, prevent erosion and muffle sound.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Students added their favorite facts about trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrees are part of nature,\u201d fourth grader Chloe Butts said. \u201cWe need them to grow, because they make us healthier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thalia student Isabelle Rogers said, \u201cTrees breathe in carbon dioxide and make oxygen, which helps us breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooke Costanza, city arborist with Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation, helped students add dirt and replace mulch around the newly planted tree.<\/p>\n

Ashley Porter, a content integration specialist at Thalia Elementary used math and data analysis as part of the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pulled infographics from Virginia Beach\u2019s Urban Forest Management Plan that support the tree initiative and allow our students to see data in a real-world scenario that impacts where they live,\u201d Porter said. \u201cWe were able to find various data pieces in the resource that support the math and science standards our students are already learning and share it through the lens of Arbor Day and our school\u2019s tree initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a school to become a Tree Campus, they must:<\/p>\n