PUBLIC
This pedagogical tool has been drafted and experimented at Agrupamento de Escolas Joao de Deus to develop the digital skills of pupils with weak results from the primary school. Similarly, it was examined and experimented by the European teachers participating in the peer-to-peer Erasmus training mobility in Saint-Germain-en-Laye from 4 to 8 June 2018

KEY COMPETENCES
 Oral and written communication in the mother tongue
 Maths and Sciences basic skills
 Learning to learn
 Social and civic competences/entrepreneurship

OBJECTIVES
 To motivate the pupils as regards Maths through the development of a plan of a garden
 To motivate the pupils as regards Sciences through the observation of the germination and growth of plants
 To empower the pupils as regards their tasks linked to the cultivation of the garden
 To apply the techniques of biologic agriculture
 To develop ecological awareness

GARDENS EXPLORED
Gardens of Faro

MATERIALS
 Products for the garden : earth, organic fertilizer, seeds
 Tools : shovel, rakes, hoe, irrigation

DEVELOPMENT
1.Individually and then collectively, to choose the area of the school where the garden will be located. Written text explaining personal choices to be orally presented to the class,
2.To discover bio agriculture, its ecological importance, through examples from Portugal and the rest of the world
3.To draft or employ the plan of the area in order to draw up the mass lay-out of the garden
 To utilize the scale
 To calculate and delineate the areas of the vegetable plots and the length of the paths
 To select the plants by consulting a catalogue or visiting greenhouses
4 To till the ground, move the earth, add fertilizer
5 To plant the seeds and/or plants
6 To organize and distribute the tasks for the cultivation of the garden : irrigation, manual weeding, observation and incremental progress of the plantations

EXTENSION
 Development of scientific, pedagogical and technological segments around the cultivation of the garden :
 tracking the growth of the plants and of the presence of animals in the garden using written text, sketches, photos with captions, research, etc.
 the collection of the vegetables, their alimentary use . The selling of the products whose income will help the continuation of the cultivation

EVALUATION
It takes into account the following competences :

 Oral and written communication in the mother tongue. Debating, writing, reading specific texts, describing pictures and scientific sketches by using the adequate language

 Development of basic skills in Maths. Carrying out area and length measurements, conversions, using the scale to draw plans, building geometrical tracks

 Development of basic skills in Sciences. >use writing, photographing, drawing, to observe and identify the different species of plants and animals in the garden >internalize, monetize the beneficial effects of bio and durable cultivation >take consciousness of the need to respect and protect nature thanks to this newly-developed relationship

 Development of social and civic competences. Developing autonomy and entrepreneurship through the realization of individual projects and the predisposition to cooperation and team work.

AUTHOR
Maria da Piedade Sebastiao
Agrupamento de Escolas Joao de Deus, faro, Portugal

TRANSLATERS
Rosaria Prospero
Agrupamento de Escolas Joao de Deus, faro, Portugal

Mary Gino
Association Acquamarina, Trieste, Italie