NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS LEARNING SCENARIO

Title
A green garden of aromatic plants at home!

Author(s)
Maria Henriques, Portugal

Abstract
The main goal of this learning scenario is to help students realize that they can improve their environment
at home, where they spend a lot of time, is very important for their health and well-being. The aim is also
to help students become more conscious about the natural environment that surround them and
understand the advantages of turn their homes greener.

In this time of pandemic situation and with Distance Education, it is an excellent opportunity to improve
the quality of our environment at home.

Keywords
Aromatic plants, Health, Nature-based solutions, Small vertical gardens, Biodiversity.

Introduction (leave this section as it is)

“Nature-based solutions (NBS) are solutions that are inspired and

supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide
environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such
solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and
processes into cities, landscapes, and seascapes, through locally adapted,
resource-efficient and systemic interventions. Nature-based solutions must
therefore benefit biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of
ecosystem services.” https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-
innovation/research-area/environment/nature-based-solutions_en

To use this Learning Scenario more effectively, teachers are encouraged to:
• Check out the list of recent EU publications on Nature-Based solutions
• Read about Nature-based solutions: Transforming cities, enhancing well-being (also
available as a PDF)
• Contact local NBS practitioners or scientists working in their area (they can be found
through Oppla).
• Use the “Ask Oppla” service to request help in case of any technical/scientific question on
NBS.

The Nature Based Solutions project is funded by the European Commission. The European Commission support to
this document does not constitute endorsement of the contents which reflect the views only of the authors, and the
European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Overview

Table of summary

Subject This STEAM approach is used from an interdisciplinary perspective promoting

essential transversal learning according to the new profile of students leaving
mandatory education, working on the essential learning of the disciplines involved
- Biology and Geology (BG), Physics and Chemistry A (PC) and Arts, in order to
achieve the 21st century skills.

Topic Indicate below which of the nine NBS topics your learning scenario addresses:
1. Understanding NBS
2. Green spaces and urban regeneration.

Age of students 14-16 years old

Preparation time 90 minutes

Teaching time 5 to 8 sessions of 45 minutes

Online teaching Google docs to construct materials;

material Piktochart /Visme/ Snappa to create infographics;
Movavi/ iMovie/ Videopad/ Powtoon for video edition;

Offline teaching Paper, pencils, computer, aromatic plants, soil, used plastic bottles, sisal thread.
material
NBS resources https://homelook.pl/wertykalny-ogrod/
used https://www.archdaily.com/882285/how-to-build-a-diy-vertical-garden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-0Vk1WVH_k
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ee06/8d428e93f40459c9512eeadae8341ee522
46.pdf
https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/diy/how-to-create-a-living-wall/

License
Attribution ShareAlike CC BY-SA. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work
even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under
the identical terms. This is the license used by Wikipedia and is recommended for materials that
would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.

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Integration into the curriculum
This learning scenario intends to promote essential, transversal learning according to the new profile of
students giving them the opportunity to leave compulsory education, having first worked in an
interdisciplinary way on the essential learning of the subjects involved - Biology and Geology (BG), Physics
and Chemistry A (PC) and Arts. In our school, the combined subjects are taught in an integrated way as
predicted in the Portuguese curriculum, although Arts aren´t usually taught to secondary students in
science curriculum.
In the Biology and Geology (BG) subjects’ students will learn about biodiversity, obtaining matter,
transformation and use of energy by living beings. In the subjects of Physics and Chemistry A (PC) students
will work in the following domains: chemical balance and reactions in aqueous solutions among which the
acid-base balance and the solubility balance are discussed and ways to analyze the chemical and physical
components of soil.
The essential learnings of the Arts subject will be worked in the domain: The esthetic plan of the vertical
green garden. The Arts subject will promote a reflection on the kind of recycled materials that can be used
and how to build a stable vertical garden.

Aim of the lesson

The goal of this lesson is to help students become protagonists of educational activities that reflect their
real educational needs, while offering solutions to improve their home environment.

Outcome of the lesson

Students are required to plan the construction of a vertical garden at home using recycle materials.

Trends
List the relevant trends that the lesson incorporates: http://www.allourideas.org/trendiez/results

Ecojustice pedagogy: Learning to learn.

Lifelong Learning: learning does not stop when leaving school.

STEAM Learning: Increased focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics subjects in the
curriculum

Mobile learning: we get access to knowledge through smartphones and tablets. This is learning anytime,
anywhere

21st century skills

This lesson plan will enhance among the students the following skills, defined as 21st century skills:
● Collaboration: Students will work together when the activity requires them to work in groups to solve
different problems or to create a presentation
● Communication: The students must communicate their own ideas regarding the lesson’s topics.
Students are required to use technology. The learning activity offers to the students the opportunity to
choose the tool or tools that they will use to communicate.
● Critical thinking: The students will:
o Synthesize and make the connection between information and arguments;
o Interpret the data and will draw conclusions;
o Reflect critically on learning experiences, processes etc.

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 ● Creativity: The students will create a presentation (PowerPoint online, Google slides, Prezi, Powtoon
etc.) in which they have design a plan for a creation of a vertical green garden.

Activities
Describe here in detail all the activities during the lesson and the time they require. Remember, that your learning
scenario needs to relate to nature-based solutions. If you are using any external documents, please scroll to the end
of the document and add them to the Annex. Add more rows to the table if needed.

Name of
Procedure Time
activity

Brainstorming The development of the learning scenario will start by exploring Nature 45 min
and discussion Based Solutions and the impact on biodiversity and health.

Inform students that the class will work together to find a Nature Based
Solution that they may create at home and then brainstorm to find the
possible solution to improve the environment at home and at the same
time have some aromatic plants to use in cuisine.

Discussion and The students will work in simultaneous rooms online to find out about the 45 min
preparation for resources they may use from their homes, what kind of used plastic
the next lesson bottles and aromatic plants can be used to create a vertical green garden
at the kitchen window or balcony.
Design of the The students continue their group work at the simultaneous rooms and 90 min
vertical green create the design of a possible vertical green garden, including the
garden materials and how to proceed. They may create a presentation/video to
show their ideas and project.
Presentation of The different groups of students present the ideas for the vertical green 45 min
the project garden to their colleagues and parents. During the presentation they
discuss the advantages and limitations of the projects.
Implementation The students work with their family in the construction of a vertical green 135 min
garden at their home and document it on video.
Dissemination The different videos will be upload at the school webpage and the
divulgation in the social media to encourage others to improve the same
solution at their homes.

Assessment
Global qualitative assessment will consider: the observable change in behaviors related to environmental
protection and the impact of the proposals for actions and personal initiatives.
Brainstorming: After introducing the topic, using brainstorming, the current knowledge of the students
can be evaluated.
Formative assessment: Checklist, Peer/Self Assessments, Self-evaluation collaboration, Scoring Rubric for
Multimedia Presentation Assessment.

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Student feedback
Feedback defines strengths and weaknesses and outlines areas that need improvement. Improved
teaching leads to improvements in students’ learning. There are several formats for the evaluation
instrument: open-ended questionnaire, closed-question instrument, checklist, and inventories. A
combination, closed-question instrument with a comments section (open-ended) will be used.

Teacher’s remarks
Add here your comments and evaluation AFTER the implementation of this lesson if you have time to test it, otherwise
leave blank.

About the NBS project (leave this section as it is)

The NBS MOOC, coordinated by European Schoolnet (EUN), is part of the NBS pilots initiated and funded by the
European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. The LS and MOOC are based on the EC-
funded Learning Scenarios developed by EUN (www.eun.org) with the support of PPMI (www.ppmi.lt/en), and
organised with the support of VO EUROPE (https://www.vo-group.be/en). The MOOC is also supported by Scientix,
funded from the European Union’s H2020 research and innovation programme – project Scientix 4 (Grant Agreement
N. 101000063). The content is the sole responsibility of the organiser and it does not represent the opinion of the
European Commission (EC), and the EC is not responsible for any use that might be made of information contained.

Find out more about nature-based solutions: https://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/index.cfm?pg=nbs

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Annex
Add here any annex (e.g. questions for quizzes). If you have more than one Annex, copy the title below and it will move
to a new page by itself.