Progress 09/01/24 to 07/28/25
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included K-5 students in New Mexico, along with their families and teachers. Programs primarily served students and families living in rural areas or near local farms. A total of 290 individuals participated in 59 programs, which took place during the school day, in afterschool settings, at summer camps, and at family-focused events held at grower markets and other outdoor community gatherings. In addition, 17 guest speakers shared their expertise and career pathways through 21 programs, which were hosted not only at elementary schools but also at local farms and university labs, giving students and families direct access to real-world STEM learning environments. Sites included: Los Ranchos Elementary Emerson Elementary Valle Vista Elementary Moriarity Elementary Zuni Youth Enrichment Program Explora Eco Camps Barelas Community Park Latinos Outdoors event Bachechi Open Space Los Padillas Elementary Open Space Changes/Problems:One of the more significant challenges during Year One was the unexpected unknowns in funding, which resulted from changes in government policy and impacted the scope and timing of certain activities. We responded by prioritizing core programming, adjusting timelines, and seeking additional community partnerships and in-kind support to maintain student engagement and educator involvement wherever possible. Engaging younger students with abstract environmental science topics--particularly those related to soil and agriculture--presented its own challenges. To address this, we developed and implemented interactive, hands-on lessons using visual models and real-world examples, such as using soil from school gardens or local sites. This made the content more relatable and reinforced key concepts. These experiences are setting the stage for future mentorship conversations and community-based field trips. Data collection faced some inconsistency across sites. While Explora educators delivered lessons consistently, there were variations in classroom resources, outdoor access, and teacher familiarity with environmental education, which affected documentation and follow-up. Our project management team and external evaluator responded by creating standardized assessment tools and initiating regular check-ins to support teachers with documentation, data collection, and lesson follow-through. Developing lesson plans through an iterative, field-based process has been critical to aligning activities with student needs and program goals. This approach also presented challenges, as educators implemented lessons that were still evolving. Materials were refined and finalized based on feedback, resulting in a curriculum of tested, adaptable lessons that reflect community contexts and seasonal opportunities. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have made teacher support and collaboration a central part of our strategy, ensuring that educators not only receive resources but also experience model lessons in real time. Explora staff facilitated in-class programming where educators observed and participated in lesson delivery, allowing them to see how outdoor STEM content can be taught. This embedded model served as live professional development, with teachers learning alongside their students. Additionally, we provided formal professional development opportunities through workshops hosted at Explora, the University of New Mexico, and various conferences, including the Teaching Beyond the Walls Garden: Outdoor Learning Conference. Through these sessions, educators expanded their understanding of environmental and agricultural science topics while gaining practical strategies to take back to their classrooms. This interwoven professional development model, combining hands-on modeling, co-teaching, and reflective learning, has strengthened teacher capacity and confidence across participating schools. Throughout the year, we shared resources, interdisciplinary lesson ideas, scaffolding strategies, and differentiation support to help educators meet the needs of diverse learners. We also supported school garden programs by providing plants, tools, and professional expertise, helping teachers connect hands-on gardening to academic subjects. This multilayered approach, combining co-teaching, planning support, and structured professional development, has empowered educators to feel more confident in delivering outdoor, place-based STEM education and sustaining it beyond the scope of our direct involvement. From June 13-14, 2025, Explora hosted and facilitated professional development for teachers from across New Mexico at the Teaching Beyond the Walls: Empowering Educators to Take the Learning Outdoors Conference, a partnership effort to provide professional development designed to empower PreK-12 educators and students with the tools and knowledge to integrate garden-based and daily outdoor learning into their curricula. This conference aligns with state educational priorities by fostering interdisciplinary learning, environmental stewardship, and student engagement across all content areas. This two-day event focused on advancing daily outdoor education and school gardens in New Mexico. It was co-hosted with partners including school districts, water utility authority, community-based organizations, and the public education department. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of our programming have been shared with a wide range of communities through conference sessions, field trips, family engagement events, and public outreach activities. We facilitated professional development sessions at Explora and at the Association of Science and Technology Centers Annual Conference in Chicago, reaching both local and national audiences. We have presented at other local and national conferences about our ecology and outdoors programming. Our team has also participated in Growers Markets and community events to connect non-traditional audiences with STEM in agriculture and sustainability. These events provided hands-on experiences and information about our program's impact while also opening up conversations with cross-sector partners and community members. Field trips to local farms and the University of New Mexico created direct learning experiences for students while exposing families and community members to the importance of agriculture and environmental science in everyday life. With the start of school in the fall of 2025, school administrations have asked about specific school programming and how they might bring these opportunities into their schools What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?With the cancellation of this grant, we will cease work on the Roots and Routes project; however, we will continue to advance our mission of providing hands-on, standards-based STEM programming for K-5 students across the state. Additionally, we will continue to build partnerships and seek new funding sources to support our work in agricultural science, so that we can continue to introduce students and teachers to topics like pollinators, composting, food waste, phytoremediation, and more. We will strive to grow our network, strengthen our lessons, and give students more real-world outdoor learning experiences that help them see how environmental health, agriculture, and science are connected-and how they can be part of that work as future STEM leaders
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. A kickoff meeting was held with over 20 community partners. Individual community partner meetings have been set up and are ongoing, providing opportunities for collaboration and preparation. 2. Clear and consistent standards-based lesson plans were developed for teaching agricultural and environmental concepts for K-5 students, outlining step-by-step objectives, materials, and activities. Each lesson is place-based in the community and relevant to local issues. Lesson plan topics: soil health, phytoremediation, pollinators, seed science, food waste reduction. composting and vermicomposting. 3. We provided programming for 258 students from nine classrooms at five elementary schools in Albuquerque area, Zuni, and Moriarty. 4. We provided programming, professional development support, and resources for 10 teachers and school professionals. 5. Thirty-seven family participants engaged in additional programming with their students. 6. We formed an evaluation team that has met regularly and established criteria for data collection, data sharing, and reporting. 7. We facilitated conference sessions both at Explora and at national conferences, including the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) Annual Conference in Chicago in September 2024. Explora staff also led a session at the Teaching Beyond the Walls: Outdoor Learning professional development conference held June 13-14, which focused on the lessons developed through this project. This event was co-led by over a dozen community partners, including school districts, water utilities, and community-based organizations, NM Public Education Department, and was hosted at Explora, reaching 119 teachers. In addition, Explora shared its STEM-in-agriculture work at various local and national conferences, including the Children & Nature Network, the Association of Children's Museums, NM Association for the Education of Young Children, and the New Mexico Science Teachers Association. 8. Thirteen guest speakers facilitated programming for 21 classes. These community members shared relevant, place-based lessons and activities related to agriculture, environment, and the local community. They shared career pathway information and served as role models and mentors who mirror students' backgrounds and identities while working to promote stewardship for our land and its resources. The guest speakers shared wisdom accumulated from generations of farming and their deep understanding of traditional agricultural practices and the environmental science embedded within these practices. 9. Explora participated in educational professional development alongside local teachers, students, families, and community partners from Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and the Center for Social Sustainable Systems (organizations dedicated to water and soil management, conservation and stewardship) to learn and understand traditional agricultural practices and the environmental science embedded within these practices to ensure clean, safe water, and revitalization of land. 10. Students participated in field trips to the University of New Mexico where they worked with graduate students dedicated to addressing complex water and environmental challenges, particularly those pertinent to arid regions. University of New Mexico's Center for Water and the Environment graduate students shared relevant information on career pathways, conducted tours of laboratories, and facilitated experiments and engineering activities on cleaning and testing water samples. 11. Students participated in field trips to Rio Grande Community Farm to participate in a hands-on exploration of the vital connections between agriculture, the environment, and the local economy. Through interactive activities, they learned about local farming practices and their role in food production and sustainability. Students observed irrigation techniques and rainwater collection methods that help conserve water and support crops in our region. They investigated soil health and composting, discovering how nutrient cycles and organic matter improve farm sustainability. A highlight of the trip included a bug exploration, where they studied beneficial and harmful insects in the farm ecosystem. By engaging with these real-world agricultural practices, students gained a deeper appreciation for where their food comes from and the importance of sustainable resource management. 12. Explora has been invited to participate with hands-on agriculture activities in Growers Markets and community events in late summer and fall 2025 to reach non-traditional audiences and cross-sector partners and to connect families with STEM in agriculture and sustainability in their local community. 13. Explora staff facilitated teacher professional development through a series of museum workshops, University of New Mexico hands-on workshops, out-of-state conferences, local conferences and at the Teaching Beyond the Walls Garden: Outdoor Learning conference. 14. Explora co-developed and prototyped a series of new, place-based, hands-on STEM lessons during its 2025 summer Ecology Camps. These lessons incorporated themes from the grant's objectives, including traditional agricultural practices, water conservation, soil health, pollinator and insect habitats, and the integration of ecological knowledge from different communities, thereby highlighting the interconnected relationships between land, water, food and living systems. Lessons were piloted with camp participants ranging from elementary to middle school, allowing for refinement before implementation in the upcoming school year. 15. All newly developed curricula were tested using hands-on, inquiry-based activities-such as watershed modeling, planting in puddles construction, planting and harvesting of edible plants and pollinator friendly planting, the role of animals on the farm and in our food-that encouraged students to connect scientific concepts to their local environment and cultural context. This piloting process ensured that activities are age appropriate and aligned with state science standards. 16. Subawards and honorariums were issued to program community partners and guest speakers in recognition of their contributions to lesson development, community specific contextualization, and delivery of programming. This investment supports collaboration and honors the expertise of partners who are part of the network of individuals connected to agriculture and surrounding fields in New Mexico.
Publications
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