Seeds of Knowledge

Last year, Julia Yoo ‘23 was a student at Grinnell College. Now, Yoo is spending a year teaching science to 6th grade students at the Grinnell-Newburg Middle school. In collaboration with the College’s Center for Prairie Studies, Yoo is teaching a three-part series about native plants this spring. In March, the students learned to germinate seeds. In April, they transplanted their seeds into cone-tainers, and next, they will plant their seeds into the middle school prairie.  

“I wanted my students to learn about native plants because most of them see the land around them as mainly agricultural,” Yoo says. “They haven't had an opportunity to investigate what land and native plant life were like before Iowa's land was converted for farm use, before colonization. They get to ask larger questions about how land should be used and how it should be taken care of.” 

Emily Klein, Conrad Environmental Research Area (CERA) manager and the Center for Prairie Studies outreach coordinator, and Jake Hill, CERA horticulturalist have played a key role in organizing and teaching these lessons. For the lessons on native plants, Hill and Klein have joined Yoo in the classroom to help students learn about the local environment. 

“We hope that they will have a better understanding of how native plants positively impact the environment and improve the quality of life for native wildlife including humans,” Klein says. “In the future, when they have the opportunity to make decisions about how to manage a property, we hope that they will remember some of the lessons that we were teaching them.” 

While these lessons have provided Yoo’s students with valuable knowledge of Iowa’s ecosystem, they’ve also become a source of fun in students’ lives. “I think the students love the opportunity to learn outside, have guests in class, and watch their plants grow,” Yoo says. “My favorite part about teaching about native plants and prairies is the fact that even after I leave Grinnell, my sixth graders will become seventh and eighth graders who can see their plants, their legacy, continue to grow in their middle school prairie!” 

Rob Gibson, assistant principal at the Grinnell-Newberg Middle School, agrees that Yoo’s lessons on native plant life have been a success. “Ms. Yoo and her colleagues from the college have done a tremendous job of educating our students on native plants and how to plant, water, nourish and take care of them from seeds,” Gibson says. “The students have certainly enjoyed having her as their teacher and have learned a lot from her that they can carry with them as they age and mature. “  

Building on the success of this year’s lessons, Klein hopes that she and Hill can return to the middle school in the future to teach more students about native plant life and prairie restoration. “We hope to be invited back in years to come to continue working with the middle school students to maintain a healthy prairie at their school that can be utilized by various classes and subjects,” Klein says.