Junior Master Gardener Program Cultivating Youth and Communities through Gardening! Program Purpose...

Junior Master Gardener ProgramJunior Master Gardener Program

Cultivating Youth

and Communities

through Gardening!

Program Purpose

®

JMG... Cultivating Youth and Communities through Gardening!

Program Purpose

Youth can explore their world through meaningful horticultural and environmental science activities that encourage leadership development, personal pride, responsibility and community involvement. The program incorporates service-learning and volunteerism enabling youth to make a positive contribution to their home, community and country.


Program Purpose

The JMG program certifies youth for completing contextual hands-on horticulture and environmental science activities and volunteer service.

The program utilizes a “hands-on” activity based curriculum that directs youth in individual and group learning activities.


Program Purpose

The Junior Master Gardener program was launched in August of 1997 with the release of the Level 1 JMG Curricula. The program was developed at Texas A&M University and the terms, Junior Master Gardener, JMG and Golden Ray Series, and associated logos, are service marks of Texas Cooperative Extension. These service marks are reserved to insure the quality of the JMG program and the association of the program with the Cooperative Extension network.


State and National Contacts

Currently, we are working with state Cooperative Extension Services across the United States so that they can designate a JMG Coordinator for their respective state. We have many states that participate in the program, even though their state does not have a JMG Coordinator. Their registration and certification is handled through the National JMG Program office.

The National JMG program can be contacted at:

JMG Program OfficeDepartment of Horticulture225 HFSBCollege Station, TX 77840979-845-8565 fax 979-845-8906Email: [email protected]

Click on the Cooperative Extension Logos to find the contact information for your state.

For information about the JMG program in your state, contact your State JMG Coordinator.


Program growth & involvement

The word is out and the JMG program is plowing across the Nation. Everyday new JMG groups become registered and work toward certification. The JMG program is flexible and involvement is as simple as completing the following five steps.

Click on the map to view the registered JMG groups from your state.

1. Have a minimum of 5 youth in a group

2. Have one or more adult teachers/leaders for the group.

3. Order the JMG curricula

4. Complete and submit the 4 page registration packet.

5. Have fun

Curriculum

Cultivating Youth

and Communities

through Gardening!

Junior Master Gardener ProgramJunior Master Gardener Program®


JMG® Curricula

The sound academic standards of the JMG program coupled with a creative hands-on teaching delivery, capitalizes on the strengths of all youth. The program cultivates personal leadership, volunteerism and character education.


JMG® Curricula

The JMG Curricula focuses on horticultural and environmental education through hands-on contextual activities. More specifically:

Plant Growth and DevelopmentSoil and Water

Ecology and Environmental HorticultureInsects and Diseases

Landscape HorticultureFruits and Nuts

Vegetables and HerbsLife Skills and Career Exploration

Level 1: Grades 3-5

Level 2: Grades 6-8

Level 3: Grades 9-12


JMG® Curricula

The JMG curricula has a variety of teaching concepts in each chapter. For youth to receive certification they must complete activities from each learning concept.

In Level 1 Chapter 1 – Plant Growth and Development the teaching concepts are:

Importance and Use of PlantsPlant Classification

Plant PartsPlant NeedsPlant GrowthPlant ProcessPropagation

Leadership/Community Service Projects


JMG® Curricula -Design

The JMG curricula was designed with the assistance of tenured teachers and horticulturalists. Utilizing a large number of individuals allowed us to create a curriculum that meets state standards and is fun for youth to learn. The design incorporates:

•Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts •Flexibility of use•Alignment with state teaching standard•Group and individual activities •Service learning and leadership incorporated in all chapters


JMG® curricula - Utilization

The JMG curricula allows you the flexibility to choose how to incorporate the curriculum into current youth programming efforts.

The curriculum can simply be used as program enrichment material or youth can work through the curriculum to obtain certification.


JMG® Curricula – Level One

The Level One JMG Curriculum is made up of a Youth Handbook and a Teacher/Leader guide.

The two books combined have more than 400 hands-on activities for youth to complete.



The JMG Youth Handbook contains individual activities and is intended to compliment the JMG Teacher/Leader guide. At the end of each chapter are leadership/community service projects. These are projects and activities to help your JMG group share with their family, friends, and community all the many things they have learned. We encourage each JMG member to have a JMG Handbook, however this is not required to participate in the program.



The JMG Handbook is also

available in Spanish!



JMG youth utilize their handbook to learn more about the topic that is being studied in the JMG group. The handbook allows the youth to self-direct their learning and focus on what is interesting to them.



Research states that

“Parent involvement of almost any kind can improve student achievement.”The JMG curriculum encourages parental involvement. Youth utilizing the JMG handbook can have parents validate that they completed an activity within a learning concept.


JMG® Curricula - JMG Level One

The JMG Teacher/Leader Guide contains the group activities from the eight chapters that make-up the JMG Youth Handbook. These group activities are integrated into math, science, language arts, and social studies. They also include work sheets, fun pages, songs, and additional resource materials for the instructor. For teachers in Texas, there are special sections that include TAAS formatted reading passages and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) correlation for all activities in the curriculum guide. The JMG curriculum is being correlated to the state teaching standards for states that have JMG coordinators.


JMG® curricula - Level One

The JMG Teacher Guide contains:

•Individual activities – ex: How Tall is that Tree?•Community service and leadership projects•Chapter worksheets/fun pages•Rhythms•Registration forms – page 217•Working with young people•4-H program information


JMG® Curricula

This JMG activity from Chapter 3- Ecology and Environmental Horticulture is a favorite for youth and leaders! Youth can create a card utilizing recyclable materials and seeds. Each card can be planted and will grow.

Sample JMG Activity: Grow Cards

Click on the Grow Card to learn how to make your own.


JMG® Curricula - Level One

Research shows that youth participating in gardening programs not only benefit from a higher self-esteem but also better nutritional habits.

Health and Nutrition from the Garden is the first stand alone thematic JMG Golden Ray series to be released from the Junior Master Gardener program.

The curriculum chapters are listed below and each chapter has a focus on life skill development and career exploration:

Thrifty Gardens Basic Gardening

Growing Techniques Food Safety

ABC’s of Healthy Eating Healthy Snacks


JMG® Curricula – Level Two

Operation Thistle:Seeds of Despair

Plant Growth and Development.

JMG Level Two - Operation Thistle: Seeds of Despair is the newest JMG curriculum. This novel, hands-on model of the JMG curriculum combines the teacher/leader guide with reproducible pages of the youth handbook into one book. Through dozens of activities, students can investigate plant growth and development, take part in service learning projects and earn certification all while being engaged in an urgent mission to defeat Dr. Thistle!



Operation Thistle: Seeds of DespairActivities focus on Plant Growth and Development

Teaching Concepts Include: Importance and Use of Plants Plant Classification Plant Parts Plant Needs Plant Growth Plant Processes Seep Propagation Vegetative Propagation Life Skills and Career Exploration


Youth Mission Briefs and Mission OptionsWhile completing self-directed learning outside of the group setting their study of Plant Growth and Development, youths will be engaged in a special mission. Youths will join JMG Plant Intelligence in an urgent mission to defeat the evil Dr. Thistle. As your JMG group works to complete an activity in each learning concept, you can provide students with a copy of the independent activity option (mission option) for the learning concept.

By completing the activities in the mission option pages, the students can help foil the twisted plans of Dr. Thistle and his menacing gang while reinforcing plant growth and development concepts.


Example of a Mission Option



A preview of what is to come: In the deep dark shadows of a crumbling overpass, under the mangled, rust silhouettes of a long-forgotten junkyard, a weed is growing. A prickly, thorny, twisted little weed with at twisted little plan...

Beware of the thistle...Coming soon to a garden near you...

Example of a Mission


JMG® Curricula – Web activities

Within the JMG curricula youth can complete JMG activities on-line.

That’s Gross!! is an example of a Level One on -line activity from the Insect and Diseases chapter.

Click on the picture to see the activity


JMG® Curricula – Web activities

Germ – Animation is a Level Two is an example of an on-line JMG activity.Students will answer several questions about how a seed would germinate and grow. Once the questions have been answered the students click on the growth accelerator button. This will cause the time to accelerate to show one day’s growth. Students can accelerate each day’s growth for the first twelve days of this plant’s life.

Click on the picture to see the activity


For More Information

For JMG program information contact the National JMG Program Office

Junior Master Gardener Program225 Horticulture Forestry Sciences BuildingCollege Station, TX 77843-2134Phone: 979-845-8565Fax: 979-845-8906Email: [email protected]

Junior Master Gardener Program Cultivating Youth and Communities through Gardening! Program Purpose...

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