Nature Study

Each year, hundreds of youth connect with the natural world in our Kids' Garden, tallgrass prairie, edible forest, sugar maple woodland and other natural areas. By growing food in the garden and participating in natural areas restoration projects, youth develop a connection with nature that is often difficult to establish in an urban setting. Troy Gardens provides young people with an accessible outdoor classroom in their neighborhood where they can develop a continuous and meaningful relationship with the natural world.

Natural Areas Restoration

A wide variety of youth groups participate in restoration service projects in the Troy Natural Areas including the tallgrass prairie, edible forest, prairie garden, and sugar maple woodland. Youth from schools, community centers, restorative justice programs, and service learning programs have the opportunity to make the Troy Natural Areas a beautiful place for the public to explore at any time of the year.

A Year in the Forest

A Year in the Forest is a place-based, year-round curriculum specially designed for the sugar maple woodland at Troy Gardens. The curriculum includes four units—each corresponding with a season of the year—as well as appendices of helpful resources for teachers. To develop A Year in the Forest, we recruited a wonderful curriculum development team composed of EE professionals, University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate and undergraduate students, and a recent high school graduate who had participated in a variety of educational programs at Troy Gardens during his youth.

The curriculum may be downloaded from the Resources portion of this site.