Classroom Cultivation: Exploring Plant Ecology is a project that brings plant science and interactive plant ecology exploration to classrooms and on school grounds across the United States.
We currently work with teachers and engage students in Washington DC, Maryland, Minnesota, and Alaska.
Many plant species in the United States are in danger of becoming extinct. To combat this, scientists are learning how to grow these plants in their labs for future restoration work. Problem is, for many of these species we don’t know how to successfully grow them.
That’s where Classroom Cultivation comes in! SERC scientists are working with teachers and students to conduct experiments and figure out what these native plants need to grow.
In each region, students conduct growth experiments with plants native to their community. They collect, analyze, and present real scientific data to their classmates and community. Plus, each classroom has the opportunity to take care of the plants they grow afterwards in their own school gardens. By fostering students’ connection with plants in their community through science, our hope is that students can see themselves as scientists making a positive impact where they live.
Email Classroom Cultivation Project Coordinator, Shatiyana Dunn (DunnS@si.edu).
Classroom Cultivation is a project made possible through partnerships with the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Mt Cuba Center, North American Orchid Conservation Center, and Smithsonian Gardens. Classroom Cultivation is also made possible by funding from the Together We Thrive Grant.
Program History
The Classroom Cultivation program is based on a previous program, Orchids in Classrooms (OIC). For Orchids in Classrooms, scientists and researchers from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) partnered with the North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC), Fraichild Tropical Botanical Gardens, and the Million Orchid Project to work with students and teachers to study and conserve native orchids. In the 2019-2020 school year, OIC was able to collaborate with students and teachers in 14 different classrooms around different regions (seven DC public schools, 5 MD classrooms and one science center, and one FL school) to study native orchids.
Thanks to funding from the Smithsonian's Together We Thrive Initiative, Classroom Cultivation built on OIC's success and re-launched this classroom-based science and research in 2024.
Experiment
In order to find the most effective way to propagate native plants, each participating classroom will get native orchid seedlings that they will grow, observe, and collect data on. Students will look at how plants best flourish in various conditions: grow in different environments (i.e., different fertilizer types), relationships between pollinators (which pollinators are most attracted to the plants), microbial symbiotic relationships (how microbes aid or hinder plant growth), and best ways for relocating plants from indoors to outdoors. The students are partners with SERC scientists, aiming to improve our understanding of native orchids and propagation conservation efforts. The students’ work helps to expand data collection and study range and ultimately improve the long-term conservation of native plants.
By undergoing these processes, we will ultimately better under the best practices needed for optimum growth of these native plants and ultimately enable scientists to implement better conservation practices.
Spring 2024
Students in Washington, D.C., and Maryland focused on how different combinations of soil and microbes impact plant survivorship and growth for the Grass Pink Slipper (Calopogon tuberosa), a native and endangered orchid species. Each classroom planted 32 orchids and then collected data on their growth and survival to find out what type of soil and fungus is best. Each class was assigned one of two types of fungi, and then the students tested four treatments: simple soil with fungus, simple soil without fungus, complex soil with fungus, complex soil without fungus.
Spring 2025
Students in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Minnesota, and Alaska again focused on how different combinations of soil and microbes impact plant survivorship and growth. Students in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, and Minnesota grew orchids with different types of fungus and soil types and students in Alaska grew orchids with different types of agar (gel substance) in test tubes. Just as in 2024, each classroom studied 32 orchids, split into four treatments.
Species studied were native to their respective region:
In Spring 2024, 466 students across 9 schools in Maryland and Washington D.C., conducted a growth experiment with 288 Tuberous Grass Pink Orchids (Calopogon tuberosus) using two types of fungi and two types of soil.
There were two predictions: 1) survivorship and growth will be greater for orchids grown in soil type 2 with versus those grown in soil type 2 without fungi, and 2) orchids grown with fungi will grow larger than orchids in the control group (without fungi). We present the survivorship data here.
On average, more orchids survived in soil type 2 than soil type 1, and soil 2 without fungus had the most surviving orchids.
Figure 1. On average, more orchids survived in soil type 2 compared to soil type 1 (A), and more orchids survival in soil type 2 without fungus (B) in comparision to the other four treatments. The horizontal axes show soil types (A) and treatment (B). The vertical axes show the average number of orchids that were alive at the last measurement of the experiment. Averages were calculated using measurements from all of the schools involved in the project.
On average, fungus strain 1498 had more surviving orchids at the end of the experiment compared to fungus strain 1320.
Figure 2. On average, more orchids survived that grew up with Fungus type 1320 than Fungus type 1498. The horizontal axis is the Fungus type. The vertical axis is the average number of orchids that were alive at the last measurement of the experiment. Averages were calculated using measurements from all of the schools involved in the project.
However, the differences we found between treatments were very small! We need more data to confirm if these patterns are real or if we found this patterns by chance.
We also had an unexpected finding: Most classrooms (5/9) had significant mold growth in their pots that could have interfered with orchid survival and growth. This could have been due to our use of soil that unexpectedly had fertilizer in it or due to not enough sterilization of the soil (heating up the soil to kill anything in it). As a result, we have updated the protocol to include a third round of sterilization 24 hours before planting and to use a different type of peat.
2020 - 2021
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project team modified the protocols to allow for virtual data collection using ImageJ and Google forms.
Unfortunately, the modified protocols did not work as intended, and the project went on hiatus during a funding gap (2022-2023). Fall 2019
Germination Experiment
In small number of classrooms, we piloted a germination experiment using three types of media (sphagnum, wood, and rich ) and three fungus treatments (Fungus 1488, 558, and No Fungus).
We found that counting germinated seeds was difficult in the petri dishes, and the research team concluded the protocol needs to be modified to be more feasible.
Seedling Experiment
Students and teachers in 12 classrooms in Maryland and Florida worked with SERC scientists to continue the growth experiments started in 2018 to continue studying the effect of fertilizer and fungus on orchid survival. We conducted growth experiments with species native to their state: Turberous Grass Pink (Calopogon tuberosus) in Maryland classrooms and Oncidium in Florida classrooms.
Fall 2019
Germination Experiment
In small number of classrooms, we piloted a germination experiment using three types of media (sphagnum, wood, and rich ) and three fungus treatments (Fungus 1488, 558, and No Fungus).
We found that counting germinated seeds was difficult in the petri dishes, and the research team conclude the protocol needs to be modified to be more feasible.
Seedling Experiment
Additionally, 12 classrooms in Maryland and Florida continued the growth experiments started in 2018 to understand the effect of fertilizer and fungus on orchid survival. Students and teachers conducted growth experiments with species native to their state: Grass Pink Orchids (Calopogon tuberosus) in Maryland classrooms and Flordia Oncidium (Oncidium ensatum) in Florida classrooms.
Fall and Spring 2018
Students and teachers from 7 schools in Washington DC, Maryland, and Florida studied multiple species of native orchids using seedling and germination experiments.
Based on their work, we learned the following an changed our orchid growing protocols:
We can grow fungus on cotton balls really well.
Growing orchids in the right type of soil mixture is tricky. We need multiple rounds of experimentation to figure it out.
Orchids are sensitive to how much and what type of fertilizer is in the soil mixture.
Fertilizer helps the fungus grow, which can overtake the orchid.
We cannot successfully grow the Downy Rattlesnake (Goodyera pubescens), but we can grow the Tuberous Grass Pink (Calopogon tuberosus) in classrooms.
All data is available upon request. Please email Classroom Cultivation Program Manager, Shatiyana Dunn (DunnS@si.edu).
We are currently working with schools and groups in the Maryland/Washington DC metropolitan area including Baltimore City Schools, Prince George’s County, Washington DC, and Anne Arundel County. A well as expanding to the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota region, Wilmington, Delaware region, and Kenai Peninsula of Alaska region.
Questions? Email Classroom Cultivation Project Coordinator, Shatiyana Dunn (DunnS@si.edu).
Partners
Check out our amazing partners, who are a major part of this program!
