Overview
The Nurture thru Nature (NtN) program introduces elementary school students to the wonders of nature and natural science. NtN is a partnership between Rutgers University, Johnson & Johnson Worldwide, New Brunswick Public Schools and the New Brunswick Education Foundation (NBEF).
The NtN program opened its doors to rising 4th graders from the Paul Robeson Community School on July 6, 2010. The program uses a randomized experimental design and selected 20 third graders randomly to participate in NtN, with the rest of the rising 4th graders from the school serving as a control group. Nurture thru Nature is offered as a summer program on three days a week during July and August and continues as an after-school program in fall and spring during the regular school year. Since 2010, the Nurture thru Nature program has expanded to other schools. There are 18 students from Woodrow Wilson School, 18 students from McKinley School, 15 students from Redshaw School, 15 students from Roosevelt School, 16 students from Paul Robeson School, 15 students from Lord Stirling School, and 15 students from Livingston School who participate in the NtN program.
The program design for Nurture thru Nature calls for a rigorous evaluation of program impact on student test scores and knowledge of science/nature. Systematic data collection for the evaluation has begun and will continue over the program’s three year period to track the progress of this group of NtN participants. Nurture thru Nature’s original site is located at the corner of Pine Street and Jones Avenue in New Brunswick. The program site consists of an outdoor learning area that features a butterfly garden, an organic vegetable garden, a pond and a fountain. Indoor learning takes place in the J.B. Smith classroom that is located right behind the outdoor area. Since its start the program has designed and built learning gardens at Lord Stirling school, the New Brunswick Middle school, Woodrow Wilson school and McKinley school.
Strategic Vision
Nurture thru Nature’s (NtN) philosophy is captured in the program’s name. We believe that young students can best learn and understand science through close contact and interaction with the nature world.
We designed the Nurture thru Nature program as a vehicle capable of transporting young students into the world of exploration, excitement and wonders that we experienced growing up as elementary school children. This world was not very big—extending through the immediate neighborhood and on occasion reaching across town to a grandparent’s or relative’s home and garden. Though small in size our neighborhood was not puny in opportunities for adventure—colorful birds and butterflies that needed to be identified; fruits, berries and strange vegetables that merited tasting; dangerous looking snakes, frogs, and insects that had to be touched; fish requiring catching and flowers that enticed through their scent and beauty. Our explorations moreover found us continually bumping up against many of the principles of natural and physical science: e.g., photosynthesis, animal migration, natural selection, habitat change and adaptation, health and disease. We believe that the journey into our natural world needs to begin at a young age and that it must be supported by teachers and parents in the classroom at home.
Unfortunately in many of our urban neighborhoods, inadequate city resources, unsafe streets and overwhelmed teachers and parents have resulted in barriers to exploration and the dimming of excitement. NtN is intended to increase the adventure that is natural science through a curriculum and faculty that emphasize hands on student learning and through a set of principles that support teachers, and neighborhood residents in their efforts to make the love of nature an everyday experience. Our rigorous evaluation methods, moreover, are designed to ensure that NtN demonstrates measurable improvements in student’s math, science and language arts skills and classroom grades.
Thomas Wolfe, an American novelist of some note, declares, “You can’t go home again…you can’t go home to the escape of time and memory.” At NtN we go home again often—not to escape, but to open pathways to a future of excitement and achievement.
Objectives
NtN is designed to achieve the following objectives:
- Increase students’ knowledge and understanding of the natural world through a curriculum developed and administered by Rutgers University faculty and students.
- Enable students to apply their language arts and mathematics knowledge while answering questions and experimenting with natural/environmental science issues.
- Allow students to actively participate in the creation of a neighborhood urbanscape that includes organic gardens, ponds and water features, butterfly and caterpillar gardens, birdfeeding stations and more.
- Increase parental involvement in students’ academic life through family participation in projects focused on healthy eating/nutrition, water/air quality and neighborhood ecosystems.
- Transform unused vacant space into vegetable/butterfly gardens to serve as learning laboratories and community meeting spaces.
- Increase entrepreneurial opportunities for NtN parents and neighbors
Principles
NtN is built on the following principles:
- Introduce children grades 4 through 6 from at-risk groups to hands-on experience in science.
- Meet the community’s need for afterschool and summer programs that support public school education.
- Provide student access to educational resources at the college/university — especially faculty, staff and students who are willing to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for science and learning.
- Build neighborhood norms of trust and reciprocity, anchored around vibrant natural gardens and open spaces.
NTN Team
Radha Jagannathan, Ph.D., is co-founder of NtN and a professor of urban planning and policy development at the Edward J. Bloustein of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University. Dr. Jagannathan received her doctorate from Princeton University in public and international affairs. She is a Fulbright Scholar whose research on poverty, child welfare and human capital development has received international attention and has been published in prestigious economics and social science journals. Her other academic awards include the Jerome G. Rose Distinguished Teaching Award, the DAAD Award from the American- German Scholar Exchange Program, and the Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize. Dr. Jagannathan is an avid bird watcher and has conducted research on inter-species competition among cavity-nesting birds. Her love for birds and butterflies has guided her design of several butterfly and hummingbird gardens.
Michael J. Camasso, Ph.D., is co-founder of NtN and a professor of agricultural, food and resource economics at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University. Dr. Camasso is a Fulbright Scholar whose work on social and human capital development has been recognized nationally and internationally. He has authored three books and his many publications have appeared in economics and public policy journals. Dr. Camasso is a recipient of the American Association of University Professors’ Richard W. Laity Academic Leadership Award, the Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize from the University of Chicago, and an NIMH Promising Investigator Award. He has served as a naturescape and reclamation consultant to private companies like Beneficial Finance, UNIMIN Corporation, MBNA Bank, Johnson & Johnson Health Systems and government agencies including the Delaware State Park system.
Partners
Nurture thru Nature was initiated in Summer 2010 as a partnership of Rutgers University, Johnson & Johnson Worldwide, New Brunswick Public Schools, and the New Brunswick Education Foundation (NBEF) to support students from the Paul Robeson Community School. Currently, we have students from Paul Robeson, Lord Stirling, Roosevelt, Redshaw, McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson participating in the Nurture thru Nature Program.
Funding for this program is provided by Johnson & Johnson Worldwide and New Brunswick Education Foundation (NBEF), with in kind support from Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS/DAFRE) and Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy
Johnson & Johnson
“The concept resonates with Johnson & Johnson values. Through a committed partnership, Johnson & Johnson and Rutgers have played prominent roles in New Brunswick over the course of many years. We share a common goal of bringing health and vitality to the New Brunswick community. The Nuture thru Nature program has enabled us to engage the school district, neighborhood school, parents, students and community residents. This is a wonderful program model of a community coming together to achieve success for its children. What better investment than enriching the lives of children who are our future leaders of tomorrow. My special thanks to Rutgers Professors Michael Camasso and Radha Jagannathan for their visionary thinking and dedication and commitment to this important program.”
Joanne Fillweber
Retired
New Brunswick Public Schools
“The Nurture to Nature program is a partnership between Johnson & Johnson, Rutgers University and New Brunswick Public Schools. We have cohorts of students in 9 of our district schools ranging from 4th grade to 10th grade. The program provides hands-on activities related to the district science curriculum. The City of New Brunswick supported the creation of 3 gardens at Woodrow Wilson, Mckinley, and New Brunswick Middle School. This is a program that involves research which compare the progress of the students who were randomly selected to join the program with the progress of students who have not participated. Past district data shows that students in the program out perform their peers in the Language Arts, Science and Mathematics as measured by report card grades. The Board of Education supports the Nurture to Nature program and we are committed to its success.”
Dr. Aubrey A. Johnson
Superintendent of New Brunswick Public Schools
“I am thrilled to have Rutgers University and The Nurture Through Nature program as partners with Paul Robeson Community School. Students involved in the program have participated in a wide variety of activities that extend their learning in the areas of Science and Math. Through participating in this program our students have visited Rutgers Gardens and met with horticulturalists, planned, designed and created a garden in their own community, worked with exemplary Rutgers staff and students, and given presentations to schoolmates about the learning that’s taken place in the NtN program.
Having the chance to participate in this program is making a tremendous impact on the lives of our students by exposing them to the many opportunities available to them in the fields of science and technology.
Staff members of the NtN program have been extremely supportive of our students and their families, always striving to keep students engaged and involved. The NtN staff members’ dedication and support of the Paul Robeson Community School students involved in the program is tremendous and should serve as a model for further programs between Rutgers University and the New Brunswick Public School District.
I can only hope that other students in the New Brunswick community get the opportunity to participate in this wonderfully dynamic and stimulating program!”
Kelly D. Mooring
Principal, Paul Robeson Community School
Curriculum
Our curriculum differs between the summers and the school months. During the school months we follow along with their school curriculum, going further, and offering hands-on experiments and activities. In the summers we work more from a nature inspired curriculum, taking advantage of our community learning gardens. All grades spend time working on grade appropriate math, work on reading or vocabulary, and have access to tutoring.
12th Grade
In their final year with us we transition into college and career prep. Students learn how to craft resumes, create interactive spreadsheets in order to track college applications, scholarships, and other lists, and work on essays for colleges. We help our students create accounts on the common app for college applications, and fast-web for scholarship applications.
11th Grade
11th graders focus on biology. Students will review cells, organism organization, ecology and ecosystems, mitosis, meiosis, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration. They design and conduct a plant growth experiment. They also learn to animate using Scratch code and practice SAT strategies.
10th Grade
10th grade at NtN revolves around Chemistry! Students learn the basic parts of matter and elements, how to read the periodic table, the properties and organization of elements, how compounds form, and how to balance chemical equations. hey study the history of plastics and the future of synthetic materials and nanotechnology. Students experiment with the properties of water, separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, and observe the chemical synthesis of nylon.
9th Grade
Our students tackle physics during their first year in high school. They learn basic formulas of movement and take part in hands-on experiments to observe phenomena in motion, such as live action angry birds, building marshmallow launchers, and designing model cars to withstand collisions. They study kinematics, two dimensional motion, distance and displacement, and forces.
5th Grade
Our 5th grade students focus on matter and its interactions. From learning about different states of matter, to learning about elements, atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons and much more. They also continue on math, by practicing with the place value system, learning about factors and multiples, and continue to master long division.
4th Grade
The summer before their 4th grade year students get an introduction to NtN by learning about insects and butterflies. During school months they study geology and ecology. They learn about the rock cycle, volcanoes, the importance and use of rocks, the food web, what the biomes are and what animals and plants are in which biomes, and students learn the basic morphology of reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Students take part in basic dissections, go on field trips to liberty science center, the Camden aquarium and get a visit from a professional herpetologist.
Final Projects
Each spring semester our students undertake intensive final research projects to present to their grade schools. In the past we have created habitats for and adopted a corn snake, leopard gecko, and bearded dragon, done fetal pig dissections, migratory bird patterns, science magic tricks, the human body, and solar powered cars. This changes each year and is not grade specific.
Photos
Many photos were taken over the years. You can find them on our box drive.
Locations
- Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School 33 Livingston Ave. New Brunswick, NJ 08901
- 33 Pine St. Location (next to JB Smith Classroom Building, Cook Campus)
- 165 George St. Location (next to Lord Stirling School)