The TapRoots Educational Program provides hands-on environmental education programs for middle and high school students. Through programs like TapRoots in the Classroom, Young Ecological Stewards, and Adventures in Soil Science, students learn about topics like agroecology, plant propagation, and soil science. They conduct activities at locations like Greenbelt Middle School and USDA research centers. The program also connects students to university mentors and helps inspire them to pursue further education.

1. TapRoots Educational Program
A Photographic Journey of 2012
Community Projects and Educational
Programs

2. TapRoots in the Classroom

3. The TapRoots in the
Classroom program began
at Greenbelt Middle School
in 2011. For many
teachers, this was their
first time integrating
outdoor learning into
curricula.

4. In 2012 TapRoots in the Classroom relied on 6
University of Maryland undergraduates to teach
120 7th grade students agroecology. Here
environmental science and policy student,
Mayhah Suri talks about the Irish Potato Famine
to make sense of plant diseases.

5. Here students take a
break from class to
help mulch one of the
raised beds at
Greenbelt Middle
School.

6. Thanks to the nematology lab at USDA-ARS,
Greenbelt Middle School students were able
discover nematodes.

7. Members of the school’s environmental club helped
transplant seedlings by using recycled newspaper as
pots.

8. Students from each class paired
up to help transplant seedlings
after they learned about plant
propagation.

9. TapRoots in the Classroom concluded with a cooking
demonstration sponsored by My Organic Market and the
University of Maryland Food Co-Op. 2011 UMD
Geography Ph.D. graduate Derrick Scott DJ’d for the
event.

10. Young Ecological Stewards

11. From left to right: Kim Walsh, executive director of
CHEARS; Abdul; Brennan; Jimmy; Jay and Alex learn
about forest foraging and survival skills with the help
of guest lecturer, Joe Murray (far right).

12. YES! students worked together to
transplant pumpkins.

13. Dr. Donald Weber, research
entomologist for USDA-ARS
Invasive Insect and Biocontrol
Laboratory, led an activity about
insects in the garden.

14. The YES! program had their
students interview local farmers
about sustainable farming practices
at the UMD Wellness Market.
Students were also interviewed by
UMD Journalism students about
their experience with TapRoots.

15. The YES! program concluded with a
“seed bomb” making activity.

16. Adventures in Soil Science

17. The first session of the Adventures in Soil Science program began by
exploring soil as a habitat. Here UMD and TapRoots students take
soil samples from a research field at the USDA-ARS in Beltsville, MD.

18. Jimmy and Jay working with UMD
honor students to process soil
samples at a USDA-ARS
nematology lab.

19. Jay searches for nematodes in soil samples.

20. University of Maryland Ph.D. student, Annie Rossi (3rd on the left)
led a lesson on soil hydrology in a soil pit at the Natural Resources
Conservation Service National Plant Materials Center.

21. Students explore redoximorhphic
features in poorly drained soils.

22. Students discover how soils are connected to our watershed by
analyzing water samples collected from the Indian Creek. Here
Mayhah shows Nathan how to titrate a sample to determine the level
of dissolved oxygen.

23. Alyssa also helped titrate.

24. After learning about soil hydrology, chemistry
and ecology students focused on research
methods in soil science. Here the students
learned about the importance of calibrating
instrumentation. Then they used Excel to run
a linear regression model on calibration data
to determine accuracy of soil moisture
sensors.

25. UMD and TapRoots students broke ground for the
Modular Learning Station that will be installed to
collect environmental and soil data at Springhill
Lake Recreational Center.

26. We helped CHEARS plant trees for their Greenbelt Food Forest Project.

27. Just before Hurricane Sandy
arrived, students helped assemble
monitoring equipment to capture
data on the storm.

28. With the soil monitor ready to collect data on Hurricane Sandy the
TapRoot group concluded the Adventures in Soil Science program.
***From left to right on the back row: Jennifer Himmelstein, Alyssa,
Tory, Anthony Dimeglio, Greenbelt City Councilwoman-Leta Mach,
Jay, Brennan, Nathan, and Alex. In the front row: Mayhah Suri,
Bezankeng and Alice Cook Henke.

29. Conversations with TapRoots

30. The idea for the Conversations with TapRoots program was seeded
when Community Outreach Director for Franklin Park Apartments,
Evan Allen, asked TapRoots to lead a container gardening event for
their residents.

31. As Conversations with TapRoots developed, we were
able to bring more of the UMD community into our
project. Here TapRoots and UMD students came
together during the Frist Annual TapRoots Fall Fest.
***From left to right: Spencer Ernst, UMD senior in Environmental Science
and member of The Walking Sticks; Dana Goetz, 2012 UMD alumna of
Environmental Science; Brennan, year long TapRoots student; Alex; Joshua
Deese, UMD sophomore in government and TapRoots volunteer; Grant
Shiver, UMD sophomore in Environmental Science and Technology-Ecotech
and Design and Computer Science minor; and Brennan’s Dad, Dave.

32. Because of the Conversation with TapRoots program,
we were able to reach out to Brennan’s Dad, a
contractor and carpenter, to brainstorm ideas on how
to construct the modular learning station for
Springhill Lake Recreational Center

33. After a year of TapRoots programs, our scholars Brennan and Jay
asked us to help them with their 8th grade science fair project. They
wanted to investigate the distinctions between disturbed and
undistributed soils. We put them in contact with UMD ENST Ph.D.
student Dot Lundberg to use her research sites on the Maryland
Eastern Shore for their project. We used ZipCar to drive out there.

34. Dot and our students dug two soil pits: One in an area ditched
during the Great Depression and another that was not ditched.
Their science fair project will contrast the particle size distributions
of these soils.

35. With the help of NRCS soil scientist, Jim Brewers, we were able to
extract monoliths from each soil pit.

36. We stopped to wrap up a day’s work.

37. UMD Soil Judgers Ryan Adams and
Chris Palardy led a tour of the soil
monolith in HJ Paterson Building.

38. Conversations with TapRoots works with students like Brennan and
Jay, and their teachers to help them become goal oriented within
STEM projects. As an additional service, TapRoots connects the area’s
youth to the University of Maryland community to inspire them to be
college focused as they enter their freshmen year of high school.
In 2013, Conversations with TapRoots will be offered to Laurel High,
Greenbelt, William Wirt and Nicholas Orem middle schools.