SEEDS OF LEARNING; GRANTS PAY FOR HANDS-ON INSTRUCTION : PROJECTS ON DISPLAY.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

The half-acre garden behind the office at Park View Elementary School yields more than flowers and produce. This year, it netted students close to $300, in addition to lessons in geometry, economics, photosynthesis and irrigation.

``Students designed the bulb garden, and it had to be geometrically perfect, and they then planned and executed it to scale,'' said sixth-grade teacher Denise Grap, who along with third-grade teacher Deni Lopez helped plan the garden. ``Students learned ratio, proportion and scale. And when the bulbs flowered in spring, it was perfectly symmetrical.''

Eight teachers and their classes use the garden, which was planted and paid for last year through instructional incentive grants given by the school board to spark innovative teaching projects. The garden was funded again this year with a $1,800 grant, but Grap and Lopez hope that the garden will eventually become self-sufficient, with maintenance money generated by produce sales.

The first grant paid for construction materials, some tools and seeds. This year's money paid for hoes, rakes, hoses and more seeds.

The garden was one of 36 projects chosen by the school board this year. The results of their efforts go on display from 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Simi Valley Unified School District Office, 875 E. Cochran St.

The dollar amounts may be small - ranging from $250 to $1,800 - but the grants act as seed money, often encouraging teachers to apply for other grants, and inspiring colleagues to try innovative projects.

Lopez and Grap have received additional grants totaling several thousand dollars from Amgen, Edison Co. and the Metropolitan Water District. They've also received five computers, two printers and desktop publishing software, which students then used to write a 10-chapter book on gardening.

The gardening book and the student's produce will be for sale 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 13 at the school.

``One thing you can say is you never do book work in this class,'' said Jennifer Burks, one of about 20 sixth-graders working in the garden on a recent hot afternoon. ``But we learn teamwork and construction and planning.''

And both teachers and students are excited about the tangible and intangible rewards of classes taught on the half-acre plot.

Lopez and Graf's students also have planned and planted a sunflower house - a patch of sunflowers that will provide a shady summer shelter when fully grown.

``It's so broad, the garden encompasses all different subjects,'' said Lopez, whose third-graders are often paired with Grap's sixth-grade students during the outdoor classes. ``We'll read a story that features sunflowers, we'll talk about them as an influence in art and literature.

``This isn't something in a book. It's something that they experience, and it's very motivating for students,'' she said.

And that has been the goal of the 4-year-old instructional incentive grants.

``The motive has been to improve instruction, with the larger goal always as student success,'' said Jean Nielson, who helps coordinate the grant projects. ``It gives teachers with creative ideas an opportunity to try them out. With a few dollars, they can accomplish things they might not be able to do within the normal budget.''

At Vista Fundamental Elementary School, third-grade teachers used $883 to stage an invention convention. The project integrated history, literature, science and technology into lessons about inventions. Teachers bought Internet service, CD-ROM research tools and an innovative curriculum designed around inventions.

The results of the year-round project were on display in the school cafeteria Thursday night, and videotapes of student projects will be on display at the grant expo today.

``With the grant money we were able to enhance the curriculum and add software,'' said Dennis Hatland, a third-grade teacher. ``It allowed for a lot of creativity, and we were able to connect physical science, technology (and) chemistry.''

Hatland added that teachers used to spend their own money for smaller special projects, but with shrinking education budgets, grants may be the only way to purchase big-ticket items like CD-ROM software.

Even with all the technology, one student found the idea for her invention in her own home. ``I was walking around my house when I got my idea,'' third-grader Katie Lewis wrote in her detailed invention report.

Lewis' aptly named motorized ``Toilet Paper Flinger,'' looked as if it had too much force for normal use but might work if you need to shoot paper from the roll across the room.

Lewis attached a belt around the toilet paper spindle and a pulley. A battery-operated engine spins the pulley and rotates the belt which, in turn, spins the spindle - forcefully dispensing toilet paper.

For her project, Lewis also completed a booklet detailing her progress, including descriptions of trips to the hardware store and soldering electrical parts.

Students also priced their inventions and wrote advertisements espousing their products' virtues:

The ``Toilet Paper Flinger could be yours for a low $14.99!'' Payable to Katie Lewis, third grade, Vista Fundamental Elementary School.

Almost three dozen Simi Valley schoolteachers submitted proposals this year, seeking $30,000 in grants for innovative projects at local elementary, middle and high schools.

The winning projects ranged from down-to-earth (a school garden) to high-tech (using heart-rate monitors to teach cardiovascular health). Grants ranged from $250 for individual projects to $1,800 for team projects that benefited several classes.

Ten of the projects included buying or upgrading computer equipment, reflecting teachers' desires to stay abreast of technology despite shrinking budgets for such equipment. Teachers added Internet software and services, 3D atlases, CD-ROM databases and research materials, scanners, laser printers and video software this year.

The projects will be on display from 3:45 to 5 p.m. today at the Simi Valley Unified School District Office, 875 E. Cochran St. They include:

Physical education teachers at Santa Susanna High School used $1,200 to purchase two heart-rate monitors and computer software, which they used to teach cardiovascular health and fitness. Students used computer-based monitors to evaluate fitness, set fitness goals and create exercise plans.

Teachers at Sycamore Elementary School bought $900 worth of video equipment which was used to create ``video portfolios,'' offering a different way to assess progress and set goals. Students videotaped presentations and interviews, which were later critiqued. Students learned video production techniques, presentation, speech and communication skills.

Two special-education teachers at Mountain View Elementary used $564 to create hands-on lab stations that taught the concepts of matter and weather to emotionally disturbed children.

The deadline for next year's grants is Friday. Applications are available at district and school offices. For more information on instructional incentive grants, call Jean Nielson at 520-6296.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1--color) The pupil-planted garden at Park View Elementary School was a special program launched with funding from the Simi school board.

(2) Michael Schutz pulls weeds out of a bean garden located behind the office at Park View Elementary School in Simi. Produce from the garden will be sold later this month.

(3) Sixth-grader Victor Lopez works in the russet potato section. Eight teachers and their classes use the garden, which was paid for last year through instructional incentive grants.

(4--ran in SIMI edition only) Sixth-grade teacher Denise Grap talks to pupils in the garden.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News

Box: PROJECTS ON DISPLAY (see text)