Color Matching in the Garden (Lesson)
Outdoors or Indoors; Fall, Winter, Spring; Prep Time: 15 minutes (check out a library book and procure paint chips); Teaching Time: 30-45 minutes
Description: Students go on a “color search” using paint chips. This works well as a walk outside or in the garden, but could also be done in the classroom. Optional library book that can be paired with this lesson, The Colors of Us, explores human diversity.
Objective: Students develop their observation and matching skills. Students discover the diversity of colors found in the world around them.
Curriculum Connections:
ELA
- ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
- ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
Harvest of the Month: Flexible
Source: Shelburne Farms
Bean Seed Necklaces: (Lesson)
Indoors; Fall, Winter, Spring; Prep Time: 20 minutes; Teaching Time: Part One: 20 minutes
Description: In Part One, students germinate bean seeds using their body heat: a bean tied on a string as a “bean seed necklace”. Additional activities included as extension options.
Objective: Students will learn about and sequence the life cycle of a plant.
Curriculum Connections:
ELA
- ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
- ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
Harvest of the Month: Dry beans
Source: www.agclassroom.org/ok
Dirt Made Our Lunch: (Lesson)
Indoors; Fall, Winter, Spring; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Teaching Time: 30 minutes
Description: Students will trace the origins of common foods back to the soil and learn about the nutrient cycle. For example, students would “deconstruct” a cheeseburger, to identify the source of the burger (beef->cow->grass->soil), cheese (milk->cow->grass->soil), bun (flour->wheat->soil) etc.
Objective: Students will be able to identify the origin of all food (dirt) and steps in the nutrient cycle and learn the song “dirt made my lunch”.
Curriculum Connections:
ELA
- ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
- ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
- ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
Harvest of the Month: Whatever’s in season can be prepared into a dish to be “deconstructed” as part of the activity.
Indoor Plant Experiments: (Lesson)
Indoors; Fall, Winter, Spring; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Teaching Time: 30-45 minutes
Description: The teacher guides students through setting up a class experiment to see what plants need to grow. Small potted plants are placed around the room in various conditions. As a class, a chart is made to record the experiments, make predictions about what will happen, and record results.
Objective: Students will have an introductory understanding of what an experiment is, and know the basic needs of plants
Curriculum Connections:
ELA
- ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
- ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
NGSS
- K-ESS3-1. Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.
- Science and Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
Use a model to represent relationships in the natural world. - DCI: ESS3.A: Natural Resources
Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do.
- Science and Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
Harvest of the Month: Flexible
Source: Teaching Young Children Using Themes by Marjorie Kostelnik
Vermicompost: My Worm Story and Picture Book (pg. 23-26) (Activity)
Indoors; Fall, Winter, Spring; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Teaching Time: 30-45 minutes
Description: Students complete sentences to create a story of Wally the worm, and illustrate each sentence to create a picture book. For inspiration to learn about worms before the story, check out the Lab Activities on pg. 11-20
Objective: Students become more comfortable with worms, story-telling, and writing.
Harvest of the Month: Flexible
Source: California Integrated Waste Management Board
Vermicompost: Worm Bin Bingo (Activity)
Indoors; Fall, Winter, Spring; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Teaching Time: 30-45 minutes
Description: Students explore the creatures of the worm bin, identifying them using the pictures and words on the bingo sheet.
Objective: Students become more comfortable with worms, reading, and matching.
Harvest of the Month: Flexible
Source: California Integrated Waste Management Board
Note: The following lessons reference curriculum developed by Life Lab from their Growing Classroom lesson book. For more information and to purchase a copy of this wonderful resource click here.
The Seasons of a Tree (Lesson, Project)
Outdoors; Fall, Springl Prep Time: 0 minutes; Teaching Time: Multiple 15-30 minute sessions
Description: Students make drawings of a selected tree throughout the school year
Objective: To observe seasonal changes in the life of a tree
Harvest of the Month: apples, pears, plums, peaches, nectarines, cherries, saskatoons
Source: The Growing Classroom
Transplanting, or Let’s Move ‘Em Out! (Lesson)
Outdoor;s Fall, Spring; Prep Time: 30 minutes
Description: Students transplant seedlings from flats to garden
Objective: To learn how to transplant seedlings
Harvest of the Month: Spring or Fall Crops that can be easily transplanted and harvested quickly, such as baby greens
Source: The Growing Classroom
Me and the Seasons (Lesson)
Indoors Fall, Winter, Spring; Prep Time: 15 minutes; Teaching Time: 30-45 minutes
Description: Students construct a pictorial wheel depicting seasonal differences in their activities, clothing, and environment.
Objective: To reinforce the cycle of seasons and identify different clothing and activities that correspond to the different seasons
Harvest of the Month: Flexible
Source: The Growing Classroom
The Power of the Circle (Lesson)
Indoors; Fall, Winter, Spring; Prep Time: 15 minutes; Teaching Time: 30-60 minutes
Description: Students color drawings of different cycles in nature
Objective: To introduce the concept of cycles and identify cycles in nature
Harvest of the Month: Flexible
Source: The Growing Classroom
Seedy Character (Lesson)
Indoorsl Fall, Winter, Springl Prep Time: 20 minutes, plus soaking beans overnight
Description: In Part One, students examine and classify different types of seeds (Grades 3-5 best suited to the guessing game of categories, and K-2 best suited for a hands-on exploration of the different types of seeds). In Part Two, students dissect soaked pinto beans. (Great additional visual metaphors for the parts of a seed can be found in the activity “A seed is a plant in a box with its lunch” on pg. 41 of A Handful of Seeds)
Objective: To observe, classify, and identify seeds and seed part.
Harvest of the Month: Dry beans
Source: The Growing Classroom and A Handful of Seeds from the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center
Shoebox of Sunshine (Project)
Indoors; Fall, Winter, Spring; Advanced Prep: 1 potted bean or pea plant per pair of students; Prep Time: 30 minutes (5-6) or 60 minutes (K-4); Teaching Time: 60 minutes (5-6) or 30-60 minutes (K-4)
Description: Students construct miniature greenhouses in shoeboxes and observe and measure their effects on plant growth. They relate these experiences to food production methods and to the earth’s greenhouse effect, an important factor in the formation of our climate.
Objective: (Grades 5-6): students will be able to describe how the earth radiates heat from the sun to our atmosphere (Grades K-4): students will get an introductory peek into the effects of the sun on plants and atmosphere
Harvest of the Month: Flexible, beans or peas would go well
Source: The Growing Classroom
Water We Doing (Project)
Indoors, Outdoors; Fall, Spring; Advanced Prep: 1 week prior, plant 1 bean or pea seed per pair
Part 1: Prep Time: 30-45 minutes; Teaching Time: 30-60 minutes
Part 2 (1 week later): Prep Time: 30 minutes; Teaching Time: 30-60 minutes
Part 3 (4 days later): Prep Time: 15 minutes; Teaching Time: 30-60 minutes
Description: In this two-week project, students observe the relationship between watering and plant growth and apply their experimental findings to the garden. The three activities are planned for a Monday/Monday/Friday sequence. For Grades K-1: the teacher should supervise watering closely, rather than assigning students to do the watering individually
Objective: To control the application of water to plants
Harvest of the Month: Flexible, beans or peas work well
Source: The Growing Classroom
