|
First Grade
Lessons |
When in Our Garden Cycle |
|
About Herbs - Students learn
what herbs are and how they are used. |
May |
|
Counting and Comparing Weeds
- Weeds
are used to practice counting and to apply the concepts of
“most” and “least”. |
September |
|
Creating a Butterfly
Habitat - Students
learn that butterflies require a habitat that provides nectar sources
for adults and host plants for egg laying and caterpillar food
and pot curly willow stems to take a host plant home. |
March |
|
Crustaceans in the
Garden - Students
understand how pillbug and sowbug characteristics help them live in
their environment. |
April |
|
Early Spring Invertebrates
- Students tally
invertebrates as insect or non-insect and record air and soil
temperatures to understand how temperature affects animal activity.
|
March |
|
Food Comes from
Natural Resources -
Students understand that the foods
they eat are natural resources or come from natural resources
before heading outside to plant warm season crops. |
May |
|
Garden Food Chains
- Students understand
how plants and animals interact in food chains. |
May |
|
Granny's Flower Pressing Adventure - Students are welcomed back to
school and the gardens with an activity to cover garden rules, preserve
flowers by pressing, and pick a bouquet to take home. |
August |
|
Granny's Great Amaryllis Race - This inside winter activity uses the
growth of an amaryllis bulb for students to practice measuring,
recording and graphing data, and
answering questions
about the results. |
January |
|
Harvest the Early Spring
Garden - Students learn how to identify foods that are ready to
harvest and the best harvest method. Students work together to
harvest and clean the harvest and finish up by sampling foods they
planted in March. |
May |
|
Harvest for Harvest Soup Day -
The fall
harvest is the basis to understand basic needs
a plant requires from its environment and how seasons affect them.
A sense of community is
fostered when the school-wide bounty is served to students as vegetable
soup in the cafeteria. |
September |
|
How Do Worms Live -
Students will understand how worm
body parts help worms live in their environment. |
March |
|
Planting a Salad in Early Spring
- Students
understand that seeds have basic needs to grow that are dependent on the
conditions in the seed’s environment. |
March |
|
Putting the Gardens to
Bed - Students learn about the benefits of adding compost to the garden,
remove and compost plants that will not overwinter, and add compost to
their beds. |
October |
|
Scavenger Hunt - Scavenger hunt clues are used to review the
concepts taught in garden lessons. |
May |
|
Seed Dispersal and Collection -
Students understand why seeds are important to plants and animals and
how plants rely on animals and the environment to spread seeds. |
October |
|
Spider Web Hunt -
Students understand the
characteristics of spiders that help them to live, and practice math
skills for organizing data while searching for spider webs. |
September |
|
Trapping Energy
- Students plant warm season seeds in the cool temperatures of
early spring to observe how the principles of cold frames aid plant
growth. |
April |
|
Uses of Sunflowers
- Students learn about the
evolution of sunflowers as a
resource in many industries and plant
sunflower and other flower seeds in the garden. |
April |
|
What Do Garden Animals
Need from Their Environment?
- A hunt for
garden animals
helps students understand
how animals rely on plants and their unique body parts to survive.
|
September |
|
What Happens When You Plant a Bulb in Autumn -
Students plant spring
flowering bulbs and learn about their parts and
seasonal stages. |
October |
|
Second Grade
Lessons |
When in Our Garden Cycle |
|
Food Buyers and
Sellers - Students
understand from where their food comes by discussing sources for buying
food and the kinds of jobs involved in providing food for us to buy
before heading outside to plant warm season crops. |
May |
|
Granny's Flower Pressing Adventure - Students are welcomed back to
school and the gardens with an activity to cover garden rules, preserve
flowers by pressing, and pick a bouquet to take home. |
August |
|
Granny's Great Amaryllis Race - This inside winter activity uses the
growth of an amaryllis bulb for students to practice measuring,
recording and graphing data, and
answering questions
about the results. |
January |
|
Graphing Invertebrates
in Early Spring - Students create a bar
graph about invertebrates they find in the garden and answer questions
about the graph to show their understanding about how to interpret a
graph. |
March |
|
Graphing Temperature
- Students use
temperature data collected in spring to create a double bar graph and answer
questions about the data. |
April |
|
Harvest the Early Spring
Garden - Students learn how to identify foods that are ready to
harvest and the best harvest method. Students work together to
harvest and clean the harvest and finish up by sampling foods they
planted in March. |
May |
|
Harvest for Harvest Soup Day -
The fall
harvest is the basis to understand what plants
need to grow and to identify plants parts and how they use environmental
resources.
A sense of community is
fostered when the school-wide bounty is served to students as vegetable
soup in the cafeteria. |
September |
|
Living Things Cause Changes - Compost is examined to understand the
parts of the compost habitat and what changes leaves into compost. |
September |
|
Planting a Salad in Early Spring
- Students welcome spring by
planting cool season seeds in their beds, and learn that
seed germination is dependent on
conditions in the seed’s habitat. |
March |
|
Plant Life Cycle with Seed Dispersal and
Seed Collection -
Students identify seed adaptations and how seed dispersal causes changes
in environments. |
October |
|
Plotting Worm Length
- Students measure earthworms
to find the most common length by creating and interpreting a line plot. |
May |
|
Propagating Forsythia
- Students learn that
parasitic wasps are considered beneficial and depend on plants and
animals for their survival in different stages of their life cycle.
|
April |
|
Putting the Gardens to
Bed - Students
understand how compost is made by living things and why it’s important. |
October |
|
Reading Weather
- Students will collect
information about weather to understand weather instruments and readings
and the impact of weather conditions on plants and animals in early
spring. |
April |
|
Scavenger Hunt - Scavenger hunt clues are used to review the
concepts taught in garden lessons. |
April |
|
Understanding How Bulbs Grow -
Students understand the growth cycle
of a spring flowering bulb and how wild daffodils are becoming rare due
to habitat loss. |
October |
|
Uses of Corn -
Students plant sunflower and popcorn seeds and discuss the
evolution of corn as a resource in many industries. |
April |
|
What's in Soil -
Students
examine soil samples to learn that soil forms over time from
decomposing rocks, plants, and animals. |
September |
|
Third Grade
Lessons |
When in Our
Garden Cycle |
|
Animals in the Garden Habitat -
Students understand that animals have
traits that are learned and inherited and that
help them survive in their environment.
Observations from this activity are compared to observations from the
ground habitat activity to understand unique traits required in each
habitat. |
September |
|
Animals in the Ground Habitat -
Students understand that animals have
traits that are learned and inherited and that
help them survive in their environment.
Observations from this activity are compared to observations from the
garden habitat to understand unique traits required in each habitat. |
September |
|
Are Plant Parts the Same
in Different Weed Types?
- Students collect data about two weed types
to understand differences in the same plant part.
|
September |
|
Changes in
Agriculture -
Students understand how
sustainable agriculture promotes practices that benefit natural
resources. |
May |
|
Do All Plants Have the Same Life Cycle?
Seed
collection is used to discuss the stages and differences in plant
life cycles. |
October |
|
Granny's Flower Pressing Adventure - Students are welcomed back to
school and the gardens with an activity to cover garden rules, preserve
flowers by pressing, and pick a bouquet to take home. |
August |
|
Granny's Great Amaryllis Race - This inside winter activity uses the
growth of an amaryllis bulb for students to practice measuring,
recording and graphing data, and
answering questions
about the results. |
January |
|
Harvest the Early Spring
Garden - Students learn how to identify foods that are ready to
harvest and the best harvest method. Students work together to
harvest and clean the harvest and finish up by sampling foods they
planted in March. |
May |
|
Harvest for Harvest Soup Day -
The fall
harvest is the basis to understand how plant
parts use environmental resources, that plants do not have the same life
cycle, and that conditions in the environment affect their life cycle.
A sense of community is
fostered when the school-wide bounty is served to students as vegetable
soup in the cafeteria. |
September |
|
Mapping Skills in the Garden - Students
create a map of a garden area to understand parts of maps and how to
read them.
|
September |
|
Planting a Salad in Early Spring
- Students welcome spring by
planting cool season seeds in their beds, learn that
seed germination is dependent on conditions in the seed’s habitat,
and learn what it means to garden organically. |
March |
|
Planting Potatoes -
Students
understand the unique plant parts of potato plants and learn about the
historical significance of potatoes. |
April |
|
Propagating
Mums - Students
learn what propagation means and how mums are used as a natural resource
for medicinal and culinary purposes. |
May |
|
Properties of Soil
-
Soil samples are used
to demonstrate the properties of soil and to discuss the importance of
soil in the growth of plants and animals. |
October |
|
Putting the Gardens to
Bed - Students
understand that the compost pile consists of organisms with life cycles
dependent on the conditions in the compost pile. |
October |
|
Scavenger Hunt - Scavenger hunt clues are used to review the
concepts taught in garden lessons. |
May |
|
Sunflower Power -
Students learn that processes are being developed to use sunflowers for
renewable energy.
|
April |
|
Why is Pollination
Important -
Students observe and identify the parts of a flower it
to understand how the parts of a flower enable the flower to make
seeds through pollination and fertilization. |
September |
|
Fourth Grade
Lessons |
When in Our
Garden Cycle |
|
Comparing Weeds using a Venn Diagram -
Weeds are
used to collect data and to complete a Venn diagram about the
similarities and differences of the two main categories of weeds.
|
September |
|
Do All Plants Have the Same Life Cycle?
- Seed collection
is used to discuss plant life cycles and
interdependence of plants and animals. |
October |
|
Economics of Organic and Conventional Gardening
-
Students apply their understanding of productive resources to organic
and conventional farming methods and plant flower
seeds in flower beds. |
April |
|
Flower Parts and Pollination -
Flower parts are
examined to understand pollination and seed formation. |
September |
|
Granny's Flower Pressing Adventure - Students are welcomed back to
school and the gardens with an activity to cover garden rules, preserve
flowers by pressing, and pick a bouquet to take home. |
August |
|
Granny's Great Amaryllis Race - This inside winter activity uses the
growth of an amaryllis bulb for students to practice measuring,
recording and graphing data, and
answering questions
about the results. |
January |
|
Granny's Potato Patch Adventure - The potato harvest is used
to
explore the basic needs, parts, and
seasonal changes of the potato plant.
We finish with a
sampling of prepared potatoes and other fresh garden treats. |
August |
|
Harvest the Early Spring
Garden - Students learn how to identify foods that are ready to
harvest and the best harvest method. Students work together to
harvest and clean the harvest and finish up by sampling foods they
planted in March. |
May |
|
Harvest for Harvest Soup Day -
The fall
harvest is the basis to identify the parts of
a plant and their function and to classify
fruits and vegetables by botanical definition. A
sense of community is fostered when the school-wide bounty is served to
students as vegetable soup in the cafeteria.
|
September |
|
How are Plants Propagated -
Students understand
that plant propagation occurs naturally, with help from humans to select
the most desirable traits, and in laboratories to modify the genetic
makeup of plant cells. |
March |
|
Packaging Seeds to
Investigate Mass, Weight, and Volume - Students package seeds to use in
the upcoming spring season following
an
investigation to understand the difference between mass,
weight, and volume. |
February |
|
Planting a Salad in Early Spring
- Students welcome spring by
planting cool season seeds in their beds, and learn
that plants have unique life cycles
and conditions for seed germination that are linked to soil temperature.
|
March/April |
|
Plotting Plant Growth
- Students measure germinated
seeds to find the most common height measurements of seedlings by
creating and interpreting a line plot. |
April |
|
Productive
Resources in Granny's Gardens -
Students apply their
understanding of productive resources to creating and sustaining
Granny’s Garden School before heading outside
to plant warm season crops. |
May |
|
Putting the Gardens to
Bed - Students understand how the process of decomposition
impacts the Earth’s surface, and learn about the benefits of adding compost to
the garden. |
October |
|
Tracking Weather in Spring - Students use weather
instruments to take readings and
understand what they mean. |
April |
|
Tree
Identification Using a Dichotomous Key
- Students use a
dichotomous key to identify trees and to understand the basics of how
plants are classified. |
October |
|
Understanding How Bulbs Grow -
Students plant garlic
and learn about the unique adaptations of bulbs and garlic.
|
October |
|
Graphing Temperature
- Students graph temperatures using line and bar graphs to understand
temperatures in early spring and to discuss that the type of graph to
use depends on the question to answer about the data collected. |
April |
|
What Flower Colors Attract the Most Organisms -
Plants and animals are
used by students to set up an experiment using the scientific method and
to determine if their method and results are reliable. |
September |
|
Nature Walks |
When in Our
Garden Cycle |
First Grade
|
Examining Seasonal Changes on a Shape Walk
- Students understand
how changes in the sun’s energy affect the behavior of living
things in the environment.
Shape walk shapes -
Courtesy of Cincinnati Nature Center - A template of shapes for students
to carry or wear on yarn necklaces to match with items observed on the
trail. Pre-cut shapes are available for sign out in the barn. |
fall |
|
Patterns in Nature -
Students explore the nature trail to
locate patterns in nature and discuss how patterns are useful. |
spring |
Second
Grade
Third
Grade
Fourth
Grade
|
Creating a Geographical Map -
Students take a
nature walk to map locations of decomposition, deposition, erosion, and
forest succession stages. |
fall |
|
Interrelationships of Plants and Animals -
Students examine
sunny and shady spots
to understand that a healthy ecosystem has a
variety of living things that interact to keep the system in balance. |
spring |
|
Lessons are retired when they no longer fit a goal
of our program or the academic content standards for a grade. We
keep our favorites around just in case.
Kindergarten
Planting Bulbs -
Students plant spring flowering bulbs to
understand the seasonal life cycle of a bulb.
Planting Sunflowers to Celebrate Earth Day -
Students plant
sunflower seeds to discuss what Earth Day represents,
talk about ways to reduce waste, and learn about the life cycle
of sunflowers.
Animals Cause Changes - Students examine compost to explore how
animals slowly change leaves into compost.
First Grade
Granny's Potato Patch
Adventure - The potato harvest is used
to
learn about basic needs of the potato
plant and how the environment affects having those needs met.
We finish with a
sampling of prepared potatoes and other fresh garden treats.
Packaging Seeds to
Measure Weight -
Students package seeds to use in the upcoming spring season following
an
investigation to compare weights of the same volume.
Planting Potatoes -
Students plant forward in spring for the class harvest in the following
late summer term, and learn about the history of potatoes as an important
food crop and about the parts of a potato plant.
Tracking Animals in Spring -
Students use
animal and temperature observations to understand animal behavior
as winter changes to spring.
Second Grade |
Evidence of Forest Changes -
Students find evidence of
living things that cause changes in a forest.
Food Chains -
A nature walk is used to to
discuss
the flow of energy through food chains and food webs.
Classifying Garden Animals - Students collect data about garden
animals to understand sorting and classification.
Granny's Potato Patch Adventure - The potato harvest is used
to
understand that plants grow based on
interaction with living and nonliving things in their environment.
We finish with a sampling of
prepared potatoes and other fresh garden treats.
Planting Potatoes -
Students plant forward in spring for the class harvest in the following
late summer term, and learn about the history of potatoes as an important
food crop and about the life cycle and parts of a potato plant.
Using Seed
Patterns to Make Predictions
-
Students use seeds to find an addition pattern in increasing lengths
and package seeds for the upcoming spring season.
Third Grade
Decomposition, Erosion, and Deposition -
Students take a nature
walk to record observations of processes that shape the surface of the
Earth.
Evidence of Survival Traits in a Forest
- Students
understand some of the survival traits unique
to plants and animals in a forest.
Granny's Potato Patch Adventure - The potato harvest is used
to
understand the unique life cycle and
special parts that help a potato plant grow, survive, and reproduce.
We finish with a sampling of prepared potatoes and other fresh garden treats.
Opportunity Cost of
Backyard Gardening
- Students discuss opportunity costs of gardening at home before
heading outside to plant warm season crops.
Packaging Seeds to
Investigate Weight and Capacity -
Students package seeds to use in
the upcoming spring season following
an
investigation to
understand the difference
between weight and capacity.
Tracking Animals in Spring - Classification -
Students collect information about
observed
animals and temperature to understand animal
adaptations as winter changes to spring and how scientists classify
animals.
Compost Organisms -
Compost is used
to classify
organisms and to understand the interaction and adaptations of
organisms in the compost ecosystem.
Fourth Grade
Planting Potatoes -
Students plant forward in spring for the class harvest in the following
late summer term, and learn about the history of potatoes as an important
food crop and about the life cycle and parts of a potato plant.
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