This lesson invites students to experience soil and get to know the living critters that live in
it, and the nonliving things that make up soil. These activities can be taught indoors with
large butcher paper on the floors.
This lesson introduces the plant parts, highlighting the parts that are edible and those that
are not. It also informs students about how to safely and respectfully pick and taste plants
growing in our gardens.
This lesson gets students to practice sorting, organizing, and making lists while in the
natural environment. It introduces the idea that we eat seeds, and we also use them to
make other plants, thus more seeds.
Driving Question: How does a worm grow and change during its life?
Our worms are like us. They grow and change throughout their life. A worm’s life cycle is one of the simplest and most engaging in the garden. For this reason we always start the Life Cycle Unit with worms.
In this lesson, students participate in making a potting mix using a recipe. Students will: read recipe, delegate tasks, measure ingredients, and work together to mix potting mix in a coordinated choreography.
In this lesson, students participate in making an Herbal salve to take home. Students will: learn about the different properties of plants grown in the garden or in the essential oils.
The attached resources provide a structure for creating original lessons as well as thinking critically about current lessons and how effective they are at meeting various learning goals.
In this 8th grade science lesson, students prepare Kale Pesto and Ricotta Cheese, and visit the pH Lab where they use cabbage juice as an indicator to test the pH of common kitchen ingredients and products.
