CHNOPS

Lesson:

3/3

Eighth Grade Garden Rotation

Standards Aligned:

Yes

CHNOPS

Tags:

Decomposition

Place of Learning:

Garden Classroom

Duration:

90 Minutes

Grade Level:

6 – 8

Contributor

ESY Berkeley Teaching Staff
Edible Schoolyard Project
Berkeley, CA

Materials

Compost Cake Visual Aid with Velcro-backed ingredient cards, elements, and file folder
Nitrogen Cycle Visual Aid
Example cover crop plant (legume) with nitrogen nodes on roots
The Wind Blows game cards
Fungus, bacteria, invertebrates (FBI) images

before you begin

Create the Compost Cake Visual Aid.
Create the Nitrogen Cycle Visual Aid.
Pull out an example of a cover crop with nitrogen nodes on roots.
Create The Wind Blows game cards.
Create The Wind Blows element and bacteria signs.

Procedure Steps:

FULL GROUP, 7-12 MINUTES

AT THE OPENING CIRCLE

Welcome students and explain that we will be talking about CHNOPS in Opening Circle before working in the garden today.

Introduce the six essential elements of life and the acronym CHNOPS.
Explain that all living organisms need the essential elements of life to live.
Prompt students to think about how, as humans, we get the six essential elements of life.
- Begin with oxygen and hydrogen and explain that we rely on bacteria to convert the remaining four into usable forms.
Show students the compost cake, highlighting the six essential elements in each layer of the compost pile.
Explain that among the fungus, bacteria, and invertebrates, the bacteria are primarily responsible for breaking down and converting the elements into a usable form that plants can uptake through their roots.
Show the cover crop and explain that it is an example of bacteria “fixing” nitrogen.
- Refer to the nitrogen cycle poster and further clarify the process.
Explain that when plants are able to uptake the essential elements of life, we are then able to intake those elements when we eat plants.
Repeat the CHNOPS acronym, and call for choral responses after saying each letter.
Tell students that in Closing Circle they will play The Wind Blows game, identifying the six essential elements of life and the role of bacteria.
Divide the class into four groups for garden jobs.
Encourage students to observe examples of the six essential elements during their time in the garden.

SMALL GROUPS, 40-60 MINUTES

IN THE FIELD

Garden Work Rotation

Students think about and look for examples of the six essential elements while they work in the garden.

FULL GROUP, 15-20 MINUTES

AT THE CLOSING CIRCLE

Play The Wind Blows, a game similar to musical chairs.

To start the game a teacher reads a statement
All students for whom the statement is true then stand up and change seats.
The last student standing without a seat reads a follow-up to the statement and then reads the next statement. In this particular instance of the game, the statements are about the six essential elements of life.

Download Lesson Materials

Compost Cake Visual Aid

Nitrogen Cycle Visual Aid

The Wind Blows game cards

Fungus, bacteria, invertebrates (FBI) images

Vocabulary:

Carbon
Hydrogen
Nitrogen

Oxygen
Potassium
Sulfur

Bacterium
Cover crop
Nitrogen fixation

Academic Standards

Next Generation Science Standards

Performance Expectations

MS-LS1-7

Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS1.C

Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: Within individual organisms, food moves through a series of chemical reactions in which it is broken down and rearranged to form new molecules, to support growth, or to release energy. Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.

Common Core State Standards

English Language Arts and Literacy, Grade 8

SL.8.1

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher- led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

SL.8.4

Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.

Edible Schoolyard Standards

In the Garden Classroom, Grade 8

Tools

1.2

Select, use, and care for scientific measuring tools in the garden, measure precisely and understand what results mean.

The Edible Schoolyard Program

Program

1.0

Students work with each other and teachers to develop community and personal stewardship, along with skills that will help them navigate different situations throughout their lives.

Contributors:

All lessons at the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley are developed in collaboration with the teachers and staff of the Edible Schoolyard and Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School.