“A garden is never as good as it will be next year.” Thomas Cooper
This page lists activities and lesson
plans taught throughout the school year. For a look at how they are
scheduled in each season, please review the
Spring Class Schedule or the
Fall Class Schedule.
First Grade
Lessons
When in Our Garden Cycle
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 Organisms Scavenger Hunt
- A hunt for
garden animals helps students understand
how animals rely on plants and their unique body parts to survive.
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 Harvest for Vegetable Soup - The fall
harvest is the basis to
discuss the seasons of the garden and why
people grow their own food. A sense of
community is fostered when the school-wide bounty is served to students
as vegetable soup in the cafeteria.
September
Granny's Potato Patch Adventure - The potato harvest is used to
identify a potato plant as a living resource and to
explore the basic needs, parts, and seasonal changes of the
potato plant. We finish with a sampling of prepared
potatoes and other 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
Living Things Cause Changes - Compost is examined to understand the
parts of the compost habitat and what changes leaves into compost.
May
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.
February
Planting a Salad in Early Spring
- Students welcome spring by
planting cool season seeds in their beds, and learn about the basic
needs of seeds to grow.
March
Planting
Forward in Late Spring - Students plant warm season seeds and
transplants that will be harvested by the teacher's class in the
following late summer term.
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.
March/April
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 -
Seed collection is
used to discuss the interdependence of plants and animals and how
seasonal changes affect them.
October
Sorting and Counting Weeds
- Weeds are
used to practice counting and to apply the concepts of “more” and
“less”.
September
Spider Web Hunt -
Spider webs are the
basis to practice tallying while using observation skills to find 5
different types of webs and to learn about some of the unique
parts a spider has to live.
September
Starting Sweet Potatoes - Students learn
that sweet potatoes are not true potatoes by understanding the
differences in their plant parts and study the sprouting of sweet
potatoes in two different mediums.
February
Tracking Animals in Spring - Students use
animal and temperature observations to understand animal behavior
as winter changes to spring.
March/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.
Classifying Garden Animals - Students collect data about garden
animals to understand sorting and classification.
April
Comparing Plant Parts Using Weeds - Weeds are used to
compare similarities and differences of the same plant parts and to
discuss how certain traits help the weed to survive.
September
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
Granny's Harvest for Vegetable Soup - The fall
harvest is the basis to understand what plants
need to grow and to identify plants parts and their function.
A sense of community is fostered when the school-wide
bounty is served to students as vegetable soup in the cafeteria.
September
Granny's Potato Patch Adventure - The potato harvest is used to
identify a potato plant as an important food and energy source
and to explore the basic needs, parts, and seasonal changes of
the potato plant. We finish with a sampling of
prepared potatoes and other garden treats.
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
Organisms in the Garden Habitat -
Plants and animals are
used to explain the concepts of habitat, adaptations, and classifying
animals. Information collected is compared to information from the
ground organisms lesson to show that organisms can survive only in
certain environments that meet their needs.
September
Organisms in the Ground Habitat -
Students examine
animals in the ground or compost habitat to explore
animal adaptations unique to that
habitat. Information is compared their observations from the garden
organisms lesson to show that organisms can survive only in certain
environments that meet their needs.
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
Planting
Forward in Late Spring - Students plant warm season seeds and
transplants that will be harvested by the teacher's class in the
following late summer term.
May
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.
Propagating Forsythia
- Student propagate forsythia to understand how parasitic wasps are
beneficial insects that seek different food sources depending on their
life cycle stage.
April
Putting the Gardens to
Bed - Students understand that a compost pile is an energy
source for the organisms inside and learn about the benefits of adding compost to
the garden.
October
Scavenger Hunt - Scavenger hunt clues are used to review the
concepts taught in garden lessons.
April
Understanding How Bulbs Grow - Students plant spring
flowering bulbs and learn about the unique adaptations of bulbs.
October
Uses of Corn -
Students plant sunflower and popcorn seeds and discuss the
evolution of corn as a resource in many industries.
April
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.
February
Third Grade
Lessons
When in Our
Garden Cycle
Compost Organisms -
Compost is used to classify
organisms and to understand the interaction and adaptations of
organisms in the compost ecosystem.
April
Connecting Kids to the Community - Students use
seed collecting and Granny's Seed Sharing Project to reinforce the ideas
of citizenship and volunteerism in a community.
October
Economics of Sunflowers - Students plant sunflower and
other flower seeds
to discuss the path sunflowers
have taken around the world to arrive at their uses today.
April
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 Harvest for Vegetable Soup - The fall
harvest is the basis to understand what plants
need to grow and to examine soil texture and
observable soil properties that support plant
and animal growth. A sense of community is
fostered when the school-wide bounty is served to students as vegetable
soup in the cafeteria.
September
Granny's Potato Patch Adventure - The potato harvest is used to understand that soil quality varies
and that potatoes are a plant that can grow in a
variety of soil conditions.
We finish with a sampling of prepared potatoes and other 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
Mapping Skills in the Garden - Students
create a map of a garden area to understand parts of maps and how to
read them.
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
and what it means to garden organically.
March
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.
March/April
Propagating
Mums - Students
prepare transplants to take
home and learn about the ways technology has influenced plant
propagation.
May
Putting the Gardens to
Bed - Students understand how organic material is decomposed
and the benefits of organic material in soil.
October
Scavenger Hunt - Scavenger hunt clues are used to review the
concepts taught in garden lessons.
May
Soil Formation
- Soil samples are used
to demonstrate the components of soil and to discuss the importance of
soil in the growth of plants and animals.
October
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.
Weed Sorting and Graphing -
Weeds are used to
collect, organize, and
summarize data in charts and bar graphs.
September
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.
Economics of Organic Gardening - The discussion focuses on the
opportunity costs of organic and conventional gardening followed by
planting sunflower and other flower seeds in the garden.
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 Harvest for Vegetable Soup - 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
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 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
How are Plants Propagated - Students
plant cool season transplants following a discussion of
how
plants are propagated - naturally, with help from humans to select the most desirable
traits, and in laboratories to modify the genetic makeup of plant cells.
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
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.
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 in our outdoor weather station to take readings and
understand what they mean. Students record weather, temperature, plant,
and garden animal observations to understand the
impact of weather conditions on plants and animals
as winter changes to spring.
Understanding How Bulbs Grow - Students plant garlic
and learn about the unique adaptations of bulbs and garlic.
October
Weather Forecasting - Students graph temperatures taken in the
spring and use weather instruments to understand forecasting and to reach
conclusions about spring weather.
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
What is Biodiversity - Students discuss the concept of biodiversity
to understand why variety in plant and animal species is desired
followed by planting sunflower and popcorn seeds.
April
Kindergarten
When in Our Garden Cycle
Planting Bulbs - Students plant spring flowering bulbs to
understand the seasonal life cycle of a bulb.
October
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.
April
Animals Cause Changes - Students examine compost to explore how
animals slowly change leaves into compost.
May
Granny's Nature Trail
Activities for First Grade
Fall Shape Walk - Shapes are used to
focus student observations as you discuss changes in living things as
summer turns to fall and fall turns to winter.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.
Patterns in Nature - Students will explore the nature
trail to find patterns in natural items and discuss
why patterns are useful.
Activities for Second
Grade
Discussing Ohio Plants and Animals in Fall - The nature trail is
used to identify adaptations of plants and animals in an eastern
deciduous forest as summer turns to fall and fall turns to winter.
Food Chains -
A nature walk is used to to discuss
the flow of energy through food chains and food webs.
Decomposing Log Study - Students record observations about a fallen
log in order to understand the interdependence of plants and animals in
the forest ecosystem and the importance of decomposition.
Activities for Fourth
Grade
Creating a Geographical Map
-
Students take a
nature walk to map locations of decomposition, deposition, erosion, and
forest succession stages.
Interrelationships of Plants and Animals - Students examine
three mini-habitats on the nature trail to demonstrate that a
healthy ecosystem has a variety of plants and animals that interact to
keep the system in balance.
"Don't judge each
day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." Robert Louis
Stevenson
