Teaching STEM in your Learning Garden

The Kitchen Community Education Team knows how many resources there are for teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based lessons in your Learning Garden. A simple Google search can result in an overwhelming amount of lessons. In hopes of highlighting quality STEM based lessons we have created this list to narrow down the options and share some of our favorite lessons. We have created this list for all teachers, showcasing one lesson per grade (Pre-K through 8^th grade) and by topic (9^th through 12^th). Many lessons can be modified and be used in a variety of grades, feel free to adjust as needed for your classroom. We encourage you to further explore each of the lessons and sources provided for continued opportunities and ideas that help connect STEM education to your Learning Garden.

Please click here to view the full and printable document. In this document we have highlighted Next Generation Science Standards as well as Common Core Standards that connect directly to each lesson.

*Please note that some of the links below may download a Microsoft Word Document or an Adobe PDF Document.

 

• Pre-Kindergarten: How Many Little Seeds?
  • Students explore the concept of addition and subtraction combining and dividing seeds in a pot. Students pretend to be busy gardeners, adding seeds to the pot to plant and grow, or hungry birds swooping down from high above to subtract seeds from the pot to eat.
  • Source: New York City Department of Education: Common Core Library

• Kindergarten: Seeing Seeds
  • Students will be able to sort and classify seeds by external characteristics, make predictions based on previous experiences, and pictorially and verbally label the internal and external parts of a seed.
  • Source: The Huntington: Garden Lesson Plans

• 1^st Grade: Counting and Comparing Weeds
  • Students collect weeds to count and compare data using “most” and “least”.
  • Source: Granny’s Garden School: Lesson Guides by Grade

• 2^nd Grade: Understanding How Bulbs Grow
  • Students understand that garlic is a bulb that man has modified from its original wild form
  • Source: Granny’s Garden School: Lesson Guides by Grade

• 3^rd Grade: Are Plant Parts the same in Different Types of Weeds?
  • Students collect data about two weeds to understand differences in the same plant part.
  • Source: Granny’s Garden School: Lesson Guides by Grade

• 4^th Grade: Cardinal Directions without a Compass
  • Students learn how to determine the four cardinal directions using the sun.
  • Source: The Edible School Yard Project

• 5^th Grade: Simple Machines in the Garden (pg.42)
  • Students will find examples of Simple Machine’s outdoors, and observe how Force and Motion help in the garden.
  • Source: Growing Gardeners

• 6^th Grade: Herbs de Provence
  • Students identify a variety of herbs and spices as well as taste and harvest their own herbs. Students work with ratios to create a customized herbs de Provence blend
  • Source: The Edible School Yard Project

•  7^th Grade: School Garden Dichotomous Key
  • Students will investigate the diversity of living organisms and how they can be compared scientifically.
  • Source: University of Georgia Extension: School Garden Curriculum

• 8^th Grade: Statistics in the Garden
  • Students distinguish the correct mathematical tool (mean, median, or mode) to answer questions based on data they have recorded using samples from the garden.
  • Source: Collaborating Classrooms: MyGarden Lesson Plans

• Chemistry: Separation of Plant Pigments Using Chromotography
  • The purpose of this experiment is to identify plant pigments by separation and isolation of the pigments using thin layer paper chromatography.
  • Source: Consolidated School District 158: Algonquin, Illinois

• Biology: Dissect-a-Flower
  • Students dissect an Alstroemeria or similar flower to familiarize themselves with the basic parts of a flower. They then use that information as they dissect and classify the parts of other species’ flowers.
  • Source: The Huntington: Ground in Botany

• Physics: Surface Temperature in Microclimates
  • Students will be able to discern patterns in surface temperatures, identify how colors relate to temperature and, use thermometers to measure infra-red thermometers to measure surface temperature.
  • Source: Ecology Explorers: Urban Heat Island

• Environmental Science: The Rain upon the Radishes
  • Students will understand the nature of science and devise a test to study the effects of pH on seed germination.
  • Source: The Huntington: Ground in Botany

• Geometry: Numbers in Nature
  • Students will understand what the Fibonacci sequence is; and understand how the Fibonacci sequence is expressed in nature.
  • Source: Discover Education: Lesson Plan Library

•  Humanities: You Need How Much Food When? Where?
  • Students investigate the complex issues surrounding a food system, including transportation, growing or producing, processing, shortages, and surpluses.
  • Source: Utah Agriculture in the Classroom