Lessons

The purpose of this lesson is for students to explore the differences between winter and spring gardens and the food they produce. Students will observe the size, shape, color and weight of winter vegetables. Students will plant spring seeds and seedlings for the school garden, and use seed catalogs to plan a spring garden.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to make connections between the weather and seasonal food. After discussing seasons, weather, and plant growth, students study a seasonal food chart and then create their own. They also search for signs of life in the winter garden, make observational drawings, and predict how the garden will change in other seasons. This lesson supports the DCPS Kindergarten ELA Unit Water and Precipitation and the Science Unit Dealing with Weather.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to understand seasonality – that different plants grow in different seasons. Students will carefully observe the school garden in winter and build their own seasonality chart based on the plants that are available at different times of year. They will also read seed packets in order to make a planting plan for the school garden. This lesson supports the DCPS 1st grade Science Unit Patterns in the Sky.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to review the concept of seasonality and to learn that the food that grows in our garden changes with the seasons while grocery stores often have the same foods throughout the year. Students will sort FoodPrints recipes by season, enjoy sampling produce from the spring garden and write poems about a favorite vegetable. This lesson supports the DCPS 3rd grade ELA Unit Washington, D.C.: It’s Right Outside My Door and the Social Studies Unit Living Local: DC Geography.​
​

The purpose of this lesson is to learn about traditional fall foods and different ways to celebrate the harvest. Students will trace the geographical origins of different foods that we eat during the fall and explore a variety of harvest traditions. They will harvest fall produce from the garden and reflect on Native American perspectives on the natural world. This lesson supports the DCPS 4th grade ELA Unit Early America and the Social Studies Unit One Land, Many Perspectives: Native North America.