Lessons

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to ecosystems through an investigation of their school garden. Students will search for abiotic and biotic elements of the school garden ecosystem and discuss how these nonliving and living elements depend on each other. This lesson supports the DCPS 3rd grade ELA Unit The Living World and the Science Unit Environments and the Traits of Organisms.​

The purpose of this lesson is for students to develop an understanding of the process of photosynthesis and its importance to all living things. Students will act out photosynthesis, playing the roles of plants, sun, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients to understand the role of each of these elements. They will create a visual aid that explains photosynthesis and generate questions about the different types of leaves they observe in their surroundings.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to understand that all plants have characteristics that they inherit from their parents. Students will compare traits among pumpkins, search for plants with traits that support survival in the garden and imagine the offspring of a number of different plants based on the traits they observe.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to learn about soil and its different ingredients and properties, as well as what types of soil are best for growing food. Students will dissect soil to determine the health of different soils around their school.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to understand the value of eating food that is both nutritious and delicious.  Students will identify foods they consider to be nutritious and delicious and design a snack they would enjoy eating. They will also analyze the vitamins in a school lunch menu and search for the hidden sugars on nutrition labels.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to prepare for spring planting. They will measure the garden beds and read seed packets for spacing requirements in order to determine the number of seeds needed for square foot gardening. They will also practice calculating the area of a garden bed and use a calendar to determine when to plant seeds for a certain harvest date.