Lessons

The purpose of this lesson is for students to become informed and critical consumers of packaged food. They will read ingredient lists on a variety of packaged foods and use those lists to evaluate the claims and presentation on the front of the package. Students will also harvest ingredients for a FoodPrints recipe from the school garden and analyze a meal by carefully examining all of its ingredients.

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.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to study the different ways plants reproduce. They will learn about plant propagation and how tubers and bulbs clone themselves. They will also dissect seeds, bulbs, and tubers to investigate what they have in common that allows them to reproduce, and practice using succulent leaves to start new succulent plants.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to understand how to navigate recipes in order to successfully prepare a dish. Students will examine a variety of recipe formats, identify common elements and choose one format to write their own Recipe of Me. They will also illustrate a favorite recipe and explore sensory language by describing items from the garden. This lesson supports the DCPS 4th grade ELA Unit My Story. ​

The purpose of this lesson is for students to understand the health benefits of eating whole grains. Students will learn about the three main parts of these edible seeds and the nutrients each contains. They will grind their own whole wheat and white flour, conduct an experiment on the digestion of whole and refined grains, observe sprouted grains, and create an educational poster to teach younger students about the benefits of eating whole grains.  ​
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The purpose of this lesson is for students to calculate area and perimeter to determine how much mulch needs to be purchased for the school garden paths. Students will measure the area of the entire school garden, as well as that of each raised garden bed. They will use that information to calculate the area of the garden that needs to be mulched. They will also examine angles in the garden and prepare seed tape to be planted in the spring.