Lessons

The purpose of this lesson is for students to explore plant families. Students will study characteristics of different plant families and look for examples of each one in the school garden. They will create observational drawings that focus on the differences between plant families and use seed catalogues to create a poster of plant families. This lesson supports the DCPS 2nd Grade ELA Unit From Seed to Plant and the Science Unit Organisms – Needs and Interactions.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to investigate the different factors that influence the foods we choose to eat, including culture, peers, media, and advertising. Students will evaluate what influences their own food choices and create an advertisement for a nutritious food or ingredient. They will also work to clean the garden so that it can be an advertisement for its delicious and nutritious produce.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to practice making detailed scientific observations as part of the scientific process. Students will compare artistic and scientific drawings, create their own artistic and scientific drawings and models, and label an interactive map of the winter garden.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to investigate changes over time in food growing, farming, and storage technology. They will explore the evolution of technology by using three different tools to make flour, making their own butter, and working with different garden tools to compare efficiency. This lesson supports the DCPS 2nd grade ELA Unit Then and Now.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to study and appreciate food traditions around the world, including their own. Students will investigate foods that are prepared in different ways around the world and choose plants to grow in an international school garden. They will also analyze the different ingredients in a FoodPrints recipe.  This lesson supports the DCPS ELA Unit Exploring Our Neighbors: Canada and Mexico and the Social Studies Unit Salad Bowl or Melting Pot: America’s Story

The purpose of this lesson is for students to practice measuring skills in the garden. Students will estimate the length of the garden beds and use standard and non-standard units of measurement to compare the sizes of different garden beds. Students will then partition beds into square feet to prepare beds for spring planting.