Explore Native American gardening traditions with a lesson on companion planting. Based on the concept that certain crops grow better when planted near other specific crops, kids research the gardening method with background links and by...

Learn about George Washington Carver's important contributions to agriculture by studying the sweet potato. First graders read about the inventor's observations and prepare sweet potato slips for the class garden. Additionally, they...

Can your class predict the weather? Show them how they can come close with a lesson about creating weather instruments, including weather vanes, barometers, wind socks, anemometers, and thermometers. Kids research weather patterns and...

Explore the five senses with a kindergarten lesson on gardening. After taking a walk through the class garden, kids note what they see, hear, feel, taste, and smell, and then decide what is living in the garden versus what is not living....

How are vegetables beneficial to a healthy diet? Have kids examine different types of vegetables, such as zucchini, broccoli, and carrots, and determine which parts of the plant they represent. Then, they taste the vegetables as a...

After a reading of Lois Ehlert's Planting a Rainbow, class members plan a rainbow garden, research growing cycles of the fruits and vegetables in their section, and then plant and maintain the garden.

Sift through soil and learn about why it's important for organic processes. After discussing what makes up soil, such as the living organisms and what types of soil have more nutrients, kids sample layers of mulch and deeper soil to...

Seventy thousand different types of soil exist in the United States alone. Young scientists learn about the importance of soil to the food supply. They test soil for a variety of factors and determine the best place to set up a community...

Now it's time for all of the data collected in previous lessons to be applied to the design of a rain garden. This resource can only be used as part of the greater whole, since learners will need to rely on gathered knowledge in order to...

Watch scholars' understanding of fractions bloom. The resource presents a performance task where the fractions are equal parts from the same whole, and mathematicians must use them to solve problems about a grade level garden. Teachers...

Give plants the best place to grow. Given constraints on plant spacing, pupils design a raised bed garden using graph paper, then calculate the perimeter, surface area, and volume. They use the provided costs of lumber and soil to...

Finally, the day has arrived for introducing plants into the rain garden. If you have been following the entire unit, this will serve as a helpful guide for planting day. If you have not been using the previous lessons in this unit with...

The activity really comes to life within its intended unit on starting a rain garden. Working in groups, participants research native plants and coordinate them with the conditions in the designated garden area. Give the class access to...

Learn about dichotomous keys, plant identification, and how to care for the planet with a lesson that includes several hands-on and innovative activities. Kids go on a plant scavenger hunt and classify the plants that they find...

Teach your class the descriptive characteristics of soil. Provide information about particle size and a flow chart for assessing texture. Soil scientists then analyze samples and hypothesize which would be the best type for a rain...

Young scientists conduct a series of experiments to determine what type of soils produce the best results in roof-top gardens.

The slope of the land is an important feature when considering the erosion that will occur. In this resource, which is part of a rain garden unit, learners calculate the slope of the proposed garden site. Even if you are not planning a...

Create rows and rows of vegetables. Pupils use their knowledge of multiplication to find the number of vegetable shoots planted in a garden and ways to arrange the vegetables in the performance task. Teachers use the suggested unit...

Note the way that plants change during the season by adopting a plant on your school campus. After your class chooses their plant, they research the plant's needs, how it differs from other plants, find ways to support their plant's...

As part of a unit, this lesson familiarizes youngsters with components of a rain garden. They speculate about the role of an assigned component in contributing to a rain garden, and ultimately, in the health of the local watershed. Each...

Clever! Participants don square-foot cardboard shoes to mark out the rain garden plot that they have spent the last few weeks designing. In this way, they are practicing scale modeling as well! Note that this lesson is part of a unit,...

Take your blooming botanists on a spring walk without activating any allergies with a wildflower WebQuest. The link to the "Spring Wildflower Walk" is broken, but the correct link is attached here. You could also try the activity in the...

Listen, look, speak, and move are the routine steps of the English language development lessons found in a We Can Work It Out themed unit. Language proficiency is reinforced through picture cards, poems, and grand discussions about...

A project-based learning plan focuses on landscapes in the community. After identifying problems, such as dead trees or misplaced automatic sprinklers, learners design solutions, contact local organizations to fix the problems, and do...