welcome to The Second Grade In the Living Classroom Learning Lab!
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Second Grade
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The purpose of each lesson, Materials Needed, Advanced Prep, The Standards Each Address, as well as other information.
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Second Grade
fALL UNITS
nature detective
Purpose of this Lesson:
Being able to sit quietly and observe everything around one’s self is an important
skill in learning about nature and our relationship to it. As the children progress
through the activities in the Living Classroom Learning Lab, they will use their
senses of sight, sound, smell, and touch to understand the plants and animals that
make their home there. In this lesson, the children will deepen their observation
skills by refining their sense of hearing. They will be listening for the daytime
noises of the Living Classroom to compare them to the nighttime noises of their
backyard to answer the question: Why are the noises in my backyard different from
the ones I heard during the day at the Living Classroom? This question leads to a
discovery of nocturnal animals.
This lesson should be one of the first lessons in a new school year, so that children
can begin to understand how important observation is in knowing the environment
that surrounds them in their study of nature. We want the children to become
explorers of their natural world. As they experience this world, they begin to know
how intricate it is and how miraculous it is to see and understand the relationship
between the plants and animals in their world. They begin to ask themselves how
they are connected to the plants and animals. They begin to know that they have a
responsibility to help preserve this world because they are the ones who need to
care for it now and in the future especially with the environmental challenges of
habitat loss and climate change. We want them to know that the Earth is a beautiful
planet that needs their care.
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder…he needs the
companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the
joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”
- Rachel Carson 1962 Silent Spring
“We need to be very careful about how we define nature. In order to not to steel it
from our children, we have to do two things. First, we cannot define nature as that
which is untouched…nature has not been untouched for thousands of years. And it
excludes most of the nature that most people can visit and have a relationship with,
including only nature that children cannot touch. Which brings me to the second
thing we have to do which is that we have to let children touch nature. Because
that which is untouched, is unloved… The only way we are going to raise up a
generation of people who care about nature is by letting them touch nature.”
- Emma Marris
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
- Request volunteer for activity #1
- Print materials
Materials Needed:
- clip boards
- pencils
- scissors
- tape or safety pins
- Printed Materials (attached):
- Day Time & Night Time Sounds
- Sound Words
- Parent Letter
- Nature Detective Badge
- Books:
- Backyard One Small Square by Donald M. Silver
- Nighttime in My Backyard by Donald M. Silver
Length of Lesson:
Activity #1: Day Time Observation & Letter to Parents (45 min)
Activity #2: Comparison of Day Time & Night Time Sounds and Nature Detective
Badges (45 min)
Sequence of Activities in the Nature Detective Lessons:
Each grade in the Living Classroom Learning Lab Curriculum has a Nature
Detective lesson.
In Kindergarten, children start by beginning to understand, What is Nature? As
the children journey out to the Living Classroom, they use their senses of seeing,
hearing, smelling and feeling to record what they see that is nature, what they hear
that is nature, what they smell that is nature, and what they feel that is nature. With
these observations they develop a free verse poem. All grades will continue
observing nature using their senses. They demonstrate what they observe in
different writings.
First graders observe nature by being in their own circle plot and watching,listening, smelling and feeling objects there. They find a special object that
becomes their own treasure. They discuss and then decide, What makes an object
become a special treasure?
Second graders use their sense of hearing to compare the day sounds of the Living Classroom to the night sounds of their backyards. Do all animals have a special
sound? Do all humans have a special sound? Completing their homework earns
them a special Nature Detective badge for their top listening skills.
Third grade’s Nature Detective lesson intertwines with the Ecosystem lesson that studies decomposers and children search the Living Classroom to find a
decomposer. Their focus: We think that there are many people who do not know the
importance of a decomposer. How can we spread our knowledge of the importance
of decomposers? In answering their question, the third graders compose a
paragraph describing this importance which they will add to a poster they illustrate
to depict the significance of these animals.
Fourth Graders in the Nature Detective lesson concentrate on their sense of touch to know that plants have different textured leaves and different shaped stems as
they adapt to the environmental conditions and types of animals that are present in
their ecosystem. Once they have felt a textured leaf or a cubed shaped stem, they
take a picture of it and go out to find it in the Living Classroom. Taking note of the
plant’s environment, the question these fourth graders answer is: What adaptations
does this plant make to ensure its survival? In answering that question, they design
their own mega plant which is able to grow and sustain for countless years.
This is the sixth year the Fifth Graders have spent time in the Living Classroom
solely to experience nature. Assimilating all that they have experienced in these
five nature Detective lessons, the fifth grade question goes back to the beginning
question that they answered in kindergarten, What Is Nature? Once they become
part of nature again, the avenue opens for their response to the question What is
Nature? which is achieved in the poetic form of a diamante.
Vocabulary:
nocturnal - active at night
Background Information:
It is stated in the Next Generation Science Standards, Appendix H, that “science is
a way of explaining the natural world….students should develop an understanding
of the enterprise of science as a whole - the wondering, investigating,
questioning, data collecting, and analyzing.” Sitting in the Living Classroom
Learning Lab children take the first steps to becoming Nature Detectives -
observers of our natural world.
Reflecting on and discovering how things work in the natural world has shown
how many of our modern inventions came to be. From observing:
the flight of birds came all types of flight
the beaks of birds came the bullet train
the strength of spider’s silk came strong medical tape
how whales submerge came the submarine
how burrs stick came velcro
how bats fly and dolphins swim came sonar
how ducks swim with their webbed feet came flippers
how termites build their structure and beavers build dams came basics in
architecture
how nocturnal animals can see at night came night vision
how things fall came the Law of Gravitational Force
We need to become Nature Detectives!
In this lesson particularly, the children will concentrate on sharpening their
listening skills. They will tiptoe out to the gardens and without uttering a sound
themselves, they will listen for all the daytime sounds of the gardens. Later in the
evening, they will again listen to the sounds of the gardens, but now they will be in
their own backyards. This lesson is a silent lesson!
Standards Addressed in this Lesson:
Science and Engineering Practices in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
Understandings about the Nature of Science
Science is a way of knowing.
Science knowledge helps us know about the world.
Science addresses questions about the natural and material world.
Scientists study the natural and material world.
Scientists search for cause and effect relationships to explain natural events.
Scientists use drawings, sketches, and models as a way to communicate ideas.
Scientists ask Questions and Define Problems
Life Sciences > Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity
of life in different habitats.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards
Research to Build and Present Knowledge:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.7
Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on
a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.8
Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources
to answer a question.
Comprehension and Collaboration:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2
topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.3
Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify
comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic
or issue.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.4
Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant,
descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.6
Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to
provide requested detail or clarification.
Conventions of Standard English:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage
when writing or speaking.
Knowledge of Language:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.3
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading,
or listening.
Lesson
The Question for this lesson is: Why are the noises in my backyard different from the ones I heard in the day at the Living Classroom?
The Object of the lesson is for the children to understand that each of their senses is important to use when they are trying to figure out why certain things happen in nature.
The Product of the lesson is the child’s comparison of the day sounds in the Living Classroom to the night sounds of their backyards.
“Children, you have been learning how to be a Nature Detectives since kindergarten. You know that in order be great Nature Detectives we need to use all our senses so that we may be aware of all that is going on in nature. Today we are going to try to strengthen one of our senses, hearing. Can someone think of a sound word?”
Share ideas.
“This morning out in the gardens, we are going to be totally silent as we go out and all the time we are in the gardens, so we will be able to hear even a worm wiggle or a cricket rub its wings together. One of the ways we will hear animals out there is if we do not scare them away, so we need to creep out on tiptoe.”
“When you are at the Living Classroom, pick a spot where you are not near another child.
Stand, sit or kneel in your spot and listen intently – as hard as you can. You may hear the sounds of a car, truck, plane or even a train. Do not record them. Listen for the sounds of birds talking and flying, bunnies hopping and worms wiggling. When you hear a sound, record it. I hope you will be surprised with all you can hear.”
“Record the sounds that you hear today in the green circle only. The other circle you will use tonight.”
With clipboards, Day Time & Night Time Sounds sheet, Sound Words sheet and pencils, take the class outside without making a sound. Allow ten minutes for the observation. While outside share sounds that were heard.
“You did listen well class. Tonight you will listen for the sounds that happen in your backyard when it is dark and record them in the blue circle. I would like you to listen your hardest for these sounds. When you bring your listening sheet back and it is done very well, you will receive a badge that you can wear that tells the world that you are a true Nature Detective!”
“To give you some ideas of what could be in your backyard, let’s read Backyard – One Small Square.”
Read and discuss pages 22-23 from Backyard – One Small Square by Donald M. Silver.
Teacher models how to complete the Night Time Sounds in My Backyard letter to parents and children complete their own to take home along with their Day Time & Night Time Sound sheet.
Read and discuss Nighttime in My Backyard by Donald M. Silver. Then discuss the sounds children heard at night. Make the comparison between the night sounds and the day sounds.
“Why are they different?”
“We all have different fingerprints. Do you think that it is possible that we all have a different sound to our voice? Do you think that animals could have a different sound to each individual voice?”
That question should lead to the answer that there are different animals that are awake in the night or are nocturnal.
“Does anyone have anything they are still wondering about in what they heard in the Living Classroom Learning Lab or in their backyard?”
These wonderings could lead to further investigations.
When children are done sharing, pass out the Nature Detective Badges and the children cut them out and tape or safety pin them to themselves.
“You are officially Nature Detectives!”
“Thank you, children, for being such fantastic
listeners who are so willing to share your discoveries. Whenever you are out in our Living Classroom Learning Lab, remember to watch and listen silently and you will surely come to know some of the secrets that are hiding here.”
Ecosystem Study #4 Consumers
Purpose of this Lesson:
In first grade, the children were introduced to the first link in the food chain, the
producers, which are all the plants in our world. The purpose of this lesson is to extend
the food chain to its next component, the consumers. Both primary and secondary
consumers are the animals that eat plants. The purpose is also to bring the children to the
understanding that there is a life cycle in each ecosystem that keeps the ecosystem
healthy and to help the children understand their responsibility to our Earth’s ecosystems.
The children make their own food chain with producers and consumers in the Living
Classroom Learning Lab.
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
- Request volunteers for this lesson
- Print materials
Materials Needed:
- pencils
- colored pencils
- clipboards
- Printed Materials (attached):
- Food Chain
- Consumer Ecosystem Circle
- Book:
- Pass the Energy, Please! by Barbara Shaw McKinney
- Video:
- Bill Nye the Science Guy: Food Web
Length of Lesson:
Activity #1: Consumer Ecosystem Circle (60 min)
Background Information:
In a full and established Living Classroom Learning Lab garden, there are at four distinct
ecosystems: the Pollinator Garden, the Prairie, the Pond and the Vegetable Garden. An
ecosystem is a community of plants, animals and smaller organisms that live, feed,
reproduce and interact in the same area or environment. Within each ecosystem, there is a
special co-existence among its biotic, or living, components and abiotic, or non-living,
components. Each part of the system has a definite role to play to keep the ecosystem
healthy. Everything in an ecosystem is interconnected and interdependent. If one part of
the ecosystem is missing, the entire ecosystem falters.
All living thing need energy to live and grow. We get energy from the food we eat. Plants
receive their energy from the sun with the help of water that contains vital nutrients. A
food chain shows how energy is passed from one living thing to another. Food chains
begin with the sun sending energy to the plants, the producers. When the plants are eaten,
the energy is passed on to the animals that eat the plants, the consumers.
In the food chain
some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals. To complete the chain, the
third link in the process are the decomposers: fungi, bacteria and invertebrates. They take
the nutrients out of dead matter and bring it back to the plants, so the process can begin
again.
In Kindergarten, the children discover the differences that separate objects that are living,
or biotic, from those objects that are non-living, or abiotic. For an object to be living, it
needs food and it needs to be able to breathe, move and grow.
In first grade, the children were introduced to the first link in the food chain, the
producers, which are all the plants in our world. They get their energy from the sun. The
sun is the very first link in the food chain because nothing starts without it. With the help
of this energy from the sun, plants make their own food. Water and nutrients come into
the plant through its roots. Through its leaves, carbon dioxide from the air is brought into
the plant. The mixing of water, carbon dioxide and the energy from the sun forms a sugar
called glucose which is food for the plant. Glucose gives the plant energy to grow. Ninety
percent of all our food comes from plants.
The children in first grade have also found out that people, animals and plants all have
the same basic needs. All need sun, food, water, shelter, air and their own space. All need
to be in an appropriate place in an ecosystem to receive these basic needs.
This is the fourth lesson of an ecosystem study that continues into the next two grades,
culminating in the understanding of an ecosystem’s complete food chain and food web. It
follows the ecosystem lesson about producers and introduces the second link in the food
chain, consumers, which are those that eat the plants. This lesson ends with the children
completing an ecosystem circle displaying their knowledge of the first and second links
in the food chain. The second grade question becomes: If energy from the sun is stored
in the producers, how does this energy transmit to us and to the entire animal
kingdom?
Vocabulary:
food chain: a feeding chain which shows how food energy is passed from one
organism to another
producer: the first living part of the food chain that is the food source for animals
consumer: an organism that eats another organism
primary consumer:the first organism that will eat the producer, the plants
secondary consumer: the organism that will eat the primary consumer
tertiary consumers: a carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other
carnivores; an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers
omnivores: an animal that eats plants and other animals
herbivores: an animal that eats only plants
carnivore: an animal that eats only other animals
photosynthesis: the process by which plants make their own food using carbon dioxide, water and sunlight
Web of Life: a succession of organisms in an ecological community that are linked to each other through the transfer of energy and nutrients
glucose: a simple sugar which is an important energy source in living organisms and is acomponent of many carbohydrates
Standards Addressed in this Lesson:
Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
LS1.A: Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts. Plants have different parts (roots, stems, leaves,
flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow. (1-LS1-1)
Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions
in growth, survival, behavior and reproduction. (4-LS1-1)
LS1.B: Growth and Developments of Organisms
Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or
from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow. (K-LS1-1)
Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms
are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat
the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead
organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as
“decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the
soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.
A healthy ecosystem in one in which multiple species of different types are each able to
meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage
the balance of an ecosystem.
(5-LS2-1)
LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals and microbes as these
organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases and water from the environment and
release waste matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment. (5-LS2-1)
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
The energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants
in the chemical process that forms plant matter from air and water. (5-PS3-4)
Connections to the Nature of Science:
Science Is a Way of Knowing
Science knowledge helps us know about the world.
Scientists study the natural and material world.
Science investigations begin with a question.
Scientists use different ways to study the world.
Scientists use drawings, sketches and models as a way to communicate ideas.
Lesson
Essential question:
If energy from the sun is stored in the producers (all the plants in the world), how does this energy transmit to us and to the entire animal kingdom?
The objective is for the children to know that the second link in the food chain are the consumers, the animals that eat the plants and who then get eaten by other animals and use this understanding to complete an ecosystem circle illustrating the producers and consumers of a garden in the Living Classroom Learning Lab.
VIDEO COMING SOON
“I hope you can remember way back in kindergarten, we discovered the difference between something that is living and something that is non-living. A living thing can
breathe, move, grow and it needs food. Then in first grade, we learned about our basic needs. Do you remember the chant?
Our basic needs must be you see
for animals, plants, you and me
air, water, food, shelter, sunlight and space
and we need them all in one place.”
Display the Food Chain.
We also began to discover the food chain. What is it that gives its energy to the plants to begin the entire food chain? That’s right, the sun. The first link then is the producers which are all the plants that make their own food by taking in the sun light from the sun, the water and nutrients from the Earth and the carbon dioxide that
we, all living things, breathe out.
The producers give us oxygen and food. We are going to continue learning about the food chain by discovering the second link in the chain, the consumers. A consumer is an organism that eats another organism. They are the beings that eat the plants. A food chain shows how each living thing gets food and how nutrients and energy are passed from creature to creature. Food chains begin with plant-life and continue with animal-life. Some animals eat plants. They are called herbivores. Some animals eat other animals. They are called carnivores. There are also other animals that eat both plants and animals. They are called omnivores. All of these animals form the third link in the food chain, the consumers. The first animal to eat a plant is the primary consumer which is a herbivore. When that animal is eaten, the animal that eats it is called the secondary consumer and is a carnivore.”
Read and show the images on page 12-14 from Pass the Energy, Please!
“Look at the mouse eating the grass or seed. The little mouse is the first animal in the food chain to eat the plant and becomes the primary consumer. Look who is sneaking into the picture. It is a snake. If he is able to eat that mouse, then the snake becomes the secondary consumer. There is someone that would thoroughly enjoy the snake. It is the owl. If the owl eats the snake, it receives energy from the snake and becomes the third consumer, the tertiary consumer.”
“The first animal to eat the plant, the primary consumer, receives food and energy from that plant. The secondary consumer is the larger animal that will eat the smaller animal and when it eats it, the energy is passed on to this secondary consumer. And the food chain continues passing energy all the way to our largest consumers, the tertiary consumers.”
Give these examples and state which animal is the primary consumer, which is the secondary consumer and which is the tertiary consumer.
Grass Producer
Bunny primary consumer
fox secondary consumer
mountain lion tertiary consumer
Take some examples from the children.
producer
Primary
secondary consumer
tertiary consumer
“In a few minutes we will be going out to our Living Classroom Learning Lab to complete an ecosystem circle of a garden with the producers and the consumers that live in that ecosystem. You completed an ecosystem circle in first grade. We are learning more parts in the energy cycle, so your ecosystem circle grows with each part of the cycle that you learn.”
“I would like you to predict what consumers you may see out in our Living Classroom.”
Share ideas.
“If we are quiet, we may be able to see bunnies, birds, bees, butterflies, squirrels, caterpillars, water striders at the pond, praying mantises. We have to be very quiet!”
Display the Consumer Ecosystem Circle.
“Take a few minutes to look at all the ecosystems when we go out: the Butterfly Garden, the Prairie, the Pond and the Vegetable Garden. Decide which one you would like to study and draw.”
“On the inside circle, draw the ecosystem you have picked. Take your time using your best drawing skills. On the outside circle draw and write the names of the producers in your ecosystem. These will be on the bottom of your circle. On one side of your circle, draw and write the primary consumers of your ecosystem and on the other side of your circle, draw or write the secondary consumers of your ecosystem. Try to draw all the animals that you can see or the animals that you know would be here if we all were not out here.”
“Let’s go quietly.”
Give all the children an ecosystem circle, clipboard, pencil or colored pencils and send them quietly on their way. Have children tell each other about their ecosystem as they finish. If some of the children in the group have the same ecosystem, have them discuss any differences and similarities they may have found.
Watch the first 5 minutes of Bill Nye the Science Guy: Food Web and discuss the following questions.
“Did you find a consumer today?”
“Pick out one organism in your ecosystem and describe what it needs to survive. Could that organism survive on its own?”
“What is the importance of consumers?”
“How do we as humans fit into the food chain?”
“How does the food chain impact endangered species?” “Could a herbivore be on the top of a food chain?”
“Could you now draw a diagram showing the passing of energy? What should start our diagrams?”
“Are there still some wonderings you would like to explore?”
Harvesting Seeds & Making Seed Balls
Purpose of this Lesson:
The purpose of this lesson is to show the children that the life cycle of plants is
perpetuated by their ability to make seeds.
The current second graders planted flower seeds three to four months ago. Their seeds
grew to plant, which when pollinated, have produced exquisite vibrant flowers. With the
days and nights getting colder with the onset of Fall, the flowers will begin to wither and
die. During this time, their flower heads will be producing the seeds to replant next
Spring. so the entire plant cycle can begin again. One question for this lesson becomes
What is the complete life cycle of a plant? How will the seeds from these flowers and
grasses be able to move away from their parent plant to begin this cycle again? The
second question for this lesson then becomes How do seeds move?
It is important to reiterate how necessary plants are to us. The second graders learned this
Fall that flowering plants are a source of food for some animals. Plants breathe in carbon
dioxide and exhale oxygen for us to breathe. They hold soil in place and they can even
clean our water. They are beautiful and they can make us feel happy to see them.
Therefore, we need to take good care of them and help them find places where they can
begin this life cycle again.
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
- Request volunteers for this lesson
- Set up supplies to make the seed balls outside
- Prepare mixture for the making of seed balls
- Label the resealable quart bags to collect the seeds
- Set up the cookie sheets:
- Label with permanent marker separate cookie sheets covered with wax paper
Prairie and Pollinator - Place plant markers in the Prairie and Pollinator Gardens next to the plants from
which the children will collect their seeds
Here’s what to do:
1. Line cookie sheet with wax paper. Label with the name of a garden: Prairie or
Pollinator Garden. Place each cookie sheet on a separate table.
2. In the large containers, mix the appropriate amount of clay and potting soil
together.
3. Label the individual resealable quart storage bags:
1/2 of the bags labeled Prairie
1/2 of the bags labeled Pollinator
4. Divide the mixture in the containers into the individual resealable quart storage bags
5. Using eye droppers or small cups, let each child slowly drip water into the mixture.
6. Knead the mixture.
7. Check to see if the mixture will form a ball of a well blended paste. If the mixture is
still too hard, repeat the above steps.
8. When you are able to form a ball of the blended material without it falling apart, give
each child the appropriate seeds from the appropriate garden to add to their bag
9. Mold the mixture into small 1 inch in diameter balls and place each on the
appropriately labeled cookie sheet that has been covered with wax paper.
10. Allow balls to dry in a sunny window for at least one day.
11. When the seed balls have dried:
1. Place one each child made in brown bags and keep them in a cool place until next
Spring when they will be planted in the gardens.
2. Put one in a bag and tie it with a ribbon and children can give them to their family.
Seed Balls make great gifts!
Seed Ball Recipe:
Makes 8 to 10 seed balls - each child should make two
✦ 1/2 oz. of one set of seeds: seeds from the Prairie or seeds from the Pollinator
Garden
✦ 3 1/2 oz. dry organic potting soil
✦ 1 1/2 oz. powered red pottery clay
✦ water
Materials Needed:
- one dried out flower head (zinnia) from the garden, one tip of a grass (Big Blue
Stem that needs to have its seeds still there) from the Prairie and a pepper cut in half
with all of its seeds - all to be used for demonstration - plant markers to identify the plants in the Pollinator Garden where second graders will
obtain the seeds - a box of resealable quart bags - one to two bags for each group to collect the seeds.
The bags should be labeled with the name of the seed and the garden they were found. - permanent markers to label the bags with the name of the seeds to be placed in the bag
- scissors to cut the stem holding the seeds
- organic potting soil
- water
- cups to hold water
- eye droppers or small cups for children to add water to bags
- powdered red pottery clay
- measuring spoons and cups - see Seed Ball Recipe
- large containers for mixing the clay and potting soil together
- resealable quart storage bags - an individual storage bag for each child
- resealable gallon storage bags: bags labeled Prairie and Pollinator for the groups that
will go to the Prairie and Pollinator Garden, respectively to collect seeds - cookie sheets for drying the seed balls
- wax paper to line the cookie sheets
- labeled for Prairie garden and for Pollinator Garden
- buckets for the children to wash the dirt off their hands
- paper towels for the children to dry their hands
- recyclable materials for engineering challenge design and build
- Printed Materials (attached):
- Planting Experiment
- My Flower Seed
- Rap of the Life Cycle of a Seed
- How to Paragraph
- Final Copy of Paragraph
- Final Copy of How to Make a Seed Ball
- Zinnia & Grass
- milkweed seed opening and image of seed balls
- Books:
- Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell
- The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
- Seeds Move by Robin Page
- Flip, Float, Fly by JoAnn Early Macken
- The Greatest Power by Demi
- Videos
- A Bee Friendlier Flower Bombing
- Seed Song - How Seeds Move - Seed Dispersal - Mr. R.'s Songs for Teaching
- Seed Launching Backpack, a 3D-printed, pollinator-friendly invention
Sequence of Lessons Showing the Life Cycle of a Seed:
First Grade:
Seeds to Seedling in the First Grade Classroom:
This lesson is the beginning of a series of four first grade lessons and one second grade
lesson that will show the life cycle of a flower seed.
Essential questions: Can seeds germinate in soil, sand and water? and When would a
plant need shelter?
Children learn that from the flower seed they plant in the soil in the classroom a plant
will grow and continue to grow once it is planted in a garden, if they give it water and
light.
Making a Seed Tape:
Essential Question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?
Children learn that a flowering plant needs the right amount of space to grow.
Planting in the Pollinator Garden:
Essential Question: Why are flowers important?
Children will see the beauty they have added to the garden with their flowering plants as
well as the food they will be providing for the pollinators of the gardens.
Second Grade:
Harvesting Seeds and Making Seed Balls to Replenish the Prairie and Pollinator
Gardens
Essential Questions: What is the life cycle of a flowering plant? and How do seeds move?
Children will understand the complete life cycle of a flowering seed from germination to
growth to withering and seed reproduction as well as the many ways a seed can move.
Length of Lesson:
Activity #1: Observe Results of Zinnia Plants from Spring Planting (45 min)
Activity #2: Dramatization of the Life Cycle of a Seed (45 min)
Activity #3: Harvesting Seeds & Making Seed Balls (60 min)
Activity #4: Writing (30 min)
Activity #5: Engineering Challenge (45 min)
Vocabulary:
The first vocabulary words concern the anatomy of
a flower and are only an introduction to the parts of a flower.
stigma: the top part in the center of a flower which receives the pollen
stamen: the part of a flower that produces pollen
pistil: the seed-producing part of a flower consisting of
stigma, style and ovary
ovary: the part of a flower where seeds are formed (ovule)
sepal: One of the usually green leaflike structures composing the outermost part of a
flower. Sepals often enclose and protect the bud and may remain after the fruit forms.
pollen: the very fine usually yellow dust that is produced by a plant and that is carried to
other plants of the same kind, usually by wind or insects so that the plants can produce
seeds.
pollination: the transfer of pollen from a stamen to a pistil of a flower or from a male
cone to a female cone
pod: a seed case
seed coat: the outside covering of a seed
dormant: slept undisturbed - not actively growing
germinate: cause to sprout or grow
germination: the seed coat breaks open and the seed begins to grow when the sun shines
and warms the ground
secretive: does not reveal itself too quickly
minerals: organic food which can be present in the soil
photosynthesis: the process where plants make their own food
currents: the flow of water or air
embryo: baby plant
cotyledon: a plant’s seed leaves
monocots: seeds with one seed leaf, like corn
dicots: seeds with two seed leaves, like beans
pantomime: conveyance of a story by bodily or facial movements especially in drama or
dance
Background Information:
Plants propagate their species by making seeds. They then depend on animals for
pollination and on animals, wind and water to move their seeds around. Once the children
look at the plants in the fall and see that many of the flowers in the Pollinator Garden
have turned to seeds and that the ends of the grasses in the Prairie have also turned to
seed, they will understand how plants are able to reproduce.
The children will help to propagate the plants by harvesting the seeds of the plants,
mixing the seeds into a ball composed of organic potting soil, powdered red pottery clay
and water and replanting this seed ball back into the garden. There the seed ball will wait
until the proper time to open and allow the seeds within it to germinate. The children will
be helping to add new plants to the gardens.
A Short History of Seed Balls:
The Ancient Egyptians are thought to have made seed balls to seed the banks of the Nile
after annual floods. In the 1700s, West African slaves were brought into the Carolinas to
cultivate rice using the seed ball method they had learned in Africa. The seed balls
protected the seeds from being eaten by birds and from floating away when the fields
flooded. After WWII, Japan used seed balls to help with the production of food. Today,
there are companies where you can order almost all plant seeds in seed balls.
Standards Addressed in this Lesson:
Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
LS1.A Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts that they use to perform daily functions.
1-LS1-1: Plants have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them
survive and grow.
4-LS1-1: Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve
various functions in growth, survival, behavior and reproduction.
LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms:
Organisms reproduce, either sexually or asexually and transfer their genetic information
to their offspring. Plants reproduce in a variety of ways, sometimes depending on animal
behavior and specialized features for reproduction.
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Food provides animals with the materials and energy they need for body repair, growth,
warmth and motion. Plants acquire material for growth chiefly from air, water and
process matter and obtain energy from sunlight, which is used to maintain conditions
necessary for survival.
and
LS2.A Independent Relationships in Ecosystems
Plants acquire material for growth chiefly from air, water and process matter and
obtain energy from sunlight, which is used to maintain conditions necessary for
survival.
Plants depend on water and light to grow and also depend on animals for pollination to
move their seeds around.
K-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
The Needs of Living Things
Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans)
need to survive.
Understandings about the Nature of Science in the Next Generation Science Standards for
K-2:
Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World
Science Is a Way of Knowing
Scientists study the natural and material world
Science knowledge helps us know about the world.
Science investigations begin with a question.
Scientists use different ways to study the world.
Scientists use drawings, sketches and models as a way to communicate ideas.
District 181 Science Standards
3.SC.3 Understanding: Students will describe that organisms have unique and diverse life
cycles which follow the same pattern.
3.SC.3.1 Students who develop understanding will be able to develop a model to describe
that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have common birth, growth,
reproduction and death.
Common Core Writing Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they
introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points and provide a concluding
statement or section.
Lesson
Essential Questions:
What is the life cycle of a plant? and How do seeds move?
The Objectives:
- children are to understand the complete life cycle of a seed from germination, growth, withering and seed reproduction
- children are to understand that there are many ways a seed can be dispersed to find a nesting spot where it will be able to grow again
- they will display their knowledge by producing seed balls and composing a rap or a paragraph expressing their experience making seed balls
Read and discuss Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell.
Before Harvesting Day, second graders will observe the experiment they created and planted last Spring. The purpose of the experiment is to see what is the best way to plant zinnias:
- in seed tapes where children measured the space between each seed
- planted three in a hole
- planted in a furrow
When children observe the results, and if all went well over the summer and nothing befell the zinnias, the experiment should show that the zinnias in the seed tape grew best because plants need space.
Children complete their Planting Experiment
and My Flower Seed sheet.
The beginning activity for this lesson is best done outside or in the gym. This entire lesson could take place outside. If you are in a classroom, move all furniture so there would be good open space. Have fun with this part of the lesson, but be firm about the rules of the activity – voices off and all actions done slowly.
The materials needed at the beginning of the lesson are:
- chart paper to record the children’s comments and observations
- music player
Read and discuss The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.
“Today, you are going to use your imagination and pretend that you are a seed that turns into a plant. You are going to pretend that it is the end of winter and the beginning of Spring. At this time, you are a seed. The seed is buried in the ground and as the soil all around it begins to get warm, You, the seed, begin to wake up. It gets warmer and you poke your head out of the ground to see the beautiful sun. As you begin to grow a little, the rain comes along and you begin to grow much faster. You have a choice to blossom into beautiful flowering plants or to grow into a tall stately grass. As the days and nights start to become colder in the Fall, you start to wither and die. All of you have formed seeds which will drop from your flower or sheath to begin the life cycle of the seed all over again.”
Show the zinnia and grass.
“Does anyone wonder about anything that we are going to do?”
Answer wonderings and then begin. Play soft music in the background.
“To concentrate on what you are becoming, this activity is going to be done in pantomime. Pantomime is an art form where the person acts out an activity silently and in slow motion. To begin please find a space to stand in where you cannot touch another person if you extended your arms out from your sides an
turned in a circle. Also remember, children, that this activity is silent. Please be respectful for all of us during this activity and be the best plant you can be.”
“Let’s begin. Become a tiny seed in the dark soil.”
Pause.
“You begin to feel the soil becoming warm. Start poking your head out of the ground to see the warmth of the sun.”
Pause.
“The rain comes and the grasses feel your stem growing tall – trying to reach that warm sun. Reach for the sky grasses. All the flowering plants can feel your leaves coming out. As you grow, buds are forming and soon that bud opens into a brightly colored flower.
You are smiling in the sunlight.”
Pause.
“Time passes. Listen, the cooler wind is blowing. The days and nights are getting colder. The grasses are swaying in the wind. Their seeds are being carried away with the wind. One of its seeds is floating to the ground. It has found a crack in the soil and it is finding a home there.”
“That beautiful flower is slowly withering. Your petals are dropping and in the middle are many, many seeds. The seeds are dropping. The seeds have just found a nice place to become buried for the winter.”
“All your seeds will go to sleep now until the warmth of the Spring begins to wake them up so the entire cycle can begin again.”
Applause from the teacher and everyone stands up.
“You have just pantomimed the complete life cycle of a plant. Make a circle with your arms. Start at the bottom, a seed. Move your arm half way to the top.
You are growing. At the top, you are a flower or the top of a grass. Come half way down and your seeds are leaving the plant. Come back to the beginning of the circle and there is a new seed to start the cycle all over again!”
“Here is a question for you that I would like you to think about for a few minutes. Then I will ask you for your ideas that we will keep track of on this chart paper. How do seeds move?”
Give the children some thinking time and then start charting their answers. Some of their answers could be: wind, people on their clothes, birds and squirrels, rain, falling off the plant right onto the ground below, plant bobbing in the wind.
We have quite a few good ideas here. Let’s watch this video about seeds moving.”
Watch video Seed Song – How Seeds Move – Seed Dispersal.
“Isn’t that a great song! Let’s play it again and get the chorus.”
They are moving all around. Seeds, seeds
They are cruising all through town. Seeds, seeds, seeds They are moving all around. Seeds, seeds They got to get away from their plants and trees. They are moving all around. Seeds, seeds
They are cruising all through town. Seeds, seeds, seeds
They are moving all around. Seeds, seeds
They got to get away by air or land or sea.
“Here is the inside of a pepper plant with so many seeds. I would like you to remember back to the fall of your first grade year and what we did with the vegetable seeds we harvested. We decided to let them dry over the winter months and plant them again in the vegetable garden in the Spring. You are helping the seeds to move.”
Show the picture of the milkweed and its seeds.
Read and discuss Seeds Move by Robin Page.
“Before we move on, tell me how do these seeds move?”
The following will be used for the purpose of demonstrating how plants produce more seeds to keep their species alive:
- one blooming zinnia flower
- one dried out flower head (zinnia) from the garden,
- one stem of a grass (Big Blue Stem that needs to have its seeds still there – taken from the Prairie)
- a pepper cut in half with all of its seeds
- a seed ball
“I would like to show you another way that you could help seeds from our flowers in the Pollinator Garden and grasses from our Prairie garden move. It is called a seed ball. It is made by putting seeds into clay adding some water and rolling it all into a ball. Come Spring, you will take them out to the gardens and push them into the ground so they can germinate when the rains come and grow into another beautiful plant or grass. We are going to make the seed balls today.”
Watch video A Bee Friendlier Flower Bombing.
“You will be harvesting seeds from either the Prairie or the Pollinator Gardens. Let me show you how to do it. We will cut off the tops of many of our grasses in the Prairie.”
Show the children seeds contained in the top of the
grass.
“Pull the seeds out from the stem into the bag you
will be holding.”
Show the children the Zinnia flower head and then cut open the pepper to show all the seeds inside a fruit.
“If you are in the Pollinator Gardens take a flowe head and start pulling it apart. You will begin to notice that there are seeds there. Put those seeds into the bag you are holding.”
Take the children out to the Living Classroom to continue the directions and demonstrate.
“When we have collected as many seeds as we can, we will make the seed balls. Come to the table that has the cookie sheet that is marked with the garden where you picked your seeds. On the table will be individual resealable bags with dirt and clay in it. One of the bags is for you. Using an eye dropper or small cup, add a few droplets of water to your mixture, close your bag, knead the mixture, and then see if you can form a ball with this mixture. You may have to add a few more droplets of water if the mixture is still too hard. Knead it again. When you feel you will be able to make a ball out of your mixture, add some seeds that you picked to your bag. Then roll the seed mixture into a ball about one inch thick. If your plant was in the Prairie, your seed ball will go on the cookie sheet marked Prairie. This is the same for the Pollinator Garden. Your seed ball will go on the Pollinator Garden cookie sheet.”
“Questions, anyone? Let’s harvest seeds and make seed balls!”
Divide the children in groups to collect seeds with a volunteer, if available. Once they have collected seeds, they find the cookie sheet labeled with the matching garden. Now, they are ready to make seed balls. Be sure to keep the seeds from each garden separate.
“Your seed balls need to harden, so we will bring them in and put them near a sunny window. Next Spring, you will plant them back into the gardens and the life cycle of a plant will start allover again!”
“Before we go in, everyone pantomime the life cycle of a plant”
“You have done a splendid job today.”
Read and discuss The Greatest Power by Demi.
“I would like to read a very special book. It is The
Greatest Power by Demi. Just sit back and listen.”
“So, children, what is the Greatest Power?”
For this writing activity, children can choose which way they would like to show their knowledge.
“Write about the life cycle of a seed in a rap. Example:
My name is seed ball and I’m here to say
I help plant seeds in a special way Mix me with mud and dirt and clay…
or
Write a paragraph on one of the following topics:
Making a seed ball is fun. Making a seed ball is messy.
Seed balls are easier to make than I
thought.”
Children will write, edit and can use the Final Copy of Paragraph to display their best work.
Children devise a seed launching system for dispersing seeds or seed balls.
Read and discuss Flip, Float, Fly by JoAnn Early Macken.
Watch video Seed Launching Backpack, a 3D-printed, pollinator-friendly invention.
Then have children come up with their own design on paper. Teachers can choose to supply recyclable materials for the children to use to build their inventions or have them take their designs to build at home.
Lesson adapted from NASA’s Climate Kids
wINTER uNITS
Private Eye Observation
Purpose of this Lesson:
The purpose of the Living Classroom is for children to learn, through hands-on
experiences, the intricacies, interdependencies, and mysteries that exist in
nature. The lessons guide the children to understand the importance of being
caretakers of the Earth in order to preserve present and future ecosystems.
The children will be using the Private Eye Loupe in this lesson. They have
observing different specimens from nature and everyday articles with the Private
Eye Loupe since kindergarten. We repeat this experience throughout school
because as the children grow so should their powers of observation also grow.
With the Private Eye and the questions we ask, the children begin to think by
analogy which in turn will improve their writing, creativity, and problem solving
abilities. The more they engage in these types of activities, the better prepared they
will be in developing “creativity and critical thinking in science, writing, art, math,
and more.” (The Private Eye Project)
Advanced Teacher Preparation: preparation time is about 20 minutes
Reserve a time for the lesson on the Google Calendar.
The classroom teacher may wish to obtain the volunteer parents for this lesson, or
the classroom teacher may ask our parent liaison to the Living Classroom to
obtain parents for the lesson.
Materials Needed:
26 Private Eye loupes
Samples of objects to observe under the jeweler’s loupe are in the Private Eye Kit
Other examples to be used: leaves, flowers, rocks, moss, vegetables, (to be
brought in by teacher and parent volunteers)
Original/laminated Private Eye Recording Sheet (2 question recording sheet)
Original/laminated Private Eye Recording Sheet (3 question recording sheet)
Original/laminated hand out of describing words for parents
Original/laminated handout of questions for parent recorders to ask the children
they are with to elicit more responses from the children
4 to 5 photocopied, mounted, and laminated parent handouts
Presentation system
5 laminated pictures of a microscopic image: salt, snow, a human eyelash, cake
sprinkles, the leg of a gecko
12 Zeiss Lens Cleaning Wipes to clean the loupes
Length of Lesson: approximately 60 minutes or two 30 to 40 minute lessons
20 to 30 minutes to answer the 3 questions on the Private Eye recording sheet
and make an analogy
20 to 30 minutes to answer the 3 questions about the pictures of the microscopic
images and make analogy or simile
Leadership:
The classroom teacher will teach this lesson with the help of 2 parent
volunteers to record the children’s ideas.
Vocabulary:
loupe lo͞op/
a small magnifying glass used by jewelers and watchmakers
a simile — is a figure of speech in which things different in kind or quality are
compared by the use of the word like or as.
analogy — a comparison of two things based on their being alike in some way
“in focus” — clear
“out of focus” — blurry
Background Information:
The Private Eye piece is similar to a “jeweler’s loupe” and magnifies an object 5
times. Putting two of the eye pieces together will give a magnification of 10 times.
The children will use the Private Eye loupe to observe specimens that are included
with the kit.
As the children look through their “loupe," they will be asked to respond to
questions. These questions: “What does it look like?”, “What does it remind you
of?” and “What else could it be?” are the basis for thinking by analogy, simile and
metaphor. After the children have answered these questions, they will begin to
think metaphorically by developing analogies which is one of the most often used
techniques in descriptive writing.
Standards Addressed in this Lesson:
Science and Engineering Practices in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
Asking Questions and Defining Problems and Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Lesson
To begin the lesson, you will need to model what they will be doing.
Place an object on the presentation system and ask:
“What does it look like?” or “What do you see?”
Pass out the Private Eye recording sheet. Using samples from the kit and ones that have been brought into the classroom, have the children begin answering the first question,”What does it look like?” (You can also decide on which Private Eye recording sheet to use – the Private Eye recording sheet with 2 questions or the Private Eye recording sheet with 3 questions.)
“I want you to become Private Eyes today. I am giving to you a Private Eye recording sheet and an object to look at and describe in our first circle titled “What does it look like?” Think of as many words as you can to describe your object to someone who cannot see it. Let’s try for 10 fantastic words.”
After the children have had time to think, make groups of 3 or 4 children and have the children tell each other their ideas. Then let the children decide on one object from their groups recording sheets to make an analogy.
Example:
The butterfly’s wing an ocean of colorful petals from a flower.
looks like
Allow time to view some of the analogies.
“Now, let’s think about “Describe what else it reminds you of”. Really use your imagination on this question and try to get 5 things the image reminds you of.”
If you decided to use the recording sheet with 3 questions, then ask: “What else could it be?” Now, we are really thinking!” (Since this would be the first time this question
has been asked, allow a little more thinking time.)
SPRING UNITS
Six Secret pollinators
Purpose of this Lesson:
The purpose to this lesson is to know the remaining primary pollinators in our
country. During the Pollination lesson in Kindergarten, the children learned the
most prolific pollinators in the Midwest are the bee, the hummingbird, and the
butterfly. Now, they will learn that some of the animals that we sometimes consider
to be not the nicest or the most loved animals are pollinators that we need. These
pollinators are: bats, ants, beetles, flies, moths, and wasps. They are “secret”because not many people into they are
pollinators!
The questions for this lesson become:
Are there any other pollinators
besides the bee, the butterfly, and
the hummingbird? Why should we
care about pollinators? How can we
help pollinators? How can we share
our knowledge with others?
Advanced Teacher Preparation: (5 minutes)
Reserve a time for the lesson on the Google Calendar.
Materials Needed:
bee puppet and two artificial flowers
Posters of :
Cross-pollination
The Monarch Highway
Pollinators and Seeds,
The Wonders of Discovery + coloring page
original/laminated pages to be shown on the presentation system of:
The Monarch Butterfly and What It Likes to Pollinate,
The Chocolate Tree and Its Pollinators
coloring page from The Wonders of Discovery
photo of each pollinator: the 6 “Secret” pollinators with the addition
of the bee, butterfly, and hummingbird
photocopied coloring page for each second grader
chart paper to list children’s responses to questions
A Beetle Is Shy - a book by Dianna Hutts Aston & Sylvia Long
CD Disney Nature ‘Wings of Life”
Length of Lesson:
Part 1: review of pollination: 15 minutes
Part 2: learning the six “Secret” pollinators and “Why Do We
Care?” 30 minutes without video segments to 45 minutes with video
segments
Part 3: brochure (45minutes)
Part 4: cinquains: (30 minutes)
Part 5: Think About It Engineering Challenge & Presentations (1 hour 30 minutes)
Leadership:
The classroom teacher will teach this lesson.
Sequence of Lessons Relating to Pollination:
Kindergaten:
Essential Questions: Why are there so many bees, butterflies and hummingbirds in
our Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens?and Why should we care if pollination
occurs?
Children survey the plants in the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens to assess
that there are sufficient plants for the pollinators and they tell parents why these
pollinators are important when they take a walk through the gardens with their
family.
Second Grade:
Essential Questions: Are there more pollinators besides the bee, the butterfly, and
the hummingbird? and How can we share our knowledge with others?
Children learn about the Six “Secret” pollinators and recognize the importance all
pollinators.
Vocabulary:
pollen: a mass of tiny particles in the anthers of a flower that fertilize the seeds
and usually appear as fine yellow dust — is the substance that causes plants
to form seeds. New plants then can grow from the seeds. Both flowering
plants and conifers (plants that grow seeds inside cones) make pollen. A
grain of pollen is so tiny that it is best viewed through a microscope.
pollinate: to transfer or carry pollen from the male stamen of a flower to the female pistil of the same or another flower or from a male cone to a female
cone - to mark or smudge with pollen
pollination: the transfer of pollen from a stamen to a pistil of a flower or from a male cone to a female cone Encyclopedia Britannica has an excellent article on pollination with short videos that
show the pollination by bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, bats, hummingbird wasps,
beetles, and wind. https://www.britannica.com/science/pollination
metamorphosis: a typically marked and more or less abrupt developmental
change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or a frog)
occurring subsequent to birth or hatching (the metamorphosis of caterpillars into
butterflies)
Encyclopedia Britannica has another excellent article about metamorphosis with a 5
minute video that shows the complete metamorphosis of the butterfly.
https://www.britannica.com/science/metamorphosis
herbs: plants with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, medicinal purposes, or for fragrances;
host plant:a plant upon which an organism (such as an insect or mildew) lodges and subsists.
nectar:the saccharine secretion of a plant, which attracts the insects or birds that pollinate the flower.
nectar plant: the plant where an animal will come to get nourishment
tentacle: a slender, flexible limb or appendage in an animal, especially around the
mouth of an invertebrate, used for grasping or moving about, or bearing sense
organs.
pupa:life stage in the development of insects exhibiting complete metamorphosis that occurs between the larval and adult stages. During pupation, larval structures break down, and adult structures such as wings appear for the first time.
chrysalis: a moth or butterfly at the stage of development when it is covered by a hard case, before it becomes an adult insect with wings
photosynthesis: synthesis of chemical compounds with the aid of radiant energy and especially
light especially :formation of carbohydrates from carbon dioxide
and a source of hydrogen (such as water) in the chlorophyll-containing cells (as of
green plants) exposed to light
anther: the part of a stamen that produces and contains pollen and is usually borne on a stalk
stamen: the pollen-producing male organ of a flower that consists of an
anther and a filament
stigma: the usually apical part of the pistil of a flower which receives the pollen grains and on which they germinate
Background Information:
In the kindergarten lesson, Pollination, the children learned about the co-evolution
of three animals: bees, monarch butterflies, and hummingbirds and the plants that
they would pollinate.
These three pollinators are the main pollinators throughout the US, but there are
others: bats, ants, beetles, flies, moths and wasps…The “Secret” pollinators
and unusual pollinators like the Blue-tailed Day Gecko, the Honey
Possum, lizards and many small mammals. You may ask why we call
them “secret” pollinators. The reason is that most people do not
realize that these animals are pollinators.
These unusual pollinators will be mentioned here ~~the Honey
Possum, gecko, and Black-and-White Ruffled Lemur, but they are
not part of the six “Secret”pollinators of North America.
Here are two interesting facts about pollinators:
The Black-and-White Ruffed Lemurs are known
as the world's largest pollinators, because they
are the largest animal to have the unique ability
to open the flowers of the Traveler’s Tree. As
the lemurs eat the nectar stored in the flowers, the
flower’s pollen sticks to the lemur’s face and gets
transported to the next tree. While the lemurs
benefit by eating the nectar, the tree benefits by
being pollinated.
There is a very interesting fact about a fly. This particular species of fly is called a
“Midge”We might know them as “No-See-Ums”. This very tiny fly is the only
animal that can open the flowers of the cocoa tree and pollinate them. Inside this
flower is chocolate.
Would you believe it! A fly is responsible for helping us to have
chocolate!
Most people do not recognize these animals as pollinators, but
we do need to know them and realize how important they are.
Pollinate means to transfer or carry pollen from the male stamen of a flower to the
female pistil of the same or another flower or from a male cone to a female cone.
Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains to fertilize the seed-producing cells of
flowers and vegetables. Pollen is the fine yellow dust that triggers plants to form
seeds. New plants then can grow from the seeds. Since a plant can’t move, it needs
something or someone to transfer this pollen for them. Wind and water can spread
pollen, especially from the grasses in the prairie.
The pollen from the prairie is the
one that makes some people sneeze. There are eight main animal pollinators that will
travel with the pollen from flower to flower. The bee is the most prolific of
these pollinators, and the seven other main pollinators are: butterflies,
hummingbirds, moths, bats, flies, beetles and wasps. When you think about
it, any time someone or something brushes against a flower and picks up its
pollen then brushes up against another flower, it is pollinating that flower.
He/she/it has become a pollinator.
Pollinators search for flowers to find food, a mate, shelter and nest-building
materials. The plant or the pollinator cannot exist on their own. If one species
should disappear, the other species will be well on its way to also
disappearing. This interdependence between pollinators and plants is one of
the mysteries of nature. How did this unique solution ever come to be?
It began as early as 140 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.
Flowers produced nectar (a sugary substance) which became a food source
for pollinators. The flowers of vegetables and flowering plants developed
special colors, scents, sizes and shapes that would attract certain pollinators
which would help the plant produce seeds. The seeds then produced the next
generation flower or vegetable which was to be food for their pollinator, for
other animals and for humans.
This chart describes the type of animal which will pollinate different flowers.
Why should we care? (Most of the examples that follow will be shown on the CD
Disney Nature “Wings of Life”.)
One out of every three bites of food we take exists due to pollination. Some
examples are: apples, alfalfa, almonds, blueberries, bananas, cranberries, kiwis,
melons, nuts, pears, squash or any vegetable or tree that has a flower.
Pollination is as important as sun and water is to plants.
Pollination helps 90% of plants reproduce. (180,000 different plant species and
more than 1200 crops need pollinators and one of every three bites of food we
take comes from a plant that needs to be pollinated)
The flowers add beauty to our world.
Through photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
90% of the butterfly population have been lost.
We are loosing populations of pollinators through:
extinct)
region they live What we can do to protect pollinators?
boxes,
Standards Addressed in this Lesson:
Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
LS1.A Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts that they use to perform daily functions.
LS1.D Information Processing
Animals sense and communicate information and respond to inputs with behaviors
that help them grow and survive.
Understandings about the Nature of Science in the Next Generation Science
Standards for K-2:
Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World.
Science Is a Way of Knowing.
Scientists study the natural and material world.
Science knowledge helps us know about the world.
Science investigations begin with a question.
Scientists use different ways to study the world.
Scientists use drawings, sketches, and models as a way to communicate ideas.
District 181 Science Standards
1.SC.4.1With support, ask questions, and gather information about a situation
people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved trough the
development of a new or improved object or tool.
1.SC.4.2 With support, develop a simple sketch, drawing or simple model to
illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given
problem.
2.SC.2 Students will gather and analyze information about plants and animals to
explain how they are interdependent on one another for survival.
2.SC.2.1 Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in
dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
Common Core State Standards English Language Arts ––Writing
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and
definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
Lesson
Essential Questions:
~ Are there more pollinators besides the bee, the butterfly and the hummingbird?
~ Why are pollinators important to me? How can I help pollinators? and How can I share my knowledge with others?
The Objectives are for the children to:
~ know why it is important that we recognize and protect all pollinators,
~ use their findings to create a class brochure stating who these six “Secret” pollinators are and a cinquain of a pollinator
~ use the knowledge they now have to create a solution to the question,
“What possible ways could nature or man ensure that our vegetables and flowers would be able to be pollinated if all the animals that pollinate them became extinct?”
“Before we go any further, let’s take a look at pollination.”
Show the poster of the two flowers and the bee going between both and then use the bee puppet and the two artificial flowers to pantomime the bee landing on one flower and bringing pollen over to the other flower.
“All animals need food. Many animals, especially ones that fly, get their food from flowers, but not by eating them. The food the animals are looking for is called nectar which is a gooey, sugary substance located in the middle of the flower. Looking at this poster, there are two flowers that are the same. A beautiful hungry little bee comes along to get some nectar from the flower. She goes in to get the nectar and as she does, she rubs against the anthers which are loaded with pollen.Our little bee’s legs and belly are fuzzy magnets for the pollen. When our little bee has drunk all the nectar she can from this flower, she realizes that she is “still hungry,” and she flies over to the next flower. There she is so happy to sip up more nectar and now as she is eating, she is depositing pollen grains from another of the same kind of plant that stick to the stigma of this plant. These pollen grains will help the flower to make seeds so that our class can collect the seeds to make new seed tapes next spring for flowers to grow again in our Butterfly Garden.”
Disney’s “Wings of Life” From 56.30 to 57.53 minutes: Description of how fertilization occurs in a flower.
and
From 15:00 to 16:30: Description of how hummingbirds pollinate flowers
and
From 30.34 tp 35:27: Description of bees pollinating tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables that have flowers
“Butterflies are one type of pollinator. You know of two other pollinators that we see in gardens, bees and hummingbirds. They are the three main pollinators in the Great Lakes region. I also think you may have seen the wind acting as a pollinator: blowing all the white silk seeds of the common milkweed, and blowing the seeds from the tops of the prairie grasses. Think about this. Can we be pollinators? Picture moving through the gardens. We can pick up pollen on our clothes and spread it to another plant. That helps to move a little bit of pollen. We become minimal pollinators since we do not get into the flower to eat its nectar and come out with a lot of pollen. In a very small sense, that makes us pollinators, too. Do you know if there are more? Can animals be pollinators?”
Ask the children:
“Tell me your first thoughts and feelings when I say bats, beetles, ants, wasps, moths, and flies.”
“What do you do when you see a bat, beetle, ant, wasp, moth, or fly?” “What good do any of these animals do?”
Allow thinking time. In the strictest sense, a pollinator goes into the flower for nectar. A side benefit for the plant is that the pollinator picks up pollen in the process, and it will visit another flower for nectar thus depositing pollen there. The plant is pollinated. Soon the blossom will produce a vegetable, fruit or nut.
Write answers to the following questions on chart paper or somewhere where you can return to their answers at the end of the lesson.
“I have just asked you some different questions about six animals: a bat, a beetle, a fly, a moth, a wasp, and an ant. Would they be able to be pollinators? Why?”
“Let’s find out for sure”
Pass out the coloring page from The Wonders of Discovery poster form Pollinator Partnership.
“Since we are wondering if these 6 animals can be pollinators, we have this Color Me page that is a smaller copy of the Wonders of Discovery poster from Pollinator Partnership. There is some information about each animal that goes along with this page plus we have a Disney Nature CD ‘Wings of Life’ that I will show you as we look at each animal. Let’s begin our quest to find the answer to our question: Can these animals: the bat, the ant, the beetle, the wasp, the moth, and the flies all be pollinators?”
“Find the main pollinators for our area: the bees, the butterflies, and the hummingbirds. I agree. They are pretty easy to find. Remember every blossom needs to be pollinated. Flower blossoms, vegetable blossoms, fruit blossoms all need to be pollinated in order for us to have flowers, vegetables, fruits and nuts. We now need to find the six other ‘Secret’ pollinators that pollinate vegetables, flowers, trees, and grasses. We call them ‘Secret’ because most people do not know that they are pollinators. Let’s start with finding the bat. Where is the bat?”
“You found the bat flying towards the cactus and next to the cactus are four bats hanging upside down resting. I would like to tell you some interesting facts about this bat. It is called a Lesser Long- nosed bat. The white flowers of the Saguaro Cactus will open to be pollinated by the Lesser Long-nosed bat for only one night. On that night, the bats will fly from their cave in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico to the Arizona desert — a round trip of 60 miles The flowers give out a fragrant fruity order that the bats love. On this one night, the bats
know to come and pollinate the cactus’s flowers.
This one night pollination helps to maintain the healthy ecosystem of the Sonoran Desert since the cactus is the home for many of the desert animals – Red-tailed Hawks, Gilded Flickers, Gila Woodpeckers, Elf Owls, Purple Martins, and other birds. Once the Saguaro fruit ripens in June, Lesser Long-nosed Bats, White-winged Doves, and Gila Woodpeckers will eat the cactus’s fruit and disperse the fruit’s seeds.”
“I have a short video I would like you to watch that shows the almost impossible feat these bats perform to pollinate the cacti in the Sonora Desert.”
Disney Nature ‘Wings of Life” From 17.15 to 23.20 minutes:
Go to the Sonora Desert where the cactus is pollinated by bats. The female bats come to the night-flowering-white-cactus flowers to drink nectar and take the pollen to the next flower.
From 35.40 to 40.32 minutes:
Back to the Sonora Desert with the cactus and the bats spreading the seeds of the cactus flower.
“Here, where we live, the bat pollinates white flowers at night: night-blooming phlox and primroses. They also love to eat mosquitoes!”
“What about the beetle? Find the girl holding the magnifying glass and go down to the leaf almost all the way down to the bottom of the page and you will find the Milkweed Beetle. Beetles happen to be the oldest animal pollinators on Earth. They started pollinating flowers 200 million years ago. They search for fragrant, large, bowl-shaped flowers. They are clumsy flyers and need a large space to land on as they fiercely eat their way through petals to get to the nectar in the flower. They will come to pollinate our pond lilies, the magnolia tree, and goldenrod. They also love berries like black elder berries and blue berries.”
“Right across from the beetle (underneath the cactus) is the Hummingbird Hawk moth. Color in the moth and listen. The moths take over for the butterflies during the night. So any flower that is open during the night which are mainly white blossoms, will be pollinated by moths or bats. The moth pollinates the moonflowers, gardenias, and morning glories. These flowers are usually open at night and have a strong sweet smell. Just like the butterflies, the moths need a landing pad to sit on while they pollinate.”
“The next three pollinators are not on your ‘Color Me’ page. I have photos of these pollinators which I will place on the projector as I tell you about them.”
“Ants live in the ground in an ant hill. We don’t sometimes think that ants could be pollinators, but they love sweet things and nectar is very sweet, so they climb and crawl into low lying plants to get that nectar.”
“Wasps look like bees only they are not as fuzzy. They pollinate the same blossoms as bees, but because they cannot attract as much pollen to their bodies, they do not pollinate as much as bees. Like bees, they are attracted to sweet-scented blossoms with red, yellow, orange, and white flowers. They pollinate in the desert like the bats. They also pollinate over 1,000 kinds of orchids.”
“Before I tell you about the flies, I’d like to describe some unusual pollinators that are not usually found on the continent of North America. The Honey Possum is the size of a mouse. It does not eat honey. It eats nectar. In fact, it loves nectar. It gets its little nose right into the nectar. When it finishes eating, its nose becomes dusted with pollen, so it can pollinate another blossom.”
“The Blue Tailed Day Gecko is another nectar lover that lives in the tropics. When it finishes its dinner of nectar, all the pollen sticks to scales on its forehead.”
“The last unusual pollinator is the Black & White Ruffed Lemur. It is in the unusual category, because it is the largest pollinator in the world. It received that title due to the fact that they are the largest animal to have the unique ability to open the flowers of the Traveler’s Tree. They pry open the blossoms and stick their long snout in to get the nectar. As the lemurs eat the nectar stored in the flowers, the flower’s pollen sticks to the lemurs face and gets transported to the next tree. While the lemurs benefit by eating the nectar, the tree benefits by being pollinated.”
“Now, I am going to tell you about a fly that you will never forget, because it is the only pollinator that pollinates blossoms of the Chocolate Tree. It is one of the tiniest flies around, as it is only the size of a pin head. It is rightly called a “Midge”. We may also know them as the “no-see-ums”.
“The chocolate you love comes from the Cocoa Tree or Chocolate Tree. The chocolate tree’s flowers grow right out from its branches and trunk. For the cocoa blossom to be pollinated, there is only one pollinator that can reach the nectar inside the chocolate tree flowers. It is the “Midge”. It is a fly. The midge pollinates the flowers that grow into large pods. Guess what is inside of those pods? Yes, inside these large pods are the cocoa beans that are made into the chocolate that you love.”
“Here is a short video that will tell us about the Midge fly, why we need pollinators, and how we can help pollinators.”
“We now know about the 6 additional ‘Secret’ pollinators that help to pollinate most of the food we eat as well as the flowers, trees,
and grasses that are here on the North American continent. I do not believe that too many children nor adults know about these six ’Secret’ pollinators.”
Repeat the questions that were asked in the beginning to see if attitudes have changed.
“Now that we have learned about the benefits of these animals, tell me what your thoughts and feelings are now when I say bats, beetles, ants, wasps, moths, and flies.”
“Let’s call them the ‘Secret’ pollinators.”
.
“What will you do when you see any of these ‘Secret’ pollinators?” “Are other animals pollinators?”
“Have our attitudes towards these pollinators changed? Yes, all of these ‘Secret’ pollinators will not be ‘Secret’ any more. We need to tell everyone about these pollinators. They help us a lot!”
“Before we do, I would like you to see another excerpt from Disney Nature.”
From 100.22 to 1.06.44: What is happening to bees?
and
From 1.06.44 to 1.09.00: Solutions that would help the pollinators: plant in backyards, rooftops, window boxes, alongside a highway. Teach children to plant and care for flowers. Keep pesticides away.
and
From 1.09.01 to the end: Get the world to understand that there is a love story between the flowers and their pollinators that feeds the world.
“In order to get out our information, I would like our class to design and produce a brochure that will inform the community of four things:
What pollination is,
Who our pollinators are,
Why they are important to us,
How we can help to attract them to our area.”
“We can work in partners. Each group or partnership will have one section of the brochure. Each pollinator section will need a paragraph answering the questions: what, who, why, and how the pollinator pollinates. Draw a picture of the pollinator. Here is an outline of our brochure: 2 sheets are divided into thirds and will be glued together when we are finished.”
Write individual cinquains about a “Secret” pollinator.
Graphic organizer describing the form of cinquain attached and enclosed in kit.
“A cinquain is a pattern poem that consists of five unrhymed lines. Each line must follow a definite format. The poem can be written in two ways. One way tells the word count for each line. The other uses numbers of syllables in each line. Both ways are acceptable.”
Share and Present cinquains.
“What could humans create to ensure pollination would occur if all the animals that pollinate vegetables and flowers became extinct? Work in partners to devise and build a solution. Use recycling materials from home to build your pollinator.
Hint: Could it be a machine?
or
Could it be a new way humans devise to pollinate? or
Could it be ?
Engineering design process:
- brainstorm
- design possible solutions
- test possible solutions
- evaluate
- redesign if necessary
Children present to class explaining their design choices and evaluate their creation’s ability to pollinate by testing how much flour can be picked up and transferred by their creation.”
Enhancing the Gardens for the Swallowtail Butterfly
Purpose of this Lesson:
The primary purpose of this lesson is to bring more Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterflies to the gardens by planting more plants that entice this special butterfly. In a Kindergarten pollination lesson, the children concentrated on the Monarch Butterfly. These butterflies are in the news quite a bit. Many are seen in the Butterfly Garden in the Fall. Many families are raising Monarch butterflies in their homes. But there are other types of butterflies. Therefore the questions for this lesson are, How can we enhance the gardens to bring the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly here? and Why is this important to me?
Teacher Preparation: (20 minutes)
This activity can be done two ways or both:
Play
• Appoint two butterfly actors.
• Practice play with actors if children.
Animation
• Play and pause animation.
• Animation can be used after play for children to record similarities and differences.
Materials Needed:
• Plants: Rue, Fennel, Dill, Curly Parsley, Anise joyfulbutterfly.com
• Seeds of the host plants mentioned above joyfulbutterfly.com
• Samples of nectar plants: Coreopsis, Zinnias, Joe Pye Weed
• Craft sticks to mark and name planted seeds
• Planting
• Outdoor Garden if available
• Trowels
• Map of the Vegetable Garden
• Containers - 1 for each child - if no outdoor space available
• Soil if using containers
• Pages to be shown - attached:
• Monarch Butterfly and What It Likes to Pollinate
• Image of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly
• Images of the host plants for the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly
• Images of the caterpillars and their chrysalis
• Pollination Diagram
• The Monarch Highway
• Venn diagram comparing the Monarch & Swallowtail Butterflies
• Chart paper poster for the teacher to record children’s learnings
• 2 sets of butterfly wings; Monarch wings and Black Swallowtail wings
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Scripts for presentation
• Animation: Monarch & Swallowtail Butterfly
• Video: Black Swallowtail Butterfly - Life Cycle - Chrysalis - Caccoon - Caterpillar - Egg (first 6 min)
• Video: Pollination: Trading Food for Fertilization
• Video: Why Do We Need Bees?
• Bookmark template for each child
• Book or Video: The Journey: Stories of Migration by Cynthi Rylant.
• Invitation for families
Sequence of Lessons Relating to Planting:
Kindergarten:
Seed to Seedlings in the Kindergarten Classroom:
Essential Questions: Where do we get seeds? and What does a seed need to grow? Children watch seeds grow in the classroom if they are given water and light.
Making a Seed Tape:
Essential Question: What is the best way to plant our seeds? Children learn that vegetables need the right amount of space to grow.
Planting in the Vegetable Garden:
Essential Question: Now that our plants are growing in the garden, how will our plants receive the basic needs that they must have to grow? Children plant vegetable seedlings and seed tapes in the Vegetable Garden.
First Grade:
Seed to Seedlings in the First Grade Classroom:
Essential questions: Can seeds germinate in soil, sand and water? and When would a plant need shelter? Children observe how seeds can be grown in different substances.
Making a Seed Tape:
Essential Question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?
Children observe that all flowering plants need their own space to grow.
Planting in the Butterfly & Hummingbird Gardens:
Essential Question: Why are flowers important? Children plant flower seedlings and seed tapes in the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens.
Second Grade:
Enhancing the Gardens for the Swallowtail Butterfly:
Essential Questions: How can we enhance the gardens to bring the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly to our gardens? and Why should we care? Children plant the host plants for the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly and learn how to protect pollinators.
Planting the Three Sisters:
Essential Questions: How did the vegetables help one another to provide a strong harvest? and How can we be stronger together? and Have you ever encountered a time when you were stronger together? Children will plant the Three Sisters and depict a time when they experienced being “stronger together.”
Length of Lesson:
Total Lesson time is 2 hours and 25 minutes:
Activity #1: Similarities & Differences of the Monarch & Swallowtail Butterflies (60 minutes)
Activity #2: Planting Seeds for the Swallowtail Butterfly (30 minutes)
Activity #3: Bookmark (45 minutes)
Vocabulary:
pollen: a mass of tiny particles in the anthers of a flower that fertilize the seeds and usually appear as fine yellow dust - is the substance that causes plants to form seeds. New plants then can grow from the seeds. Both flowering plants and conifers (plants that grow seeds inside cones) make pollen. A grain of pollen is so tiny that it is best viewed through a microscope.
pollinate: to transfer or carry pollen from the male stamen of a flower to the female pistil of the same or another flower or from a male cone to a female cone - to mark or smudge with pollen pollination: the transfer of pollen from a stamen to a pistil of a flower or from a male cone to a
female cone Encyclopedia Britannica has an excellent article on pollination with short videos that show the pollination by bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, bats, hummingbird moths, beetles, and wind.
https://www.britannica.com/science/pollination
metamorphosis: a typically marked and more or less abrupt developmental change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or a frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching (the metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies) Encyclopedia Britannica has another excellent article about metamorphosis with a 5 minute video that shows the complete metamorphosis of the butterfly. https://www.britannica.com/science/metamorphosis
herbs: plants with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, medicinal purposes, or for fragrances;
host plant: a plant upon which an organism (such as an insect or mildew) lodges and subsists.
nectar: the saccharine secretion of a plant, which attracts the insects or birds that pollinate the flower.
nectar plant: the plant where an animal will come to get nourishment
pupa: life stage in the development of insects exhibiting complete metamorphosis
chrysalis: a moth or butterfly at the stage of developme t when it is covered by a hard case, before it becomes an adult insect with wings
Background Information:
One Fall during harvest time in the Vegetable Garden, many yellow and black caterpillars were found on a patch of curly parsley. These caterpillars were thought to be the Monarch caterpillar since we had only seen Monarch Butterflies in our gardens. They were not Monarchs. They were the
caterpillars of the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies. Research showed that the reason we had not seen the Swallowtail before was that we did not have the right plants to attract the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly. That year we had planted curly parsley. Now, the second graders will plant it in the garden every year as they learn about more pollinators.
Standards Addressed in this Lesson:
Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
LS1.A Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts that they use to perform daily functions.
LS1.D Information Processing
Animals sense and communicate information and respond to inputs with behaviors that help them grow and survive.
Understandings about the Nature of Science in the Next Generation Science Standards for K-2:
Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World.
Science Is a Way of Knowing.
Scientists study the natural and material world.
Science knowledge helps us know about the world.
Science investigations begin with a question. Scientists use different ways to study the world.
Scientists use drawings, sketches, and models as a way to communicate ideas.
District 181 Science Standards
1.SC.4.1 With support, ask questions and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
1.SC.4.2 With support, develop a simple sketch , drawing or simple model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
2.SC.2 Students will gather and analyze information about plants and animals to explain how they are interdependent on one another for survival.
2.SC.2.1 Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in
dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
Lesson
Essential Questions:
~ Are there more pollinators besides the bee, the butterfly and the hummingbird?
~ Why are pollinators important to me? How can I help pollinators? and How can I share my knowledge with others?
The Objectives are for the children to:
~ know why it is important that we recognize and protect all pollinators,
~ use their findings to create a class brochure stating who these six “Secret” pollinators are and a cinquain of a pollinator
~ use the knowledge they now have to create a solution to the question,
“What possible ways could nature or man ensure that our vegetables and flowers would be able to be pollinated if all the animals that pollinate them became extinct?”
Enhancing the Gardens for the Swallowtail Butterfly | Video Lesson
“Recently, I discovered that many families in our community are raising butterflies. Raise your hand if you are one of those families. I thought we might have one or two families from our class raising butterflies. I was right. Do you know the name of the butterfly that almost everyone raises? Yes! It is the Monarch butterfly. You studied the Monarch butterfly and the flowers that it likes to visit to find nectar when you were learning about pollination in Kindergarten. Here are images of Monarchs sitting on flowers. As you look at these pictures, do you see the shapes of all these flowers? There is a reason why the Monarchs are usually on these types of plants. Yes, you did remember! Butterflies have four legs, so they need something to sit upon while they drink their breakfast, lunch or dinner of nectar. They need a landing pad. Fantastic!”
“Since you know all the flowers that a Monarch butterfly likes, can you tell me where do we look to find a Monarch egg? You did it again! We look at all the milkweed plants. There are 4 milkweed plants on our photo: Common milkweed, Swamp milkweed, White milkweed, and Butterfly weed. Here in our gardens, where do we find most of these plants? Wow! You are certainly on the ball today. We find them in our Butterfly Garden.”
“I have a little story of a discovery we made during a morning of harvesting vegetables in the Vegetable Garden. The class was almost finished harvesting when someone called out quite excitedly, ’Look at all the caterpillars!’ Of course we all ran over and this is what we saw”
Show the picture of the Black Swallowtail Caterpillar.
“Six nice and plump caterpillars munching away on a curly parsley plant. We immediately thought that they were Monarch caterpillars.”
Swallowtail Caterpillar
“One of our volunteers that day was raising butterfly caterpillars at home, so she took them home with a lot of parsley to let them grow, make their chrysalis and emerge as gorgeous and healthy Monarch butterflies.”
“A short while later, our butterfly mom sent pictures of the chrysalis that the caterpillars had made. She thought something was wrong because the chrysalis did not look like a monarch chrysalis.”
Show pictures of the Monarch and unknown chrysalis.
Unknown Chrysalis
“We did a little bit of looking and found out that what we discovered were not Monarch caterpillars but Black Swallowtail caterpillars.
During our research, we also found that these chrysalises would not open until Spring. The butterfly that is forming inside the pupa can bring its temperature down to be very cold. It keeps itself safe and warm over winter.“
“Our butterfly mom kept the pupas cool throughout the winter and surprised us with six of the most gorgeous butterflies. This is what they looked like.Show the picture of the Black Swallowtail.
“Isn’t that an exquisite butterfly? These butterflies were certainly not Monarchs! We
Monarch Chrysalis
realized that the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterflies had been making their home in our vegetable garden!”
“What we are going to do today is try to find out how we can continue to entice these butterflies to our gardens so that they will want to
come back year after year.”
“Before we go on, I want you to think back and remember what you learned in our ecosystem lessons. The first link in the food chain are the plants and the second link are the consumers. Butterflies are one of the Earth’s primary pollinators. If there aren’t any host plants for theses animals to complete their life cycle, these pollinators will not survive. If the plants are not pollinated, then the plants will not grow and produce food for the consumer to eat. Soon we will have not very much to eat if pollination does not occur. This is why pollinators are so important.”
Distribute the butterfly Venn diagram recording sheets and explain the sections of the circles – Similarities & Differences.
Presentation by the Monarch & Swallowtail Butterflies:
This activity can be done two ways or both:
- Acting out the play
- Watching the Video Animation
- Two volunteers dressed in costume come fluttering into the classroom.
- Teacher and an aid, two volunteers, two children that have been coached leading up to this small performance, the principal and the classroom teacher, or your choice of two butterflies.
- Remind them to speak slowly and clearly and to pause for a few minutes after each same or different fact that they give. This will enable the children to listen while they are speaking and then write down the characteristic that the butterflies have stated.
- When the butterflies leave, the teacher will display a butterfly recording poster to record the children’s learnings.
Monarch butterfly: “Hi class. I know you see me a lot in the garden. Of course, I am a Monarch Butterfly. Let me introduce you to another great butterfly, the Black Swallowtail Butterfly.”
Black Swallowtail takes a bow.
“We are here to tell you about the ways the two of us are the same and what is also different about us.”
Points to recording sheet.
”On the worksheet that you have, when we tell you something about ourselves that is the same, write down what that is in the appropriate spot on your Venn diagram. When something about us is different, write that down in the appropriate space on the Venn diagram. We will show you how to do it!”
Black Swallowtail: “Hello, Class. I know a difference right away.”
Starts flapping wings.
“We are different colors. You are predominately orange with a black body and black lines in your wings. I do have a black body but my wings are mostly black with blue and white spots.”
Pause for children to write.
Monarch: “I was listening to the story your teacher just told. I didn’t understand how your caterpillars were mistaken for mine. Let’s bring up these big pictures of our caterpillars and see if there is a difference. What do you think, class?”
Display the pictures of the two caterpillars.
Black Swallowtail:“I can see why the children may have thought I was a Monarch. Except for my body being green, we both have similar stripes. If they did not have these close up pictures of us when the children were out looking, they could have thought that I was you and you were me!”
Pause for children to write.
Monarch: “I just noticed that you have no antenna as a caterpillar, but I have two pairs as a caterpillar! One pair in the front and another in the back.”
Pause for children to write.
Black Swallowtail: “I think I know another difference between us. Last Fall, I saw many Monarchs flying away. Then this Spring, I saw many Monarchs flying back. Where did you go and why did you fly away?”
Monarch:“Monarchs love the warm weather on our wings. When the temperature begins to get cooler, we begin a 3,000 mile journey to the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. This is called a migration. In the Spring, we return using the sun and the magnetic pull from the North Pole to guide us on our long flight.”
Black Swallowtail: “That is truly amazing! I do not migrate because I can bring my body temperature down. I can survive when it gets very cold. I stay right here. I snuggle down in my chrysalis (pupa) stage all winter, emerging in the Spring.
Aren’t you tired after all that flying?”
Pause for children to write.
Monarch: “We do get tired and stop often to drink nectar and restore our energy. If I am a female Monarch butterfly and I spot milkweed along the way, you can be sure that I will be laying some eggs there. Along the way, there are many Monarch Conservation areas that organizations and people have planted where we can rest and eat. The Butterfly Garden here in the Living Classroom Learning Lab is a Monarch WayStation, a safe place. We love to come here and drink all the nectar from your flowers and lay our eggs on your milkweed.”
“I do know one way where we are the same. We both go through a metamorphosis. It is our life cycle. We start out as an egg, popping out of that egg as a caterpillar, devouring everything along our way becoming a chrysalis; and then climbing out of that chrysalis as a fabulous butterfly.”
Pause for children to write.
Black Swallowtail: “We pollinate the same plants you do, but we do have different
plants we eat. You are rather fussy and will only eat milkweed in the center stages of your life. I am fussy also, I lay my eggs on herb plants that usually grow in your vegetable garden.”
“Look at this video carefully to find the herb plants that my caterpillars like to eat.”
Show the first 6 minutes of the video: Black Swallowtail Butterfly – Life Cycle – Chrysalis – Caccoon – Caterpillar – Egg
Black Swallowtail:“Did you see and hear it? That’s good. What are the plants that I lay my eggs on in the garden?”
Wait for children’s response.
“You have it! I do lay my eggs on a Dill plant and on these plants too: Parsley, Anise, Fennel, Rue, even Queen Anne’s Lace. These plants are known as host plants for my caterpillars. My caterpillars need them to munch away on so they will grow and make their chrysalis, becoming gorgeous butterflies. I know that if you planted more of these host plants in your
gardens, we would come here a lot!”
Pause for children to write.
Monarch: “Look what I brought with me. My favorite book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I know the children have all read this book. That is okay because it is the most wonderful way to show our complete metamorphosis. Gather around class and let’s read.”
Read the book.
Monarch: “I do believe it is time for us to be going, my friend. Goodbye, children. You are certainly a great class. Thank you again for taking care of the Monarch WayStation in the Butterfly Garden of your Living Classroom Learning Lab. Invite us back any time.”
Display the butterfly recording poster and ask the children to help you fill it in with the information they were given from the two butterfly visitors.
When finished with the recording sheet, show the children the actual plants where the Black Swallowtail Butterfly lays her eggs and where
the caterpillar likes to eat if you have them, or display the poster showing these herbs.
“Here are photos of the herb plants where the Black Swallowtail likes to lay her eggs.”
“Since we have many milkweed plants in both the Butterfly Garden and the Prairie, we thought it would be a welcome addition to the Vegetable Garden if the children could plant the host plants that the Black Swallowtail Butterfly really like. When the garden is ready, you will be planting a few different plants and seeds in hopes that we will bring more and more Swallowtail Butterflies to pollinate more plants in our Living Classroom Learning Lab, so we will always enjoy food at our dinner table.”
This activity can be done two ways:
- in a garden
- in containers
Each child will plant two seeds.
“Class, you will plant all the herbs we have found that will allow the Black Swallowtail Butterfly to lay her eggs here in containers or in the garden. Please listen carefully so you know where to plant your seeds.”
“Please come and visit your plantings all throughout the summer. You will send home an invitation for you and your family to come to the gardens this summer so that you can watch for all the pollinators we could help in our Living Classroom Learning Lab.”
After planting show and explain the Pollination & Monarch Highway posters:
”Does anyone know of other animals how migrate?”
Read or watch The Journey: Stories of Migration by Cynthia Rylant.
“Does anyone have any ‘wonderings’ about what we have done today?”
Allow wait time and answer any comments and questions that the children may have.
“You know about some of the animals that pollinate:
the bee, the butterfly and the hummingbird. Why is it important that we learn about them and try to bring more to our gardens just as we are trying to bring more butterflies here?”
Show and discuss videos.
Pollination: Trading Food for Fertilization
Why Do We Need Bees?
Display Bookmark.
I think that we are doing great work here at school protecting pollinators. I also think that there are many people who do not know a lot about why we need to protect pollinators. It is always important that we share our knowledge with others. I have a template for a bookmark that I would like to give to each of you, so you can make bookmarks that you could distribute to your family, to friends in other grades at school, to your relatives, and to your neighbors. Here are a few important facts that you have seen in the videos and that you could use on your bookmark:
Read aloud the bookmark.
“You can incorporate any of these ideas into your bookmark.”
Pass out bookmarks and scissors.
“Here is your bookmark. Remember, you can make as many as you would like. You can take some home to work on there if you wish.”
If you have an outdoor garden:
“Here is the invitation to your parents and you to come to visit the Living Classroom many times over the summer to just watch nature. I hope you can enjoy all our work with your family.”
“What a great learning experience we have had today. Tremendous work, Class!”
Planting the Three Sisters
Purpose of this Lesson:
In this lesson, the children begin to understand the Native American wisdom of
taking care of our Earth. There are two themes present here: the idea that there is
strength in numbers, and the sustainability of the land. The Native Americans
planted three vegetables together: corn, beans and squash. These complemented
one another leading to this planting’s name,“The Three Sisters”. These plantings
were the substance of the Native People’s diet. Native Americans throughout North
and Middle America planted The Three Sisters.
A legend of“The Three Sisters” was repeated around the evening campfires
throughout many tribes in both lands. While reading this legend, the second grade
children will know that the Native American culture had stories which explained
why and how something happened the way it did.
A benefit of this lesson will be an understanding by the children of how each
vegetable helped the other two vegetables to flourish. The Native Peoples found
that each of the three crops benefitted from each other in different ways. The corn
grows tall and strong so that the beans have straight poles to grow up and
to wind their tendrils around. The roots of the beans provide a form of nitrogen that
the corn uses to grow a better yield. The pumpkin seeds grow sprawling hairy
vines with huge, bushy, prickly leaves that shade the soil keeping the moisture in,
weeds down, and animals out. The planting of these vegetables together shows that
having a diverse number of plants in the garden bed increases the quantity and
types of vegetables produced. They are more successful because they help one
another. They are stronger together — the theme permeating this lesson.
In addition to planting The Three Sisters, the second grade children will harvest the
crop when they return to school as third graders. This harvest will be divided and
taken to people and organizations that have encouraged and helped the Living
Classroom Learning Lab - our Superintendent, our Principal, the PTO, and Mrs.
Kellie O’Brien. Enclosed in this gift will be a note describing the theme of the
lesson, “Stronger Together”.
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
Reserve a time for the lesson on the Google Calendar. Email the LLC
Committee with the day and time for the lesson.
Classroom teachers may wish to obtain the parent volunteers for the lesson. If he/
she does wish to obtain the parent volunteers, then the teacher needs to email a
lead parent to find the additional parent volunteers.
Before second grades is planting, decide with the other second grade teachers
which class will plant which seeds and when they will plant and decide how
to find the number of children needed to plant the classrooms seeds.
(pulling names out of a hat, etc.)
Materials Needed:
- Three Sisters Garden Bonus Pack of seeds that will grow the Native American
Three Sisters Garden - This package contains three inner packets of seeds —
one packet contains the Earth-Tones Indian Dent corn seeds, one packet
contains the Rattlesnake bean seeds, and one packet contains the Sugar Pie
Pumpkin seeds. (Order from Renee’s Gardens.www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/
threesisters.html These seeds are heirloom seeds similar to the seeds used by the
Native Americans. If seeds are not in the kit, order the seeds and bring receipts
to the PTO.) - small trowels to mound the dirt and plant the seeds — located in the shed — the
school secretary or the custodian has the shed key - watering can — located in the shed
- original/laminated copy of The Three Sisters skit
- one ruler
- diagram showing where each seed should be planted
- iPads or cameras to take pictures of the skit and the planting of The Three
Sisters - photocopy for each second grader the letter to parents asking them to volunteer
for one week during the summer to tend to The Three Sisters Garden - weeding,
training bean vines to grow up the corn, and keeping the squash vines contained
in the bed. - an organic fertilizer (fish emulsion) to help with supplementing nitrogen
- laminate directions on the care of The Three Sisters throughout the summer and
place near their bed (on page 11 of this lesson) - a sheet of photocopy paper for each second-grade child
Length of Lesson:
Part 1: 30 minutes to read through and discuss the Legend and The Three Sisters
skit
Part 2: 15 minutes to plant the corn of The Three Sisters - The whole class goes
out for the planting - when the corn is 9 to 12 inches tall, the class will then plant
the beans and the squash - another 15 minutes
Part 3: 30 minutes to rehearse The Three Sisters Skit and 30 minutes to perform
The Three Sisters skit for another classroom
Part 4: 60 minutes for the culminating activities
Leadership:
The classroom teacher will teach this lesson and 3 volunteers assist
planting.
Grade Level: Planting for this lesson will be done by the Second Graders following
the rotation for how the classes will plant, as well as the rotation for the harvest.
One classroom plants the corn. (Five children plant)
One classroom plants the beans. (Six children plant)
One classroom plants the squash. (pumpkins). (Four to six children an plant)
Returning Third Grade in Fall
One classroom harvests the corn.
One classroom harvests the beans.
One classroom harvests the squash (pumpkins).
Vocabulary:
heirloom: something of special value handed on from one generation to another; in biology — a horticultural variety that has survived for several
generations usually due to the efforts of private individuals
diverse: made up of people or things that are different from each other
diversity: the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc.
sustainability:to maintain the world we live in. The underlying idea behind
sustainability is that we must act responsibly about the products we consume in
order to be able to support the billions of people on this planet forever.
Background Information:
There are three partner vegetables that are planted together forming what the
Native Americans called The Three Sisters. The Native Americans had found that
these three vegetables benefitted each other if grown together. The corn was a
support for the beans. For corn to grow its best, it needs a great amount of nitrogen.
The roots of the beans absorb nitrogen
from the air and with the help of a
bacteria on their roots, the beans are
able to convert that nitrogen to a form
the plants can use. This is a great
benefit to the corn. Once the squash or
pumpkin plants begin to grow, their
large, bushy, prickly leaves help to
shade the soil, keeping moisture in,
weeds down, and animals out.
The Native Peoples used these three
foods as the basis of a healthy diet. The
corn is a source of carbohydrates. The
beans and corn provide amino acids,
and the squash or pumpkins provide
vitamin A as well as many more
vitamins.
Many Native Americans depended upon
The Three Sisters for their subsistence,
so naturally, they also felt that these
three plants were given to them by their creator.
These plants became very special to them. The planting season began with special
ceremonies to honor The Three Sisters. A celebration called The Green Corn
Festival was held to commemorate the first of the green corn to be harvested. To
educate their children, the Native Americans told them stories of how and why
things came to be and how and why it was necessary to take care of them.
Many
stories were repeated on how The
Three Sisters came to be. One of the
stories will be presented in this lesson.
By passing these legends down
through each generation, the children
were taught how to plant, use, and care
for The Three Sisters.
Our early colonists may not have fared
so well if it had not been for the Native
American’s gift of The Three Sisters.
The first Thanksgiving would not have
been the great celebration that it was
without these precious gifts of corn,
beans, and squash. This knowledge of
combining complementary plants is a
sophisticated, sustainable system
providing soil fertility and healthy harvests that has helped agriculture become
more sustainable throughout the world.
To have a successful yield from TThe Three Sisters, attention needs to be paid to
three components: variety, timing, and spacing of the seeds. The corn is planted
when the night temperature is at least 50 degrees and the corn shoots need to be 6
inches tall before the beans are planted. Otherwise the bean vines will overwhelm
the corn. It will take one to two weeks for the corn to reach this six inch height.
Once the beans are planted, wait another week to plant the squash. If all three seeds
are planted at once, the result will be a snarl of vines over-running the corn.
Standards Addressed in this Lesson:
Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
NGSStandards that apply to this lesson are:
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
ngss.nsta.org/DisciplinaryCoreIdeas.aspx?id=16
Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from the air and water.
LS2.AIndependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Plants acquire material for growth chiefly from air, water, and process matter and obtain
energy from sunlight, which is used to maintain conditions necessary for survival.
Common Core State Standards Initiative Measurement and Data grade 2
http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/2/MD/
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2MD.A.1
Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers,
yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: Chapter 2—The ...
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands
The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship
between human populations and the physical world.
Common Core State Standards
English Language Arts Standards » Writing
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and
definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.3
Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of
events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to
signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
Lesson
Essential Questions:
“How did the vegetables help one another to provide a strong harvest?”, “How can we be stronger together?” and “Have you ever encountered a time when you were stronger together?”
The Objective is for the children to:
~ understand that we are “stronger” when we work “together”,
~ plant The Three Sisters in the George Washington Vegetable Garden
~ draw a picture of a time when you experienced “stronger together”
~ design a brochure describing how these plants contribute to each other’s development which in turn models the ~ ~ message of the lesson “stronger together” beautifully
~ begin to understand that we need to become a “Keeper of the Earth”.
“Your class is going to be planting one of the three vegetables that the Native Americans learned grow well with one another. They planted corn in the middle of a vegetable bed. When the corn was 6 inches tall, they planted beans which would use the stalk of the corn as a support to wind their tendrils around. The roots of the beans would then help the corn grow. Because the corn needs nitrogen from the air, the bean roots bring that nitrogen in and give it to the corn. In another week, they would plant squash or pumpkins around the beans. The big leaves of this vegetable would shade the soil and keep it cool, would keep the water from the rain in, and would keep the weeds and pests out.”
These three vegetables were the primary food of many Native tribes across North and Middle America.They provided many vitamins as well as carbohydrates and proteins, so it was only natural that the Native people began to tell stories about why these three were so special. Since these vegetables helped to keep them alive, the Native Americans thought that these were special gifts given to them by their Creator. Each vegetable was protected by a special spirit that was united with the other two. They became known as ‘The Three Sisters.’ And still to this day, many Native celebrations commemorate these sisters. The Green Corn Festival
announcing the corn harvesting is one of these celebrations.
The Native Americans told many stories that we categorize as legends. Legends were told to explain why or how something happened to be.The Native People told their stories around the campfire at night, so come up close to me while I tell you the legend of The Three Sisters.
The New Legend of The Three Sisters
It is said that there were once three sisters who lived with their father in a Native American Algonquin village right here at the Great Lakes. It was the time of ‘sequanni Kesos’ – The Moon When We Set Indian Corn.
Their father, who was an Elder of the tribe called his three daughters to his side and spoke to them, “My daughters, it has been a long hard winter and the food for our village is almost gone. Now that the ice is gone from all our rivers and lakes, it is time for the great hunt once more. I may be gone for an entire moon. All our corn that we had at the beginning of the great snows is almost gone. The beans and the squash are also gone.While I am away, I want you to begin planting these three crops so when ‘pohquitaqunk kisost’ — the Moon in the Middle between the Harvest and Eating Corn comes, we will be able to celebrate well at our Green Corn Festival. Our people will be able to give thanks knowing that there will be enough food to last when there is much white frost on the grass.”
With that said, he bid his daughters good-bye.
The three sisters had not planted any crops before, but they each thought that they were very capable of doing so. The oldest sister decided that she would plant the corn. The middle sister wanted to plant the beans, and the youngest sister was to plant the squash. When it was decided which sister should plant which crop, the oldest sister asked her two other sisters if they needed any help to plant their crops. They both responded to her, “I can do it myself!”
The three sisters were vey independent and stubborn. They each felt they knew enough about planting: find a large patch of ground, clear the ground of weeds, dig holes for the seed, plant the seeds in the holes, water the ground, and watch the seeds grow. Since each of the three sisters wanted to do it by themselves, they each went on their separate ways to plant their seeds.
After their seeds were planted, the three sisters eagerly watched as the green shoots, the beginnings of their plants, started to appear. They were very excited. They knew they would succeed and their father would be so pleased when he returned from the hunt.
As the weeks passed and the plants grew, the oldest sister noticed that her corn which had been growing well seemed to have slowed down. In fact, it looked like it had stopped growing! She didn’t understand what was happening or why it was happening. With the village depending on this crop, she became frustrated not knowing what to do, and then she became very sad.
At about the same time, the second sister was beside herself because her bean plants had grown many, many vines that were laying all over the ground. She could only find a few small beans on the vines. Most of them were rotting since they were laying in the wet dirt. As she investigated closer, she noticed cuts in the vines like someone or something had come and cut the vines that would have grown the beans. She decided to watch closely for one day and one night to see if she could find out what was happening. On the night she was watching, she had almost fallen asleep when something startled her. Rubbing her eyes to see better, she shrieked at the sight before her. There were 3 raccoons munching away at her delicious beans. There were the culprits before her! She threw up her arms and screamed so loudly that those raccoons fled immediately. The second sister just sat down and wailed, “How can I protect my beans from those nasty raccoons?” The second sister was as frustrated and sad as the first sister.
Now, you may wonder about the youngest sister and her crop of squash. The youngest sister was jumping for joy. Her squash crop was growing beautifully. From each of the seeds she had planted came many thick and hairy vines that produced tendrils with huge sandpapery leaves and many bulging buds that would burst to produce squash. She was so excited! She knew she could do it and she did do it herself!
When the youngest sister returned to their wigwam, she found her two sisters crying in the corner. They explained to her what was happening with both of their crops. Now, the youngest sister’s happiness slowly went away and she started crying too because she realized that there would not be enough food to last through the many moons of the falling snow.
Their cries and sobs happened to be heard by a young traveler who was passing by. He stopped by the wigwam and asked the sisters if he could help. In between all their cries, they explained how two of their crops had failed and there wouldn’t be enough food for the coming winter. He asked to see their crops. Upon seeing them, he told them that he thought he would be able to help. He had traveled through a tribe further south where he had observed how well their crops grew. They grew the three crops together. The three sisters looked at him in amazement and asked him to explain how this was done. And this is what he described. The crops are stronger if they are grown together. First, we soak the corn and bean seeds a few hours in order to soften the seed case. While the seeds are softening, we build many mounds in the field. We take five or six of the soaked corn seeds and we will plant them in the middle of the mound. Once the corn seeds sprout, we have to wait until the corn is at least 6 inches tall. Once it is there, we plant the 6 bean seeds around the corn in the mound. The Elders of the other village had told him that there was something in the beans that helped the corn to grow straight and tall very quickly. The corn helps the beans, The beans like to grow upward, so they wind their vines around the corn. The squash is planted at the base of each mound where it grows well. Animals do not like the squash’s hairy vines and the sandpapery leaves, so they will not come to eat any of the beans or corn.
I think if you work together and plant your three crops together, your tribe will have an abundance of food for the many Moons of Falling Snow.
The sisters were extremely happy. They got to work helping one another planting the corn in mounds. At the end of the planting, they went to thank the young traveler and invite him to dinner but he was gone from the village. They could not find him anywhere.
In the weeks that followed, their corn, beans, and squash grew abundantly. When their father returned home from the hunt, he was pleased with the accomplishments of his daughters. When he saw how the corn, beans, and squash were planted, he asked how they knew to plant them together, for as many miles as he had ridden, he had not seen crops planted together. They answered him in unison, “A young traveler showed us how they are stronger together! We found out that we are also stronger when we work together!”
The crops that year were plentiful. As long as the People planted the crops together, they had an abundant harvest. Now, to this day, the Native Americans still wonder who that young traveler could have been. Some even wonder if there was a young traveler or was a special spirit sent to the three sisters to show the Native Peoples how to plant the crops so they would always have food for the long winter months. Whatever you may think of my story, it is a fact that the corn, beans, and squash do benefit from growing together. It is also a fact, that when the crops are planted as the young traveler taught, the three crops are called “The Three Sisters”.
Before Second Grade is planting, decide how to choose the children who will plant. The number of children needed from a classroom are:
5 children from one classroom to plant the corn
6 children from another classroom to plant the beans
4 children from the last classroom to plant the squash
The Three Sisters Garden will occupy the hexagonal raised bed in the middle of the George Washington Vegetable Garden.
The seeds to be planted are authentic Native American seeds. Earth-Tones Indian Dent Corn provides natural poles for bean vines to climb and the beautifully dried ears make tasty corn meal and/or decorations.
Rattlesnake Bean Vines support the corn stalks and fix nitrogen on their roots to improve soil fertility. Blossoms attract pollinators and high-protein dried beans are great for chili.
Shallow-rooted Sugar Pie Pumpkin Vines make a living mulch, shading out weeds and helping to limit moisture loss. Use Sugar Pie Pumpkins for tasty pies and holiday celebrations.”
To plant the corn:
1. oak 5 corn seeds for a few hours, but not more than 8 hours.
2. Observe the diagram below:
3. In the center of the hexagonal bed, the dirt is to be mounded about 10 to 12 inches high. It should measure about 18 inches across with a flattened top. Make a shallow depression on the top of the mound to keep water from draining down the sides. The parent volunteers will make the mound in the center of the bed.
4. The children can make a hole with their finger about an inch to 1 1/2 inches deep to plant the corn seeds. The seeds should also be about 6 inches apart. There is another Native American custom from the Iroquois to plant the seeds with kind thoughts three days before the full moon.
5. After the corn plants start coming up, pick any weeds around them and mound the dirt around them
To plant the beans and pumpkins:
6. When the corn plants are about 6 inches tall, plant the pole beans 3 inches away from the corn plants on the mound. Be sure to weed.
7. At about the same time as the planting of the beans make 4 small mounds on the outside of the big mound. Plant the squash or pumpkin seeds here.
Care for The Three Sisters after planting and throughout the summer:
- As the corn grows, pull out any weeds that may be growing and mound more dirt around the corn stalks. Place a dowel rod next to each corn plant and lightly tie the plant to the rod. Wind will blow the corn plant over if it is not fortified. Replace rods as needed as the corn plant grows.
- To be done by parent volunteers – Most of the nitrogen that the bean roots are able to convert will not begin the first year, so an organic fertilizer should be applied (a fish emulsion).
- Wind the bean tendrils around the corn stalks. (Do the tendrils wind in a certain direction?).
- Gently direct squash vines into the outside of the planting bed, so they will not smother the corn and bean plants.
- Pinch off the tips of the squash runners after fruits have started to form so that it helps the plant produce better squash.
These directions should be laminated and placed near The Three Sisters bed.
Teachers, please distribute the parent letter to all the second graders. The letter asks parents to help with the care of The Three Sisters throughout the summer. (letter is on pages 20 and 21of this lesson).
The directions for the harvesting and seed collecting of The Three Sisters’
vegetables appears in the third grade lesson.
A Three Sisters Skit: located in kit
It is before an audience that children rise to the occasion and perform well, so talk about costumes and invite an audience. Perform the play outside near the Living Classroom whether or not there is an audience. If an audience does come, they can sit on the sidewalk and hill. The characters will need to have strong loud voices.
“We are going to put on a skit about ‘The Three Sisters’. I think that the skit will help you understand why the Native Americans planted ‘The Three Sisters’.”
This skit has 20 characters If the class is bigger than 18 children, you may add more raccoons or beans or squash. Remember to take pictures.
A Three Sisters Skit:
The characters for
Act One:
- 1 narrator (or the teacher is narrator)
- 6 volunteers play the corn plants
- 2 volunteers play the raccoons
- 1 volunteer plays the farmer
Act Two:
- 1 narrator
- 2 volunteers play the corn plants
- 2 volunteers play the bean plants
- 2 volunteers play the squash plants
- 2 volunteers play the raccoons
- 1 volunteer plays the farmer”
Give each child a copy of the script. Read it over twice. Have the children pantomime how they would become corn, beans, squash, and raccoons. Practice the skit.
The Three Sisters Skit from American Heart
Assoc. Setting: a large open field, surrounded by woods Act One
Players: 9 children: 6 corn plants; 2 raccoons; 1 farmer
Narrator: One day, Farmer Lauren decided to plant a whole garden of corn. She planted 6 corn seeds.
(Action: Farmer enters the stage and plants the seeds. Corn plants enter the stage and curl up like seeds.)
Narrator: Over time, the corn seeds felt the soil above them getting warm in the sun. The farmer watered the soil, which soaked through and made the corn seeds start to swell. Eventually, the seeds began to grow.
(Action: the farmer waters the garden. Corn seeds soak up the water and begin to swell, Slowly, they poke through the soil and begin to grow.)
Narrator: In the warm sun, the corn seedlings grow taller and taller. Weeks later they begin to grow ears of corn. The corn was almost ready for Farmer Lauren to pick. But then, one night, two raccoons crept into the garden.
(Action: the corn continues to grow. Small ears form. Raccoons creep into the garden and sniff around.)
Raccoon 1: Oh boy, look! Here is some corn.
Raccoon 2: I love corn! Let’s eat all the plants!
(Action: the raccoons pretend to eat the corn. The corn plants fall down dramatically and die.)
Narrator: The next day, Framer Lauren goes out into her garden and sees what the raccoons have done.
Farmer Lauren: Oh no! Those pesky raccoons ate all my corn. Winter is just about here and I won’t have any corn to store. I worked so hard! Those raccoons had plenty to eat, but now I won’t have anything.
End of Act One
Act Two
Players: 9 children: 2 corn plants; 2 squash plants; 2 raccoons; and 1 farmer
Narrator: Farmer Lauren wakes up hungry. All her corn has been eaten. She decided she would plant something again. But this time, she knew she had to figure out a way to keep the raccoons from eating her crop. She had read about a Three Sisters Garden, where all the plants helped each other grow. She decided to give it a try. So, Farmer Lauren planted 2 corn seeds. Next, she planted bean seeds right next to the corn and squash seeds around the corn and beans. (Action: corn, beans and squash enter and curl up. This represents the seed stage. Farmer Lauren waters the field.)
Narrator: Farmer Lauren watered the field. The heat from the sun began to warm the soil. After about a week, the seeds began to germinate.
(Action: Corn plants begin to grow — they get up to their knees.)
Narrator: The beans were weak. They needed support to grow tall. They held on to the corn.
(Action: Corn plants stand and put their arms up over their heads. The bean plants hold onto the corn plants’ arms for support.)
Narrator: The ground-covering squash plants spread out.
(Action: The squash plants grow, spreading out their arms and legs low to the ground.)
Narrator: All of the plants began producing. There were ears of corn, squash and beans. About this time, the hungry raccoons returned to Farmer Lauren’s garden.
They saw that there was a lot of food. They decided to go get some.
(Action: The raccoons enter the stage on all fours. They head for the Three Sisters garden plot. When the raccoons get to the squash plants, they stop and squeal. The squash is prickly and pokes the raccoons gently.)
Raccoon 1: Ouch. ouch, ouch! Something is sticking to me!
Raccoon 2: Ouch, ouch! Me, too! I can’t get to those ears of corn or the beans. What shall we do? It looks so good.
Raccoon 1: Ouch! This squash is very prickly. It hurts! We can’t get to the beans and corn because of this squash. It hurts to grab it, so we can’t pull it out!
Raccoon 2: Let’s go. I’ve had enough!
Narrator: And so it was that the squash protected the beans and the corn. The beans gave an invisible gift to the corn and squash. Does anyone remember what special invisible gift the beans provided for the other plants?
(Action: Narrator calls on volunteers from the audience to answer.)
Narrator: That’s right! Nitrogen! The beans used the corn as a ladder and climbed up. And together, the Three Sisters provided lots of food for Farmer Lauren and her family.
The End.
“Congratulations! What an excellent performance!”
Culminating questions:
- What happened when the farmer only planted one crop?
- Diverse means that something is made up of people or things that are different from each other. Which of the farmer’s gardens was a diverse garden? Why did it matter?
- I would like to introduce a new word for you today. It is sustainable. Sustainable means to maintain the world we live in. How does the planting of the Three Sisters help all the people of the world take better care of our Earth?
If discussion does not result in this answer, then inform the children:
“It shows how plants can help one another. Farmers rotate crops on their land in order to maintain the nutrients in the soil. Planting diverse crops replenish the nutrients that some plants take from the soil while they grow. Also, the space that the plants use when planted together is a lot less than when they are planted separately. Less land is needed and land is conserved when they are planted together.”
“Now we can see the wisdom of the Native Peoples.”
Discussion, Drawing and Stop Motion Animation Film:
After a discussion of times when the children could have experienced “working stronger together”, distribute white paper and tell the children to:
Illustrate a time when you experienced ‘Working Stronger Together.’” Title it at the top or bottom of your page: Working Stronger Together If you can’t think up a time, go ahead and illustrate The Three Sisters.
Download the app Stop Motion Animation to iPads or tablets. Children can use small figurines or legos to create their own stop motion animation illustrating “Working Stronger Together.” Directions included in The Three Sisters Living Classroom Learning Lab Video.
Brochure: Produce a brochure describing the legend, the planting, and diversity contained in The Three Sisters. (The brochure will become part of the presentation of the Harvest of The Three Sisters which will be completed in third grade.)
Each classroom will write a paragraph on the topic the classroom teachers have agreed upon. One classroom will write a paragraph about the Legend. One classroom will write a paragraph describing the planting. One classroom will write a paragraph explaining why diversity helps in the planting of vegetables. Each paragraph will be accompanied by the photos that have been taken throughout this lesson. When completed, a parent volunteer will incorporate the three paragraphs into the brochure template with a cover page using the title of The Three Sisters and photos. This brochure will be placed in each basket and can also be given to all the parents of the second graders. When the brochure is complete, make five copies and place them in the Three Sisters kit.
Culmination Activity: to be revisited and completed next Fall as vegetables are harvested.
This part of the assignment happens in Third Grade: In order to complete the life cycle of The Three Sisters, the children will harvest the corn, beans, and squash when they return in the fall as third graders. They will harvest the vegetables and the seeds in the Fall. They will also collect these vegetable’s seeds to be planted again for next year’s Three Sisters.
As a way to showcase the children’s achievements, baskets containing a sample of the corn, beans, and squash will be delivered to people and organizations that have helped the Living Classroom: the District’s Superintendent, the District’s Curriculum Director, school principal, the PTO, and Mrs. Kellie O’Brien. The baskets need to be accompanied by a note describing the theme of the Lesson “Working Stronger Together” and a copy of the brochure made by last year’s second-graders.
A Parent Letter:
Dear Parents,
Your children have been learning about a method of planting vegetables the Native Americans developed many years before the first settlers came to this New Land. These Native People planted corn, beans, and squash together. The corn was a support for the beans. For corn to grow its best, it needs a great amount of nitrogen. The roots of the beans absorb nitrogen from the air and with the help of a bacteria on their roots; the beans are then able to convert that nitrogen to a form the plants can use. This is a great benefit to the corn. Once the squash or pumpkin plants begin to grow, their large bushy and prickly leaves help to shade the soil keeping moisture in, weeds down, and animals out. Each plant complemented the other enabling a productive yield. The Native Americans named this planting The Three Sisters.
The second graders have planted an example of The Three Sisters in the hexagonal bed in the center of our George Washington Vegetable Garden. When the children come back to school in the fall as third graders, they will be harvesting the vegetables and collecting their seeds to replant the following spring. Help is needed throughout the summer to make the harvest plentiful. Bean tendrils need to be guided up the corn stalks, and squash stems guided to the outside of the bed so that the beans and corn are not cramped. There are 10 weeks to our summer season. We would like to ask second grade families to look after The Three Sisters for one week each. Please look at your summer schedule to see if you can help us for one week. Sign below and return to your teacher.
Thank you,
The second grade teachers and the second grade children
Concepts
Legend:
~ Ecosystems ~
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~ Life Cycles ~
~ Adaptation ~
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~ Pollination ~
~ Biodiversity ~
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~ Food Chains ~
~ Patterns ~
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~ Shapes ~
~ Balance of Nature ~
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~ Sustainability ~
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