First Grade
Each unit has a Teacher Resource Menu With Information About the Lessons:
The purpose of each lesson, Materials Needed, Advanced Prep, The Standards Each Address, as well as other information.
we Suggest you Familiarize Yourself with this first, then proceed to the lesson content contained in The lesson tabs.
A link to the PDF of the original lessons are Available in the left column of the lesson windows for Reference.
First Grade
fALL UNITS
Harvesting in the Vegetable Garden
Purpose of the Lesson:
This lesson is the fourth in a series of lessons that will develop the children’s understanding of how a seed grows into a plant that produces a vegetable that can be given or brought to a family’s dinner table. When the children come out to harvest their vegetables, they will see how the small plants and seeds they planted in the Vegetable Garden during the spring of Kindergarten have grown. Their eyes open wide as they are surprised to see how some of their vegetables have grown down in the ground. They love to dig to find the potatoes!
The children help collect the harvest and then wash and pack it to be delivered to the Local Food Pantry. The children learn that they will be helping people who do not have enough food receive fresh organic food to take home for their family’s meals. They will also realize how the vegetables they have at dinner came to their table.
While the children are collecting their vegetables, the teachers will cut open one of the harvested peppers. There they will find all the seeds the plant has produced to continue its own propagation. The life cycle of a seed is complete: Seed to plant to flower to seed.
The essential question these first graders will be able to answer is How do vegetables get to my dinner table?
Sequence of Lessons Showing the Life Cycle of a Seed:
Kindergarten:
Seed to Seedling in the Kindergarten Classroom:
This lesson is the beginning of a series of three Kindergarten
lessons and one first grade lesson that will show how a seed grows and produces a vegetable or fruit that comes to the child’s dinner table.
Essential Questions: Where do we get seeds? and What does a seed need to grow?
Children watch vegetable 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 also 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:
Harvesting in the Vegetable Garden:
Essential Questions: How do vegetables get to my dinner table? Are the seeds I find in these vegetables I am harvesting the ones that could be planted next Spring?
Children pick the vegetables that they have grown from seed. As the vegetables go on to the food pantry, the children will observe how food gets to a dinner table.
Background Information:
In the Spring of their Kindergarten year, the children planted vegetables in the Vegetable Garden. Throughout the summer, the vegetables grow and by the time the children return to school as first graders, it is time to harvest all their vegetables. Throughout this process, the children understand how vegetables grow. By delivering their harvest themselves to the food pantry, they see and understand the entire process of how vegetables come to us from seed, to plant, to fruit, to store, and finally to their dinner table.
Before Harvesting Day, all first graders need to be able to observe the carrot experiment they created and planted last Spring. The purpose of the experiment is to see what is the best way to plant carrots:
- in a seed tape
- by hand in a furrow
- 3 seeds in a hole
They will observe the results. If all went well over the summer and nothing befell the carrots like being eaten by bunnies or the carrots already have been picked, the experiment should show that the carrots need space to grow best. The seed tape should have the best result.
Length of Lesson:
Activity #1: Journals & Carrot Harvesting (45 min)
Activity #2: Full Harvesting (45 min)
Activity #3: Field Trip to Local Food Pantry (60 min)
Activity #4: Sequencing the Journey of a Seed to a Table (40 min)
Materials:
- grocery bags to collect vegetables
- small hand trowels
- scissors
- sharp knife to be used by an adult to cut the cabbage
- Books:
- How Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry
- Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole
- The Greatest Power by Demi
- Printable Materials attached:
- Page #3 - Seed Tape Journal: Our Planting Experiment
- Page #4 - Seed Tape Journal
- Page #5 - Seed Tape Journal
- Last Page of “Seed to Seedling” Journal
- Journey of a Seed: Overall Sequence for Teacher
- Cut Outs for Journey of a Seed to Table #1, 2, 3
- Image of the Kitchen Garden at George Washington’s Mount Vernon
- Videos:
- How Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
- Request parent volunteers for activities #1 and #2
- Contact the Local Food Pantry to make sure they can accept the harvest and schedule a field trip for after the day of harvesting to deliver the children’s harvest.
Vocabulary:
All of these words are in the book How Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry.
compost: a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land.
Compost is usually made by gathering plant material, such as leaves, grass clippings and vegetable peels into a pile or bin and letting it decompose as a result of the action of aerobic bacteria, fungi, other organisms
fertilize: to make (soil, land, etc.) richer and better able to support plant growth by adding chemicals or a natural substance (such as compost)
perennial: living for several years or for many years; having a life cycle that is more than two years long; existing or continuing in the same way for a long time
transplant: to remove from one place and introduce elsewhere; relocate
pollination: the transfer of pollen from one flower to another
Lesson
Essential questions are:
~What is the best way to plant seeds?
~Are the seeds I find in these vegetables I am harvesting the ones that could be planted next
Spring?
~How do vegetables get to my dinner table?
The objective is for the children to know and be able to verbalize that from the seeds and
seedlings that they planted came these wonderful vegetables that can go right on a dinner
table and to realize all plants need space from the results of their carrot experiment.
vIDEO COMING SOON
Remind children about their Making a Seed Tape Experiment from last Spring when they were in Kindergarten. Talk about the three ways they planted their carrot seeds; in a seed tape, in a furrow and three in a hole.
If you do not have the Kindergarten is Growing journals from last year go to Our Planting Experiment and review the children’s predictions of which way they thought would grow the best vegetable. If you do not have the journals, then print Page #3 – Seed Tape Journal: Our Planting Experiment and have them take their best guess now.
Read and discuss: Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole
With their journal pages titled Seed Tape Journal Page #4 & #5, bring the first graders out to look at their carrot experiments that they designed and planted in the Spring. They will observe the growth of the carrots grown in three ways and write about the end result of their experiment. If all went well over the summer and nothing befell the carrots, like being eaten by bunnies or the carrots already have been picked, the experiment should show that the seed tape has the best result because the carrots should be the largest. Carrots need space to grow best. But with science experiments, the outcome may not always be as expected. While the children are there, have them complete pages 4 and 5 in their journal by drawing what their grown carrots look like and describe why they measured between each seed.
“Open your journals to page 4. As you are looking at the experiment, draw a picture of your carrots that grew in the seed tape. Then draw a picture of your carrots grown in the furrow and your carrots that were planted with three seeds in each whole. Circle what you now think is the best way to grow carrot seeds. Tell why you think you measured between each seed.”
“Are you wondering about anything else?”
If you have volunteers, have them read books to the children while one group harvest with the teacher. In the absence of volunteers, children can read or look at books while the other group harvests.
- Divide equally the amount of vegetables each classroom can pick.
- Save a pepper so you are able to cut it open to show the children the seeds that will be saved to grow the peppers next Spring.
- If The Three Sisters were planted, then the corn, beans, and pumpkins are to be picked by the third grade.
Bring to the vegetable garden:
- scissors
- small hand trowels
- baskets and grocery bags to hold vegetables
During the lesson in the vegetable garden help the children with the harvest by showing them how to pick the vegetables:
- carrots, beets, onions, radishes and celery are pulled from the ground
- peppers, cucumbers, peas, beans, pumpkins, blueberries, goji berries and watermelon are picked or cut from the vine
- lettuce, spinach, kale and Swiss Chard are cut about an inch above the stem leaving some of the plant there to regrow
- potatoes need to be dug up
- cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower can be twisted and the stem cut
- herbs: arugula, mint, parsley and chive leaves are picked
- save a pepper so it can be cut to show the seeds that will be planted next Spring to make more peppers
The children will be excited to see how their vegetables have grown, so we cannot expect very quiet voices upon their discoveries. That is okay.
“Can you name some of the vegetables you harvested today?”
”What part of the plant do we eat?”
Example:
- lettuce = leaves
- potatoes = roots (special roots called tubers)
- peppers, strawberries and tomatoes = fruit
“Do you know what helped make these vegetables grow so well?”
“Are there any vegetables here that we cannot pick and put in our bag? What has happened to them?“
“What vegetable is your favorite? Is it planted here? If it is not here, you could suggest that it be planted next year.”
“Would you have any suggestions that would help our vegetable garden next year?”
“Did you eat a plant today?”
“I brought a pepper in from your harvest that I am going to cut open now. Come and see what is inside here.”
“Look at all of those seeds. Do you have an idea why they are here?”
“Yes. You are so right. They do look like the seeds that you planted last Spring.
You are also correct in your thinking. This is how plants reproduce. They make their own seeds so they can continue to grow more peppers.”
“Let’s review what you have done with seeds from Kindergarten to now. You planted a seed. It grew. It produced a vegetable. You picked it to be able to eat it. Now, you see that your vegetable has seeds to save for the Kindergarteners to plant. It is amazing!”
Read and Discuss: How Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry
“How does a vegetable come to your dinner table?”
Wash the harvest and pack it for delivery to the Local Food Pantry.
If the Food Pantry is within walking distance, walk to the Food Pantry by forming a wagon brigade to carry the harvest. Have the children carry the harvest in, and deliver it to the volunteers. Have the volunteers give a tour and explain how the pantry serves the local community.
“There is something else I hope you can tell me. Do you think there maybe some people involved in getting your food to you?”
Share ideas.
Watch:
- The Farmer / Driscoll’s One Family
- Driscoll Brands – Idaho Potatoes
“Now that we have watched these videos, let’s see if we can put together the sequence of how a vegetable comes to our dinner table. I have these pictures of different farm scenes. Which picture would come first?…and second?…and on to the end, which would be our dinner table.”
Randomly place the cut-out pictures on the board to sequence the journey of the seed at the farm to the market and to your dinner table.
“I believe that now we can complete the page of our Kindergarten Is Growing journal entitled ‘How My Vegetable Grew and Came to Someone’s Dinner Table.’ “
Complete the Last Page of “Seed to Seedling” Journal: How My Vegetable Grew and Came to Someone’s Dinner Table.
Read and Discuss: The Greatest Power by Demi
“Thank you, children, for being such fantastic observers and listeners who are so willing to share their discoveries. Whenever you are here 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.”
Nature Detective
Purpose of the Lesson:
Being able to sit quietly and observe everything around one’s self is an important skill in learning about nature. As the children progress through the activities in our Living Classroom Learning Lab, they will need to use their senses of sight, sound, smell and touch to understand the plants and animals that make their home there. The purpose of this lesson is for the children to deepen their observation skills by exploring nature more closely as they find treasures in the Living Classroom to look at under a microscope. A question to discuss is: What makes on object become a special treasure?
We want the children to become explorers of their natural world. As they experience this world, they will come 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 need to ask themselves how they are connected to the plants and animals. They need to 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 theirs 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
Sequence of Activities in the Nature Detective Lessons:
Kindergarten
Essential Question: What is Nature?
Objective: Children use their senses to record sensory words and compose a free verse poem.
First Grade
Essential Question: What makes an object become a special treasure?
Children use their senses to observe, use sensory words in writing and develop an appreciation of nature.
Second Grade
Essential Question: Do all animals have a unique sound? Do all humans have a unique sound?
Children use their sense of hearing to compare the day sounds of the Living Classroom to the night sounds of their backyards.
Third Grade
Essential Question: What is a decomposer and why are they important?
Children compose a paragraph describing this importance which they will add to a poster illustrating the significance of these organisms.
Fourth Grade
Essential Question: What adaptations does this plant make to ensure its survival? Children design their own mega plant which would be able to grow and be sustained for countless years.
Fifth Graders
Essential Question: What is Nature?
Children reflect on their first answer in kindergarten and write a poetic diamante.
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.” While sitting in the Living Classroom Learning Lab, which is all around you outside, children will take the first steps to become Nature Detectives - observers of their natural world. Children can begin to understand how important observation is in knowing the environment that surrounds them in their study of nature.
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 airplanes
- the beaks of birds came the bullet train
- the strength of spider’s silk came strong medical tape
- how whales submerged 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!
Length of Lesson:
Activity #1: Observation (45 min)
Activity #2: Writing & Nature Detective Badge (45 min)
Materials Needed:
- hand lenses
- microscopes
- clip boards
- pencils
- string tied in a circle for each child to sit in
- Printable Materials
- Using My Senses
- Questions
- Describing Words
- My Special Treasure
- Nature Detective Badges
- Books:
- Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor & Peter Parnell
- Tiny Perfect Things by M. H. Clark
- If You Find A Rock by Peggy Christian
- Float by Daniel Miyares
- 10 Zeiss Pre-Moistened Lens Cleaning Wipes to clean microscope lenses
- paper towels to wipe the microscope tubes
- scissors
- tape or safety pins for each child
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
- Request volunteers for this lesson
- Print materials for children, teacher and volunteers
- Tie string in a circle for each child
Lesson
The Essential Question is: “What makes on object become a special treasure?”
The Objective is for the children to use their senses to find something that is
special to them while observing nature in the Living Classroom and describe
their “special treasure” with sensory words in a paragraph.
VIDEO COMING SOON
“Have you ever been walking along and you see a stone that you bend over and pick up? Has it become your special stone?”
Share ideas.
“I have a book here that describes how the author found something special. Let’s read it.”
Read or watch and discuss: Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor & Peter Parnell
“Today you are going to be able to go out to find a special treasure in a small plot of the Living Classroom, which is all around you outside. Your treasure will have to be pretty small.”
“Remember we are always trying to be Nature Detectives while we are out searching in the Living Classroom. Whenever you are in the Living Classroom, you can sharpen your observation skills and use all your senses to observe how nature works. You are going to describe a special treasure you find in the Living Classroom. Observing how things work in the natural world has resulted in many modern inventions! From observing:
- the flight of birds came airplanes
- the beaks of birds came the bullet train
- the strength of spider’s silk came strong medical tape
- how whales submerged 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!”
“What are our five senses? Yes! We need to open up all our senses and observe with our sight, our touch, our hearing, and our smell in order to
experience the magic and mystery that the plants and animals who reside here already know. Let’s pick up our clip boards, pencils, string and hand lenses and follow me out to the Living Classroom Learning Lab. I want you to sit inside your circle of string and observe that circle of special space. As we go out, walk lightly and be silent, and maybe we will see some of the animals that live here.”
Pass out a Using My Senses sheet, string tied in a circle, clipboard, pencil and hand lens to each child. Walk outside to an open, wild space or your existing garden. If you have volunteers assign them to groups of children. Adults should guide the children with the additional questions and describing words once they find their special treasure.
“I will be sending you out for your investigation. You will listen for the noises of nature that the animals and plants make. Use your sense of smell to detect any odors that are there, and use your sense of touch to feel the leaves, bark, or ground. Look closely at the ground and then look even more closely. Look for something very special where you are. Look for something you would like to keep and make a special treasure. When you find it, carefully pick it up without anyone seeing it, because when we come back into the room, we are going to play a little game. I will describe the game when we get back to the classroom.”
Once children find their special treasure, children should begin completing their
Using My Senses sheet to describe their special treasure.
Back inside, each child will place their “treasure” under the microscope and describe it to their partner. Their partner will try to guess what the special treasure is by the child’s description. Repeat this activity with the other child in this partnership. If a child is sick or has an eye infections, they should not use the microscope. Afterwards, microscopes need to be cleaned with Zeiss Pre-Moistened Lens Cleaning Wipes and a damp paper towel for the tube.
Afterward, gather the children around and allow time for the children to share some of their observations from the entire lesson.
“I would like you to share some of your observations. Listen carefully to one another and let us know when you have seen, heard, felt, or smelled something that no one else has mentioned.”
Read and Discuss: Tiny Perfect Things by M. H. Clark
“Now that you each have a special treasure, let’s find out what has made that object special for you.”
Allow time for sharing their ideas about treasures.
To strengthen the children’s describing abilities, the children will complete a paragraph describing their special treasure using sensory words. Teacher models how to complete My Special Treasure by using the information from the Using My Senses thinking map.
As they finish their writing, present a Nature Detective Badge to each child. Print one for each child and have them cut it out and tape or safety pin it on!
“Thank you, children, for being such fantastic observers and listeners who are so willing to share your discoveries. You are becoming Nature Detectives!
Whenever you are here in our Living Classroom Learning Lab, which is all around you outside, remember to watch and listen silently and you will surely come to know some of the secrets that are hiding here.”
Ecosystem Study #3 General Lesson
Purpose of this Lesson:
In this lesson, children will be introduced to the food chain with emphasis given to the first link in the chain: the producers or the plants. This lesson ends with the children completing an ecosystem circle displaying their knowledge of the link in the food chain that they have studied. This is the third lesson of an ecosystem study that continues into the next three grades, culminating in the understanding of an ecosystem’s complete food chain and food web. As with all the lessons in the Living Classroom Learning Lab, it is our hope that we can help the children to understand their responsibility to our Earth’s ecosystems.
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.
In the Ecosystem Study #1 lesson, first graders learned that all living things need energy to live and to grow. Therefore, the questions for the first graders in this lesson are: Where do plants get their energy? and How do plants eat?
We get energy from the food we eat. Energy helps maintain all physical bodies and helps the external activities of all living things. Plants receive their energy from the sun. Then with the help of water that contains vital nutrients that are needed by the plant, the plant grows. Animals receive their energy from the plants. When animals or humans eat plants and animals, that energy is passed on to them. As living things die and decompose, invertebrates, fungus and bacteria convert the decaying matter back into nutrients for the plants so the process can begin again. This is the cycle of life!
We illustrate this process by creating a food chain. A food chain will show how energy is passed from one living thing to another. A chain is composed of links. In this first grade lesson, the Sun will send its energy to all the plants of the world which are the first link in the food chain, the Producers. Second and third grade will go on to learn about the second and third links in the food chain which are the consumers and decomposers.
Prior to a nature walk in the gardens, discuss the types of plants that you have in your Living Classroom which are: plants that make vegetables so we have something to eat; plants that make flowers so bees may make honey; and plants that are grasses so birds have seeds to eat. Then take a nature walk to become familiar with the gardens and plants growing in each ecosystem. Before returning to the classroom, each child will pick out a plant, a producer, draw it in the middle of its ecosystem circle and using words or pictures describe the non-living and living parts of the ecosystem where their plant lives.
Upon returning to the classroom, the children tell each other about their special producer in its ecosystem. To help embed the function of a producer, the children will complete a sentence telling the type of plant they drew and its purpose.
Length of Lesson:
Activity #1: Photosynthesis & The Food Chain (45 min)
Activity #2: Nature Walk (45 min)
Activity #3: My Special Producer (45 min)
Materials needed
- Printed Materials (attached):
- Label the Process of Photosynthesis
- Answers for Photosynthesis Worksheet
- Mouse Eating a Plant from Pass the Energy, Please! by Barbara Shaw McKinney
- What Is a Food Chain?
- Ecosystem Circle: Producer
- My Special Producer
- Plants and their Purpose #1
- Plants and their Purpose #2
- celery stalk, a glass or transparent plastic cup and blue dye
- Examples of plants - Some of these plants may have to be bought at a nursery and when the lesson is finished, can be planted in the Living Classroom. These plants can be brought in from the Living Classroom and replanted there after this lesson completed with the exception of the evergreen.
- small evergreen
- pepper plant
- milkweed plant
- small grass (Little Blue Stem)
- flowering plant (snap dragon or zinnia)
- duck weed from the pond
- pencils or colored pencils
- clip boards
- Book:
- The Mysterious Marching Vegetables by Barbara Tharp, Judith Dresden, James Denk and Nancy Moreno
- Videos:
- Photosynthesis for Kids | Learn how plants MAKE their own food
- Fabulous Food Chains: Crash Course Kids #7.1
- Bill Nye the Science Guy: Plants
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
- Request volunteers for Activity #2: Nature Walk
- Print materials
- Bring in live examples of plants and label them with their common name and their purpose. If samples are unattainable, use images in printed materials.
- small evergreen - does not lose its leaves in winter and is a good place for birds to make nests
- a vegetable plant (a pepper plant) - food for people and animals
- a milkweed plant - helps butterflies reproduce
- a flower plant (a snap dragon or zinnia) - produces flowers and has pollen for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds
- a small grass (Little Blue Stem) - seeds for birds
- duck weed from the pond - acts as a water filter (cleans the water) and is a food for the animals in the pond
- Bring in a celery stalk, a glass or transparent plastic cup and blue dye
Vocabulary:
biotic: living
abiotic: non-living
producer: the first living part of the food chain that is the food source for animals
…a person or thing that makes or causes something
ecosystem: a community of plants, animals and smaller organisms that live, feed, reproduce and interact in the same area or environment
environment: the natural world - everything that surrounds someone or something
food chain: a feeding chain which shows how food energy is passed from one organism to another
grass: any plant of the family Gramineae, having jointed stems, sheathing leaves and seed like grains
photosynthesis: the process by which plants make their own food using carbon dioxide, water and sunlight
carbon dioxide: (CO2), a colorless gas and a minor component of Earth’s atmosphere, formed in respiration of animals and employed by plants in the photosynthesis of carbohydrates
osmosis: a passing of material and especially water through a membrane (as of a living cell) that will not allow all kinds of molecules to pass
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 a component of many carbohydrates
Lesson
The Essential Questions are: What are the basic needs of people, animals and plants? and Are the basic needs of people, animals and plants all the same?
The Objective is for the children to know the basic needs of people, animals and plants and to display their knowledge in an oral presentation of “The Basic Needs Chant,” completing an Our Basic Needs assessment and having a teacher led discussion about our basic needs and ecosystems.
“I have a question for all of you. Where do you get the energy to run, to jump and to think?”
Share ideas. Children will come up with food.
“Where does most of our food come from?”
Their first answer will most likely be the store. If you harvested vegetables in your vegetable garden ask:
“Before you answer, I would like you to think about what we harvested from the Vegetable Garden. You are right, we collected vegetables. What do all the vegetables grew on? Right again, plants! Did you know that plants produce almost all of the food we eat? Can we say that the plants we eat give us energy? What do you think?”
“Now where do you think plants get the energy to pass on to us? Remember our basic needs. What is the chant we learned? It is:
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.”
Share ideas.
“We decided that all living things need food to grow. How does a plant get food to grow? Tell the person next to you what you think. “
Share ideas.
”These are very good ideas.”
“Let’s watch a video that will help us out. It is going to tell us about a process that plants do to make their own food. Isn’t that amazing! Plants make their own food! Plants are the only thing on Earth that make their own food. The way they are able to do this is through a process that is called photosynthesis.”
Watch the video Photosynthesis for Kids | Learn how plants MAKE their own food
Pass out the Label the Process of Photosynthesis sheet.
“Now that we know how the plants make their own food, look at this diagram of a plant and see if you and your partner can tell the story of how the plant makes its own food and what the plant gives to us when it makes its own food. After you tell the story, label the parts of the diagram that are important.”
Conduct an experiment to show the process of osmosis which is how plants absorb water and minerals. Take a celery stalk, place it in a glass of water, add a few drops of blue dye and let the children watch it for a day or two. It will not take long for the celery to start turning blue and will demonstrate how water travels through a plant’s stem.
“There is a cycle called the Web of Life that says that all living things on our Earth are connected and they are linked together as energy and nutrients are passed through the food chain.”
Project the picture of the mouse eating grass.
“Let’s look at this picture. The mouse is eating the grass. The grass is a plant that has made its own food with the help of the sun, water, nutrients in the water and carbon dioxide from all of us.”
“The food which the plant has made is a sugar called glucose. As the mouse eats the grass, glucose is being passed to the mouse. The mouse now has food which gives him the energy to work, play and live. If something eats the mouse, then energy is passed on to it. This is the beginning of what we call ‘the food chain’. To help us visualize how this cycle works, here is an illustration of a food chain.
Project the picture of the food chain.
“This chain begins with the sun when energy in the form of sunlight comes from the sun down to the seeds in the ground. Water is added which allows the seeds to grow into many of the plants we eat. These plants are the first link in the chain and they are called the Producers which means they make something happen. The food chain goes on to describe what eats the plants and who or what eats the beings that eat the plants. When
things die and start decomposing, other beings recycle the nutrients and bring
them back into the soil, and thus plants, allowing the cycle to begin again. Here is a video to tell us about food chains.”
Watch Fabulous Food Chains: Crash Course Kids #7.1
“We are going on a nature walk to our Living Classroom Learning Lab to investigate all the different plants that we have there. Before we go, I would like to show you samples of some of the plants that you will see.”
For the children to understand why we have so many different plants, it is important for them to know that many plants have a different purpose other than to feed the Earth. Go through the samples of living plants emphasizing and discussing the different structures and leaves. Talk about the differences in the plants that we use for beauty and the plants that are vegetables or grasses.
- small evergreen – does not lose its leaves in winter and is a good place for birds to make nests and for animals to hide from predators
- a vegetable plant (pepper plant) – food for people and animals
- a milkweed plant – helps butterflies reproduce
- a flowering plant (snap dragon or zinnia) – produces beauty for our enjoyment and has pollen for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds
- a small grass (Little Blue Stem) – seeds for birds
- duck weed from the pond – acts as a water filter by cleaning the pond water and is food for the animals in the pond
“In a few minutes, we are going to take a guided Nature Walk through the Living Classroom Learning Lab to look at the plants that are growing there. We will be walking through the Butterfly Garden, the Prairie, the Pond and the Vegetable Garden. You will see many plants for sure. Each one of these gardens is a separate ecosystem. Each of these ecosystems has plants and animals that need to have all their basic needs met here. In addition to the living objects in an ecosystem, there also need to be non-living objects to complete the ecosystem.”
“When we finish our Nature Walk, you will go to one of the gardens, or ecosystems, to complete the ecosystem circle. In the outside circles of the ecosystem circle, draw pictures and write the words for all that you find that is living and all that is non-living. In the middle of your circle, draw the plant or plants that are the producers in your ecosystem.”
Remind the children of how to act in the Living Classroom Learning Lab and take them on a nature walk through the gardens, in a wild area or in an area where gardens will be established.
“Remember, if there are animals in the Living Classroom Learning Lab when we first get there, they may go away for a while, but if we step softly and have silent voices they may come back. We also need to keep our eyes and ears wide open.”
If you have an established Living Classroom
Learning Lab garden use this script as a tour of the area.
Hummingbird Garden is where the plants bring beauty to our world with their flowers. Most, but not all, of the flowers on the plants here are shaped in a “v” so the hummingbird can use its long beak to collect its food from this producer. The plants here give the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds food and help them to grow and reproduce.
Butterfly Garden is where butterflies, bees and birds abound. All the plants here enhance our Earth with their beautiful colors and shapes. Swamp milkweed and common milkweed are in this garden. These plants are a food for the butterfly and also a place for the butterfly to lay its eggs. While here, try to find the snap dragon. It is one of the smallest, closed up flowers that only a bee can climb into to pollinate. Both the Hummingbird and the Butterfly gardens are pollinating gardens. Look at the original Living Classroom Learning Lab Butterfly Garden on a Google map and you will see that it was built in the shape of a butterfly.
The Prairie is where the tallest and most unusual of our plants grow. Our Prairie has the tallest grass grown in the Prairie, Big Blue Stem. It also has the tallest flowering plant in the Prairie, Prairie Dock. All the plants in the Prairie are great examples of how plants can adapt to their environment. These grasses provide many seeds for birds and the flower heads also provide pollen for the bees and butterflies.
The Pond is where the smallest plant in the world, duck weed, 11 A Snap Dragon duckweed resides. It is one of the plants that helps to keep the water in the pond clean. It also is food for the animals in the pond. Usually in the middle of the pond are water lilies. The animals in the pond love to hide and cool themselves under the lilies’ large petal pads. Water Striders use the lily pads as jumping pads for their antics. The plants around the pond are there to beautify the pond area. There are many animals living in the pond and their presence or absence is an indicator of pond ecosystem health.
The Vegetable Garden plants are grown for food. Some of the vegetables grown here are cabbages, lettuces, carrots, onions, strawberries and peppers. There is a huge plant grown for both its beauty and seeds for the birds. It is the sunflower. Every spring, the kindergarten children plant the vegetables and then harvest them in September to take to the Food Pantry.
Once the Nature Walk has been completed, instruct the children to complete their ecosystem circle.
Ecosystem Circle: Producers Name: Producers Living (Biotic) Non-Living (Abiotic) The Sun “Now that we know more about the fabulous producers that we have in our Living Classroom, go to one of the gardens or ecosystems to complete the ecosystem circle. Find a plant that you would like to place in your ecosystem circle. In the outside circles of the ecosystem circle, draw pictures and write the words for all that you find that is living and all that is non-living around your producer. In the middle of your circle, draw the plant or plants that are the producers in your ecosystem and write your garden’s name where you found your producer.”
Read and discuss The Mysterious Marching Vegetables.
“There is a mystery! Where is the lettuce going? Our friends put on disguises and stay up all night to solve this mystery. The story incorporates information about plants, health, pesticides and pollution remedies.”
Bring the children together with their ecosystem circles and distribute My special producer is important because. Discuss the possible sentence endings.
Some answers could be:
- it gives food for all of us
- it beautifies the Earth
- it helps animals reproduce
- it helps animals hide in them and build
houses in them
Share when the children are done.
“Where did you find your producer?”
“How is it important?”
Watch & discuss: Bill Nye the Science Guy: Plants
“Now that we know what these plants do for us, is there something we should do for them?”
A Map of My Garden
Purpose of the lesson:
In the three previous Kindergarten lessons Seeds to Seedling in the Kindergarten Classroom, Making a Seed Tape, and Planting in the Garden, the children planted vegetable seeds in small pots, seed tapes, and directly into a furrow in the ground. In their classroom, they have observed the tiny stem and leaves emerging from their planted seed. They have been observing the same process occurring with the vegetables they have planted in the Vegetable Garden.
Now as first graders, they are harvesting their vegetables and have seen an astonishing site - an orange carrot and a white onion pulled from the ground and potatoes being dug up from the ground. As they pull or dig these vegetables from the earth, they will understand that some seeds that they planted grow beneath the earth. If they do not experience the harvesting of carrots, onions, and potatoes, they may well believe that all vegetables grow from the leaves on the top of the soil.
The book Tops and Bottoms and the mapping exercise which takes place after the book is read will help them to know that there are vegetables that grow on top of the ground, under the ground, and some grow right in the middle. The first question for the lesson is Do all vegetables grow above the ground?
As the children make A Map of My Garden, they will learn to make a map key and understand that the symbols they put in the key represent vegetables they have planted. They will place the symbol near the image of the vegetable for which it stands. In the final step, the children will use the symbols to plant rows of vegetables in My Garden.
A second question for this lesson is How does the map “key” help to unlock the information on a map?
Background Information:
Most of the vegetables the children plant in the Vegetable Garden grow above the ground. The ones in the garden that grow below ground are potatoes, carrots, beets, and onions.
The idea for the literary style of Tops and Bottoms comes from the tricksters tales of the slave stories of the American South as well as many European and Native American folktales. In this genre, the trickster is the one that beats a hardship by using its wits.
A Tunisian folktale which was retold and illustrated by Harold Person titled Why the Jackal Won’t Speak to the Hedgehog is the wonderful story of “Tops and Bottoms” told long, long ago to Tunisian children so they would know how vegetables grow. Tunisia is a rather small country located on the African continent sandwiched between Libya and Algeria right on the Mediterranean Sea. Don’t you wonder how many more “Tops and Bottoms” folktales are out in the world?
Length of Lesson:
Activity #1: How Vegetables Grow & Making a Map (60 min)
Materials Needed:
- lock and key
- map of the world with the USA and Tunisia
- Books
- Tops and Bottoms - a book by Janet Stevens
- Video: Tops and Bottoms Read Aloud
- Why the Jackal Won’t Speak to the Hedgehog - a Tunisian folktale retold and illustrated by Harold Berson
- A Map of My Garden
- Vegetable Cut Outs
- Symbol Cut Outs
- Printable Materials Attached:
- A Map of My Garden
- Vegetable Cut Outs
- Symbol Cut Outs
- A Map of My Garden Complete Example
- markers
- scissors
- glue
- Tops and Bottoms - a book by Janet Stevens
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
- Request volunteers for this lesson
- Print materials
Vocabulary:
jackal: any of several small omnivorous canids (such as Canis aureus) of Africa and Asia having large ears, long legs, and bushy tails
hedgehog: a small, brown animal of Europe, Asia, and Africa that has sharp spines on its back and that can roll itself up into a ball
symbol: a thing that represents or stands for something else
key: maps use a key, or legend, to explain the meaning of each of the symbols used in the map
Lesson
Essential Questions are:
~ Do all vegetables grow above the ground?
~ How does a map “key” help unlock the information on a map?
The Objective is for the children to learn that there are vegetables that grow under the ground, on the ground and above the ground while they are learning the purpose of a map “key” in completing their Map of My Garden.
“We have been learning a lot about the vegetables we are growing in the Vegetable Garden. We have grown vegetables in our classroom and have planted them outside. Today, I have a folktale for you about a hare and a bear who became business partners in growing a garden. “
“A folktale is a story that was usually told a long time ago when they say,’ It was a time when all the animals could talk.’ In a folktale, there is usually someone who is very big. In this case, it is the bear. And there is someone who is very small, who in our book, is the hare. In folktales, a problem usually appears and it is up to the smallest to use their brain and creativity to find the solution to the problem. The smallest outwits the biggest. Let’s read our story Tops and Bottoms. Janet Stevens is the author and the illustrator of this folktale. This folktale is a modern day folktale which means that it didn’t happen long ago, but rather just a short while ago. I’m wondering if it could have happened right in our Vegetable Garden with a raccoon and a hare, which is another word for bunny. As I read, be thinking about the problem in the story. Who finds a solution and how did they find it? Now for our story, Tops and Bottoms – a folktale for you about a hare and a bear who became business partners in growing a garden.“
Read Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens. When the story is finished, discuss with the children the different ways vegetables grow and the problem and solution in the folktale.
At this time bring out and read the other folktale, Why the Jackal Won’t Speak to the Hedgehog by Harold Berson and compare the two stories.
“Now that we have read ‘Why the Jackal Won’t Speak to the Hedgehog’ it seems to me to have come through time as an oral story from a long, long time ago that was probably told around the camp fire at night. What are some of the clues that tell us this?
Share ideas. Some may be clothing, buildings, tools, the animal characters, the country.
“The story ‘Why the Jackal Won’t Speak to the Hedgehog’ came from the country of Tunisia which is a rather small country located on the African continent sandwiched between Libya and Algeria right on the Mediterranean Sea.”
Locate Tunisia and the USA on the map.
“Looking on a map, the two countries are far apart. How do you think that could have happened that there are two stories so similar but are so far apart and one that was told a long, long time ago? These stories are identical in the ideas and
lesson they want to be known. Don’t you wonder how many more ‘Tops and Bottoms’ folktales are out in the world?”
After discussing the stories, pass out the sheets of A Map of My Garden, Symbol Cut Outs, and Vegetable Cut Outs.
“We are going to draw A Map of My Garden. Please cut out the photos of the four vegetables and all the geometric symbols. We will use all of these to make our map. Today, we will be learning about a map key and adding it to our map.”
Hold up the key and lock.
“What does a key do for a door? Good. It opens the door and lets us know what is inside. That is exactly what a map key also does. It opens up the map and tells us what the symbols are representing. Why do we need to have a map key? It explains how to read the map and tells about things that are on the map. On your map, the key will be most important.”
“We are going to have four vegetables in our garden. Instead of making a complicated drawing of each vegetable, we are going to make a special symbol for each vegetable we are going to plant.
an orange triangle = a carrot
a blue circle = a potato
a yellow square = corn
a green star = lettuce
Let’s put each of these symbols and what each symbol stands for in the map key.
These symbols can represent actual living things – our plants!”
Guide the children in completing the map key by writing name of the vegetable next to each symbol.
When the key is complete, the children can begin putting the vegetables on the line below the words A Map of My Garden. Before the children begin to put their pictures of the four vegetables on the line, discuss where each vegetable grows stating that the line is the dirt:
- the corn grows way above the line
- the potatoes grow below the line
- the carrots grow below the line
- the lettuce grows on the line Once the images are in place, put each vegetable’s symbol below it.
“Look at the single line under the words Map of My Garden. We are going to place the pictures of the four vegetables we have cut out on this line. We need to place them properly on this line that represents the dirt. Think about the carrot. Where does the part of the carrot we eat grow? That is right. The part of the carrot that we eat grows below the dirt and that part is orange. Where on the line will we place the carrot? Right again! The orange part of the carrot goes below the dirt line and the green part of the carrot goes above the dirt lines, so the middle of the carrot is on the line. Place the carrot on the line now.”
“What other vegetable grows like the carrot – part above the line and the vegetable that we eat grows below the line? Super! Potatoes! Place these on the line correctly.”
“The corn will go way above the line. And where does the lettuce go? That’s it! Right above the line.”
“Now it’s your turn! I would like you to put the symbol for each vegetable right under its picture.”
Now, the children should be ready to plant their garden. Remind them that when they planted in the vegetable garden, their seeds and plants were planted in straight rows. It is best to start the top row with the corn because its symbol the yellow square needs to be placed about an inch above the line. Map four vegetables to a row. Complete the first row and part of the next row with the children. Allow them to complete the remainder of My Garden on their own.
“It is time to plant My Garden. Each of the four lines under the words My Garden represent dirt. We are going to use each vegetables symbol to plant four of the same vegetable on each line. Let’s start with the four yellow squares that represent four corn plants. Place these four way above the dirt line. An ear of corn grows up high. Once the corn is pasted down, you can continue to complete My Garden by adding the remaining three corn symbols to that line. Four vegetables of the same kind should be on one line. Keep going with your next type of vegetable on the next line.”
When the children have completed their garden pictures, congratulate them on their beautiful gardens.
“Look at these gorgeous maps! What beautiful gardens! You have done a great job today.”
“Can you name some of the vegetables you harvested that grew below the ground On the ground? Above the ground?”
“Do we now know what the map key tells us?”
wINTER uNITS
Private Eye Observation
Background Information:
The Private Eye piece, which is similar to a “jeweler’s loupe,” magnifies an object 5 times. Putting two of the eye pieces together will give a magnification of 10 times. As the children look through their “loupe," they will be asked to respond to three questions: “What does it look like?”, “What does it remind you of?”, and “What else can it be?”
Length of Lesson:
approximately 30 to 35 minutes
10 minutes for modeling the lesson
10 to 15 minutes for the children's observations to be recorded 5 to 10 minutes for sharing observations
Teacher note: If a child in the class is sick or has any eye infection, they cannot partake of this activity.
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 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 form the children.
4 to 5 parent handouts that have been xeroxed, mounted back to back, laminated, and placed on a ring
Presentation system to model the lesson
12 Zeiss Lens Cleaning Wipes to clean the loupes when the lesson is complete.
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
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.
Ask parents to bring in samples of leaves, flowers, moss - anything living
Advanced Volunteer Responsibilities:
Bring in samples of living things: leaves, flowers, moss, strawberries, etc.
After the lesson: Use Zeiss Lens Cleaning Wipes to clean the loupes when the lesson is complete.
Replace the Private Eye Kit to the Living Classroom Learning Lab shelves.
Vocabulary:
loupe lo͞ op/
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
Lesson
Important: This was presented in kindergarten, but probably needs a review.
Introduce the concept of “in focus” and “out of focus”, or “blurry” versus “clear”. The best way to convey the clarity and sharpness with focus is to place and image like a picture of a face on an overhead projector or presentation system and move it in and out of focus until the children can orally recognize
which is “in focus” and which is “out of focus”.
You can show them the picture of where the loupe should be. The loupe should be held against the eye, and the object should be held about two inches away from the lens. They should be able to see the object in focus — very sharp and clear.
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 “Describe what you see.”
Elicit as many responses as possible. List of possible sight words: glassy, fluffy, furry, greasy, hairy, bumpy bubbly, dull, feathery, foamy, fuzzy, lacy, leathery, metallic, mushy, moist, oily, sandy, shaggy, shiny, silky, slimy, smooth, soft, spongy, tangled, velvety, tiny, large, gigantic, microscopic
“What does it remind you of? Describe what else it reminds you of”
You may have to begin by giving one or two of your own creative responses.
After a few minutes, bring out the Private Eye loupes. The children need to be the best observers that they can possibly be. Sometimes they can find something marvelous that no one else has seen just by opening up their eyes and thinking. Remind them to always use their imagination.
“You are going to use the Private Eye piece today. It makes objects look bigger. When that happens, you will be able to see different things. You will each get an object to look at with your Private Eye piece. Do you know there is an occupation known as a Private Eye? Does any one know what a Private Eye person does? A Private Eye looks and watches to find out unusual and interesting things about other people. Now, you can be a Private Eye to find new and interesting things about different objects. As you look through your loupe, describe your object in the first circle that says, “What does it look like?”. Think of as many words as you can that would describe your object to someone who could not see it.”
“Think about, “What does it remind you of?” or “Describe what else it reminds you of. Use your imagination on this question. You can whisper your ideas to a grown-up who will be able to write them down for you.”
“Now that we know what we are going to do, I am going to put you with a partner, and then I will give you a place to sit together. On the table, you will find a loupe and a recording sheet and I will give you an object to look at with your loupe. Remember to use your imagination and use whispering voices.”
Ask a parent to go with each group and write down all the children’s ideas. Ask them to write down the name of the child and the objects observed. Try to have the groups spread out as much as space allows. Have different objects for each child in the group.
Hand out to the parents a copy of the questions that they can use to help the children focus.
On the back side from the questions, there is a list of sight describing words.
“When you finish answering these questions, we are going to make something called a simile. A simile is something we use when we write and talk to describe something. We describe the object by comparing it to something that we know using the words like or as.”
Scavenger Hunt
Update in progress
Lesson
Even during winter’s coldest and snowiest days, nature never sleeps. Bundle up, bring your digital device, because it is time to take another quiet walk through the Living Classroom trying to find:
- a rabbit’s foot prints
- another set of animal tracks (maybe a raccoon’s or a deer’s)
- a solid form of water
- fallen leaves from three kinds of trees a tunnel in the snow
- red berries
- shaggy bark from a tree a human shoe foot print a large hole in a tree
- a feather
- a tree in the shape of a triangle
- an abandoned nest
- a pine cone
- a piece of trash
- a beautifully colored rock
- something no one else will find anything green
Show the children the materials:
- Seeds: Zinnias, Bee Balm (Monarda), English Daisy, Calendula, Lantana, Carnation, Mexican Sunflower
- Soil
- Bio Dome or Containers
- Popsicle stick for names of plants and children
“Last year in kindergarten, children, you may have grown vegetable plants and then went out to the Vegetable Garden and planted them there or in containers. You were able to watch them grow all summer long and then when you came back to school, you were able to harvest your vegetables. Now, you are first graders and we are going to do the same thing. This time we are going to germinate the seeds of flowers that will become flowering plants which we will take out to place in the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens. We are going to be planting Zinnia and Mexican Sunflower seeds.”
If you are using a bio dome:
“Here is the seed-starting kit that we are going to use to grow our plants. It is just like the one you used in kindergarten to plant your vegetables, so you do know how our seeds will grow. Once we plant our seeds, we will fill the bottom with water, and the dome will go on the tray. When everything is together, we will place the bio dome near a sunny window or under a grow light if one is available.”
If you are using other containers:
“Here are the containers that we are going to use to grow our plants. Once we plant our seeds, we will place our containers near a sunny window or under a grow light if one is available.”
“What is the substance in which we are planting our seeds?” “You are right – soil. Let’s plant your seeds!”
“I think you remember how to do it, so I will only go over the directions briefly.”
Show how to plant the seeds.
“Each one of you will plant a seed in one of the cells or containers.”
Give each child a craft stick to write their name on to place it in the spot with their seed.
“Our container will be we will be in a very warm place until we begin to see green little leaves poke up from the soil. Then we will be put your seedlings under a grow light, if it is available, to give them more light and warmth.”
“Once the first leaf grows on your plant, you will measure your seedling with unifix cubes and record how much it has grown in your new journal ‘First Grade Is Growing.’ Every five days you will measure and record. When it is time, you will transplant your plants into the Butterfly or Hummingbird Garden. You can come to visit the gardens all through the summer and watch your flowers grow. When you come back to school in the Fall, you will be in second grade. Then, you will collect the seeds your flowers have made and make them into seed balls to be put back into the gardens.”
“Do you remember from kindergarten what we found that a seed needs to germinate?”
Hopefully, the children will respond with water and light. The children may respond with food. In the Kindergarten Seeds to Seedlings lesson, we opened a Lima bean seed to find the food for the plant inside the seed. They may also include space which was discovered in the lesson Making a Seed Tape.
“Fantastic! Yes. Water and light. You have also remembered space and food. Where does it find its food?”
Project the image of the Inside of the Lima Bean Seed. You may want to chart their answers so you are able to know what they do recall.
“Now, I am going to ask you to go back to another lesson we have had where we found out the basic needs of all living things. We developed a chant which, if you have forgotten, I will say and then I’m sure you will remember it. The second time that I say it, we will say it all together.”
“It is:
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.”
“Which one of the basic needs for all living things have we not investigated? Again, you are right. Shelter. Why or when would a plant need shelter?”
Charting their thoughts. If they are stumped, ask,
“Why are we starting our plants inside instead of outside?”
Some children may be familiar with greenhouses.
”Give me a thumbs up or down if you know what a greenhouse is. What is the function of a greenhouse?”
“We are starting our plants inside because it is not that warm out at night yet. If we planted them outside, we might have to cover them every night to protect them from frost. On your way home today, look real hard at the tops of the trees. You will see buds on them. Also look at the beds where flowers are planted and watch for the very green tips of plants pushing through the soil. Listen for the ducks and cranes honking in the sky. Their coming back is a sure sign Spring is coming. Watch for the spring flowers in stores and the spring flower wreaths on houses. These are all signs that it is about time to take our seedlings out to plant. Come to school and tell us when you hear or see these happenings. It will almost be time to take our plants outside. Hopefully, we have given our plants enough shelter.”
Pass out the children’s First Grade Is Growing journal.
“Here is your new journal where we will record the progress your plant makes as it is growing. This journal is very similar to the one you used in Kindergarten.
Please write your name on the first page and open to the second page.
Write the date we planted our seeds in the classroom which is .
Look at the first sentence. When will we measure our plants:
for the first time for the second time? for the third time?
We will continue to record all our experiments in our journal until we finally harvest our flowers to obtain seeds for the next planting time.”
After the seeds are planted, project the pictures of the Great Lakes Dunes and a Kelp Forest ecosystem.
“Looking at these two ecosystems, if we were to be there, would we be planting our seeds in soil? What do you think?”
“Of course not. What substances would we be using?”
“Yes, you are right. We would be planting in sand at the beach ecosystem, and we would be planting in water in the ocean ecosystem.”
“Do you think a seed could grow in sand? What is your best guess or hypothesis? Stand if you think that a seed could germinate in sand.”
“It seems that many of you are not sure.”
“Do you think a seed could germinate in water? What is your best guess – your prediction or hypothesis? Stand if you think that a seed could germinate in water.”
“It also seems that some of us are sure and some of us are not sure.”
“I think we could find the answer to this question by setting up an experiment which could help us answer the question: Can a seed germinate in soil, sand and water?”
Show the 3 containers.
Here are the test tubes or containers. We can fill one container with soil, one with sand and one with water. We could then plant a seed in each container and watch to see how all three seeds grow. There is our experiment.”
“Let’s set up the experiment to see what exactly will happen to both the plant stems and their roots.”
“In this experiment, what is the question we are trying to find out?”
Take the children’s ideas and guide them to:
“Excellent! You have come up with the best question: Can seeds germinate in soil, sand and water?”
Have 10 lima been seeds already germinating to show.
“For this experiment to begin, I have a some bean seeds. I chose bean seeds because they do not take long to germinate – only about 3 days after they have been soaked in a paper towel in the warm window.”
“Look at these seeds. They have the little green stem poking out of the seed. I will place one seed in each container.”
Plant a bean seed in each container. Demonstrate how to plant the seed. Hand out to each child:
- 3 seeds
- 3 containers
- Soil, sand and water for each container
- Permanent marker for name
“What else do we need to give our seeds to survive?”
“Our experiment is now set up. It will be fun to watch to see what will happen.”
Distribute the journal titled “My Soil, Sand & Water Experiment.” “Open your ‘Soil, Sand & Water Experiment’ journal to page 2.” “The question that we are trying to answer is Can
seeds germinate in soil, sand and water?”
“Under the question is your best guess, prediction or hypothesis. Circle the substances that you think seeds will grow in. You could circle one substance, two substances or all three substances.”
“After we put the seeds into each container, we
will watch to see if the plant grows. We will watch and measure the stem of the new plant. Going back to your journal, you are asked to predict if soil, sand, or water will grow the best bean plant. Write what you think will happen on the next line. We will not be able to put a final answer on the last line until we see the end of our experiment.”
“As our beans begin to grow, we will measure their progress. Turn to the next page in your journal to see where we will be charting our beans’ growth. Enter today’s date again where you see the line that says date all planted at the bottom of the page. Now, we can begin watching. We certainly have some exciting experiments to watch!”
“While we were planting I was talking to you about what plants need to survive. Can we remember what they are? I would like you to think and tell us if and how we will be able to supply those needs to our seedling plants.”
Have the children complete the basic needs page of their journal.
Note: On this page of the journal, the intent is to have the children draw what they imagine their plant will look like when grown and draw representations of the basic needs they have given their plant – for example: raindrops representing water and the sun representing light and energy.
When the first leaf appears on their control plants,
children will take their first measurement.
In their journal, First Grade Is Growing, have the
children place the date they planted their seeds.
Complete the pages describing how their seedling
grew as they measure their seedlings. The last
measurement is recorded before the seedlings are
transplanted into the garden in the Planting in the
Garden lesson.
Take measurements on the Sand & Water
experimental plants at the same time as the control plants.
Discuss the results of the Soil, Sand, and Water
experiments.
- Are the results what you thought they would be?
- Did you notice anything unusual as the
seeds were growing? - Do these results make you wonder about
something else? - Who do you think might be interested in
the results of this experiment?
Watch the video of a reading of the book Oh Say Can You Seed by Dr. Seuss.
Read aloud to the class A Seed Is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston & Sylvia Long Using the descriptive words in A Seed Is Sleepy, ask the children to interpret the words and phrases in dance.
Put a list of descriptive words and phrases from A Seed Is Sleepy on the board. Do these words and phrases describe themselves or other people they know? Using the words, describe someone. “I am sleepy when I wake up too early.”
Using the endpapers at the front and back of the book, ask the children to identify the seed with the plant.
SPRING UNITS
Seed To Seedling
Purpose of this Lesson:
Last year, the kindergarten children planted vegetables and fruits in the Vegetable Garden. Now as first graders, the children will replenish the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens with their seeds, plants, and seed tapes of flowers. The main purpose of this lesson is for the children to understand that plants can be grown in many different substances. Since this is a lesson designed for first graders, we will only consider three substances that can be used to germinate their seeds: soil, sand, and water. One of the questions that the children need to answer in this lesson is Can seeds germination in soil, sand, and water? In order to answer this question, a hydroponics lab will be set up. The lab consists of three tubes or containers. One will be filled with soil. Another will have sand and the other will have water. A seed from the same flower species will be placed in each tube and from there the children will observe to see if the seed can grow in all three substances.
In a first grade ecosystem lesson titled Ecosystem #1 - Living & Non-Living Review & The Basic Needs of All Living Things, the children discovered that the basic needs of animals and plants are the same. They all need air, water, food, shelter, sunlight, and space, and these all need to be in the same place.
In the first Kindergarten lesson, Seeds to Seedlings, the children found out that their plants needed water and light to grow. They saw in the Lima bean seed that a seed has its own food stored in the seed. In the Seed Tape lesson, they predicted that their seeds and plants will need the right amount of space to grow.
The basic need of a plant that has not been addressed in the Kindergarten planting lessons is shelter. This is the second purpose of this lesson with the question being When would a plant need shelter? The concept of shelter for a plant will be introduced with the idea of what would happen if we took our plants out to the Butterfly or Hummingbird Gardens without checking what the weather would be like for the next month. If the plants were in the garden and they were out and a frost occurred, then what would happen to our plants?
Since our growing season is shorter here than the states of California or Florida, many gardeners begin plants inside. Starting these plants indoors is a good way to have them ready to go outside when the weather is warm enough to transplant them in the Butterfly or Hummingbird Gardens. It is also a magical moment when the children first see the green tips of a seemingly lifeless seed bursting through the black dirt becoming a living plant. Their eyes light up and they want everyone to come and look at what is happening, beaming that they are partly responsible for this amazing occurrence.
Sequence of Lessons Showing the Life Cycle of a Seed:
First Grade:
Seed to Seedling in the First-Grade Classroom:
This lesson is the beginning of a series of three 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 know that from the flower seed they plant in the soil in the classroom a plant will grow and continue to grow once it is transplanted, if they give it water and light.
Making a Seed Tape:
Essential Question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?
Children know that a flowering plant needs the right amount of space to grow.
Planting in the Butterfly and Hummingbird 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 Butterfly and Hummingbird 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.
Background Information:
A seed is the plant’s embryo that stores its initial food supply inside a protective coat until a combination of elements wakes the embryo up. Water, warmth, air, and sunlight come together and germination begins.
Length of Lesson:
Activity #1: Planting the Seeds (30 min)
Activity #2: Soil, Sand and Water Experiment (45 min)
Activity #3: Measuring & Journal Entries 1, 2 & 3 (45 min each)
Activity #4: Read Aloud Books or Video (45 min)
Materials Needed:
- picture of the Inside of a Lima Bean Seed
- picture of a greenhouse to prevent damage from frost
- containers - bio dome or a variety of containers could be used such as nursery flats or trays, cardboard egg cartons, cut-down milk cartons, etc. One of the best containers to use is the biodegradable peat pots which can be planted right in the ground when it is time to plant the vegetables in the garden. Make sure that any container to be used has holes in the bottom for good drainage.
- The container pictured here is a Bio Dome Seed Starting Kit. The kit has two trays. The top tray holds all the individual pots. The bottom tray contains water which makes the kit self watering. The children will plant a seed in each cup.
- a package of seeds that can be planted indoors:
Zinnias, Bee Balm (Monarda), English Daisy, Calendula, Lantana, Carnation, Mexican Sunflower
- These seeds need to be bought. They need to be marked Non-GMO, Non-hybridized, organic or heirloom. Some companies have fiddled with seeds and now some seeds will not grow at all or will revert back to an early variety.
- plant labels - the empty seed package on a craft stick
- permanent markers
- plate for the seeds
- 2 individual first grade journals “First Grade Is Growing” and “My Soil, Sand & Water Experiment”
- chart paper to record growth
- Unifix cubes to measure the growth of seedlings
- pictures of a desert ecosystem and an ocean ecosystem
- one package of Lima beans
- Paper towel, plastic bag and water to soak Lima beans for demonstration
- A Seed Is Sleepy - book by Diana Hutts Aston & Sylvia Long - read the entire book especially from the chapter A Seed Is Generous to the end of the book.
- Oh Say Can You Seed - a book by Dr. Seuss
- colored pencils
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
- Set up the necessary materials in the classroom. Set up the Bio Dome Seed Starting Kit.
- Check on the water level in the peat pots once a week and in each container in the Soil, Sand & Water Experiment.
Vocabulary:
biodegradable: capable of being slowly destroyed and broken down into very small parts by natural processes, bacteria, etc.
germinate: biology definition as it concerns seeds: to begin to grow
transplant: move or transfer
embryo: the rudimentary plant usually contained in the seed.
seed coat: the outside layer of a seed
experiment: an operation or procedure carried out under controlled conditions in order to discover an unknown effect or law, to test or establish a hypothesis, or to illustrate a known law
predict: a statement about what will or might happen in the future
hypothesis: best guess, prediction
hydroponic: a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil - Plants that are grown in water without soil are grown hydroponically.
Lesson
Essential Questions are:
~ Can seeds germinate in soil, sand, and water?
~ and When would a plant need shelter?
The objectives are: for the children to know that a seed may be grown in different substances and that plants do require shelter in certain instances.
Seed tapes are to be labeled by seed type. If there are any parts of the seed tapes that are not planted, the children could take them home.
“You have now planted flower seeds in peat pots and in seed tapes. How could we tell if our flowers like your vegetables need space to germinate, grow, and open its buds into beautiful flowers? Do we have some best guesses?”
You may want to chart their ideas.
“There are some great ideas here. Let us see if there are three ways we can plant our seeds so we can answer our question once our seeds grow into flowers.”
“Here is a great suggestion. Let’s make it experiment one: Plant the seed tapes just as they are. We measured them according to the directions. The seeds are about 14 unifix cubes apart”.
“We have another great suggestion. Plant about 4 or 5 peat pots that have your seedlings and plant them with 8 unifix cubes between each one. This is experiment 2.”
“Experiment 3 is planting 4 peat pots that have your seedlings. Have them growing right next to each other.”
“How will this experiment answer our question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?”
You may want to chart answers here to see if there are any misconceptions about why we are measuring plants (not understanding the concept of space…).
“Before we go out to plant, we are going to vote. We have planted our seeds three different ways, which one is best? Stand if you think it will be……
Number one: the seeds in the seed tapes
Number two: the seeds in the peat pots with half the space between them than the seeds in the seed tape (8 spaces)
Number three: the seeds in the peat pots with no space between them .”
“It looks like the seeds in the seed tapes are the ones you think will grow the best flowers because they have the most space. In a few days we will be planting your flower seeds in these three ways. Next Fall when you come back to school as second graders, be sure to come over to the gardens and see if you were correct. Look for your flowers and decide which of the seeds you planted did well. When you come back inside, be sure to write in your journal if the best guess you made last Spring was correct.”
Seed tapes are to be labeled by seed type. If there are any parts of the seed tapes that are not planted, the children could take them home.
“You have now planted flower seeds in peat pots and in seed tapes. How could we tell if our flowers like your vegetables need space to germinate, grow, and open its buds into beautiful flowers? Do we have some best guesses?”
You may want to chart their ideas.
“There are some great ideas here. Let us see if there are three ways we can plant our seeds so we can answer our question once our seeds grow into flowers.”
“Here is a great suggestion. Let’s make it experiment one: Plant the seed tapes just as they are. We measured them according to the directions. The seeds are about 14 unifix cubes apart”.
“We have another great suggestion. Plant about 4 or 5 peat pots that have your seedlings and plant them with 8 unifix cubes between each one. This is experiment 2.”
“Experiment 3 is planting 4 peat pots that have your seedlings. Have them growing right next to each other.”
“How will this experiment answer our question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?”
You may want to chart answers here to see if there are any misconceptions about why we are measuring plants (not understanding the concept of space…).
“Before we go out to plant, we are going to vote. We have planted our seeds three different ways, which one is best? Stand if you think it will be……
Number one: the seeds in the seed tapes
Number two: the seeds in the peat pots with half the space between them than the seeds in the seed tape (8 spaces)
Number three: the seeds in the peat pots with no space between them .”
“It looks like the seeds in the seed tapes are the ones you think will grow the best flowers because they have the most space. In a few days we will be planting your flower seeds in these three ways. Next Fall when you come back to school as second graders, be sure to come over to the gardens and see if you were correct. Look for your flowers and decide which of the seeds you planted did well. When you come back inside, be sure to write in your journal if the best guess you made last Spring was correct.”
Seed tapes are to be labeled by seed type. If there are any parts of the seed tapes that are not planted, the children could take them home.
“You have now planted flower seeds in peat pots and in seed tapes. How could we tell if our flowers like your vegetables need space to germinate, grow, and open its buds into beautiful flowers? Do we have some best guesses?”
You may want to chart their ideas.
“There are some great ideas here. Let us see if there are three ways we can plant our seeds so we can answer our question once our seeds grow into flowers.”
“Here is a great suggestion. Let’s make it experiment one: Plant the seed tapes just as they are. We measured them according to the directions. The seeds are about 14 unifix cubes apart”.
“We have another great suggestion. Plant about 4 or 5 peat pots that have your seedlings and plant them with 8 unifix cubes between each one. This is experiment 2.”
“Experiment 3 is planting 4 peat pots that have your seedlings. Have them growing right next to each other.”
“How will this experiment answer our question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?”
You may want to chart answers here to see if there are any misconceptions about why we are measuring plants (not understanding the concept of space…).
“Before we go out to plant, we are going to vote. We have planted our seeds three different ways, which one is best? Stand if you think it will be……
Number one: the seeds in the seed tapes
Number two: the seeds in the peat pots with half the space between them than the seeds in the seed tape (8 spaces)
Number three: the seeds in the peat pots with no space between them .”
“It looks like the seeds in the seed tapes are the ones you think will grow the best flowers because they have the most space. In a few days we will be planting your flower seeds in these three ways. Next Fall when you come back to school as second graders, be sure to come over to the gardens and see if you were correct. Look for your flowers and decide which of the seeds you planted did well. When you come back inside, be sure to write in your journal if the best guess you made last Spring was correct.”
Seed tapes are to be labeled by seed type. If there are any parts of the seed tapes that are not planted, the children could take them home.
“You have now planted flower seeds in peat pots and in seed tapes. How could we tell if our flowers like your vegetables need space to germinate, grow, and open its buds into beautiful flowers? Do we have some best guesses?”
You may want to chart their ideas.
“There are some great ideas here. Let us see if there are three ways we can plant our seeds so we can answer our question once our seeds grow into flowers.”
“Here is a great suggestion. Let’s make it experiment one: Plant the seed tapes just as they are. We measured them according to the directions. The seeds are about 14 unifix cubes apart”.
“We have another great suggestion. Plant about 4 or 5 peat pots that have your seedlings and plant them with 8 unifix cubes between each one. This is experiment 2.”
“Experiment 3 is planting 4 peat pots that have your seedlings. Have them growing right next to each other.”
“How will this experiment answer our question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?”
You may want to chart answers here to see if there are any misconceptions about why we are measuring plants (not understanding the concept of space…).
“Before we go out to plant, we are going to vote. We have planted our seeds three different ways, which one is best? Stand if you think it will be……
Number one: the seeds in the seed tapes
Number two: the seeds in the peat pots with half the space between them than the seeds in the seed tape (8 spaces)
Number three: the seeds in the peat pots with no space between them .”
“It looks like the seeds in the seed tapes are the ones you think will grow the best flowers because they have the most space. In a few days we will be planting your flower seeds in these three ways. Next Fall when you come back to school as second graders, be sure to come over to the gardens and see if you were correct. Look for your flowers and decide which of the seeds you planted did well. When you come back inside, be sure to write in your journal if the best guess you made last Spring was correct.”
Making a Seed Tape
Purpose of this Lesson:
In this lesson, as in the kindergarten lesson, the children will be planting some of their seeds into seed tapes. The kindergarteners planted vegetable seeds. The first graders will be putting seeds into their seed tapes which on planting day they will place in the Butterfly and Hummingbird gardens to enhance these two gardens with beautiful flowers. Similar to their kindergarten lesson, the children will see that it is stated on the package of seeds how far apart to place the seeds.
The essential question for this lesson is: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well? One of the basic needs of all living things is space. Everything needs its own space to live. To understand why this element of space is so important, the children will be conducting an experiment to see if having enough space helps a plant grow best. Their seeds will be planted by three different methods whose focus will be space:
a row of their seedlings which they started in their classroom peat pots a row of seed tape where the seeds placed inside the paper were measured a specific distance apart as stated on the seed package a row of seeds dropped in a furrow by hand.
The children will not know the results of the experiment until they come back in the Fall as second graders.
A secondary purpose of this lesson is…planting a small seed and watching it grow. The process is a magical time for first grade children — for all children. Making the seed tape is easy, fun, and anticipates a trip out to the Living Classroom Learning Lab to begin planting a new crop of flowers to grow and ultimately help the butterflies, praying mantises, bees, and humming birds thrive throughout the spring and summer in the Butterfly and Hummingbird gardens.
Sequence of Lessons Showing the Life Cycle of a Seed:
First Grade:
Seed to Seedling in the First-Grade Classroom:
This lesson is the beginning of a series of three 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 know that from the flower seed they plant in the soil in the classroom a plant will continue to grow once it is transplanted, if they give it water and light.
Making a Seed Tape:
Essential Question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?
Children know that a flowering plant needs the right amount of space to grow.
Planting in the Butterfly and Hummingbird 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 pollinator of the gardens.
Second Grade:
Harvesting Seeds and Making Seed Balls to Replenish the Prairie and Butterfly and Hummingbird 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.
Background Information:
Making a seed tape ensures the success of growing beautiful plants from very small seeds. If seeds are sown in a furrow, thinning the growing plants is necessary to produce healthy mature plants. Thinning is the process whereby some plants that are competing against one another for existence are removed so that others will have plenty of room to develop. Using seed tapes will eliminate the need to thin the plants. The children look at the directions on the seed packet to know how far apart each seed should be placed. They place the first seed on the tape and measure the distance between it and the next one. It is important during this measuring that the teacher and volunteers verbalize to the children, “You are measuring the distance between 2 points.” When the appropriate time of the Spring arrives, they will be able to plant their seed tapes in the Butterfly Garden and/or the Hummingbird Garden.
As in kindergarten, the children will experience the complete life cycle of their plants. In April, the children will be making seed tapes for their plants. At the right time, these seed tapes will be planted in the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens. Hopefully, the children and their parents will care for their plants and record the growth of their plants throughout the summer months. They will see their plants emerge from the seed tape, begin to grow sprouting leaves and flower buds, and observe these buds bursting into a rainbow of color. With the culmination of harvesting the seeds from their plants in the fall of second grade, the children will have experienced the life cycle of their plants.
Length of Lesson:
30 minutes (In an hour and a half, the children in 3 first grade classrooms can make the seed tapes and each child can plant a seed in a seed pod with the help of 4 parent volunteers.)
If this is to happen, it would still be necessary for the children to be introduced to the correct concept of from “seed to seed” through experiencing the life cycle of a plant. The questions from both Kindergarten Seed to Seedling and Making a Seed Tape lessons need to investigated and understood.
Materials Needed:
- chart paper — in the classroom
- tables: For rectangular tables, there will be two seed tapes made per table. Two children will make a seed tape on each long side of one table. Therefore, there will be four children on each table making two seed tapes.
- seed packets: The seeds need to be bought. They need to be marked Non-GMO, Non-hybridized, organic or heirloom. Some companies have fiddled with seeds and now some seeds will not grow at all or will revert back to an early variety. The packets needed are any type of zinnias (large zinnias, double zinnias, and Thumbelina zinnias). Other seeds to use would be Aquilegia (Columbine), petunia, lantana, Monarda, Mexican Sunflower, and bee balm. Purchase the seeds and bring receipts to the PTO.
- material for the seed tapes: paper towels, newsprint, toilet paper, napkins, newspaper, tissue paper, discarded school papers (any material that will decompose readily when it comes in contact with the soil and water).*The very best to use is one-ply toilet paper
- glue: a paste from flour and water or a paste from cornstarch and water
- a mixing bowl and spoon to mix the glue
- 1/2 cup flour and about 1/4 cup of water to make the glue
- 5 to 6 containers or plastic plates to hold the glue — one per table
- 5 to 6 containers or plastic plates to hold the seeds - 2 seed containers per table
- 6 rulers
- tooth picks to apply the paste
- large sheets of colored bulletin board paper (paper on the large rolls in the teachers’ work room) to cover the tables where the children will be working to make the seed tapes. This paper will stay on the table until the glue dries and the tapes can be rolled up.
- plant markers to identify the place where the seed tapes are planted in the garden
- individual journals,
- a First Grade Is Growing journal for each first grader (carried over from first grade Seed Seedling lesson)
- A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Aston and Sylvia Long
- Oh Say Can You Seed? Bonnie Worth from The Cat in the Hat Library
From the classroom:
- Unifix cubes — used for measuring
- colored markers
Advanced LCC Volunteer Preparation: (30 minutes with 2 volunteers)
- Pull the 2-ply toilet paper into 1 play strips about 6 feet long
- Have enough strips in the kit for each First Grade
- Purchase the seeds in packets from the store and include them in the kit:
- First Grade: Zinnias (State Fair zinnias, Tetra zinnias, Thumbelina Zinnias), Snap Dragons, Mexican Sunflowers, Lantana , etc.
- Any leftover seeds can be put in the planting kits.
Advanced Teacher Preparation: (20 minutes) Reserve a time for the lesson on the Google Calendar.
The classroom teacher may wish to obtain the volunteers for the lesson, or the classroom teacher may ask the Living Classroom liaison caller to obtain the volunteers for the lesson.
Advanced Volunteer Preparation: (5 minutes preparation time with four volunteers)
- Gather all the materials from the Seed Tape kit before the lesson.
- Lay out the large sheets of colored paper and the seed tape materials on the tables before the children come into the room.
- Make the glue. (Combine 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water)
- Lay out the plates with the glue, the plates with the seeds, toothpicks, rulers, Unifix cubes, and the toilet paper strips.
Directions on How to Make a Seed Tape:
Lay the one ply toilet paper on each side of the table to make 2 seed tapes. Each tape should be as long as the table. Place a few seeds in one plate and some paste in another plate and place them both near the appropriate seed tapes. Read the seed packet to see how far apart the seeds should be. Show the children this measurement and connect the same number of unifix cubes as the measurement.
These cubes then become the measurement stick the children will use to measure the distance between each seed. Using the unifix cubes and a marker, the children can measure and place a dot with the markers where each seed will go.Keep the dots on the side of the toilet paper closest to the child. Have the children take a paint brush or toothpick and place a smudge of glue on the colored dot. (One paint brush tip or one tooth pick of glue should do about three to four dots — too much glue may get the seeds to sprout before the seed tape is planted.) Next, have the children place one seed on each spot of glue or paste. While the glue or paste is still wet, fold the toilet paper in half lengthwise over the seeds to make a cover for the seeds. The seed tape is now complete. The seed tape needs to dry before it can be rolled up. Move the seed tapes over a chair or a chart easel where they can dry. If there is still time in the lesson, the children can make plant markers for the garden.
There will be 2 to 3 children for each seed tape.
Pause between directions as children follow. Demonstrate the instructions as you explain.
Vocabulary:
biodegradable: capable of being slowly destroyed and broken down into very small parts by natural processes, bacteria, etc.
germinate: biology definition as it concerns seeds: to begin to grow
Lesson
Essential Question:
Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?
The objective of the lesson is for the children to know that a flowering plant needs the right amount of space to grow by observing the results of three planting experiments which will test the best way to plant zinnia seeds.
“Children, in Kindergarten, you made seed tapes to plant some of your vegetables in the George Washington Vegetable Garden. Today we are going to make seed tapes for plants that will grow to have gorgeous flowers to beautify the Butterfly and Hummingbird gardens. Your flowers will help bring more pollinators to the Living Classroom. Once I start giving you the directions, I know you will remember how you made these seed tapes in Kindergarten.”
- I have strips of toilet paper on your tables that will be the bottom and the top of your seed tape. We need to find out from the directions on the seed packet how far apart the seeds should be.
- Put your unifix cubes together to make that length.
- You are going to be measuring the distance between 2 points. Place your measuring stick on the paper and mark both ends of your stick with a dot. Pick up your stick and place it on the last dot that you made. Mark a dot at the end of your stick. You have just measured the distance between 2 dots. Do this all the way down your side of the toilet paper. Make your dots in a straight row close to your side of the toilet paper strip.
- Using a toothpick, put a tiny (stress tiny) dab of paste on each dot, and place the seed on top of the paste.
- When you have glued all your seeds onto the seed tape, we will fold the toilet paper in half which will glue one side to the other. (Add more glue if needed to secure the seed tape.)
- When the seed tape is dry, we can roll it up and save it until it is the right planting time for that seed. Plant markers will be made so we can mark the place where we plant our seed tapes in the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens.
Seed tapes are to be labeled by seed type. If there are any parts of the seed tapes that are not planted, the children could take them home.
“You have now planted flower seeds in peat pots and in seed tapes. How could we tell if our flowers like your vegetables need space to germinate, grow, and open its buds into beautiful flowers? Do we have some best guesses?”
You may want to chart their ideas.
“There are some great ideas here. Let us see if there are three ways we can plant our seeds so we can answer our question once our seeds grow into flowers.”
“Here is a great suggestion. Let’s make it experiment one: Plant the seed tapes just as they are. We measured them according to the directions. The seeds are about 14 unifix cubes apart”.
“We have another great suggestion. Plant about 4 or 5 peat pots that have your seedlings and plant them with 8 unifix cubes between each one. This is experiment 2.”
“Experiment 3 is planting 4 peat pots that have your seedlings. Have them growing right next to each other.”
“How will this experiment answer our question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?”
You may want to chart answers here to see if there are any misconceptions about why we are measuring plants (not understanding the concept of space…).
“Before we go out to plant, we are going to vote. We have planted our seeds three different ways, which one is best? Stand if you think it will be……
Number one: the seeds in the seed tapes
Number two: the seeds in the peat pots with half the space between them than the seeds in the seed tape (8 spaces)
Number three: the seeds in the peat pots with no space between them .”
“It looks like the seeds in the seed tapes are the ones you think will grow the best flowers because they have the most space. In a few days we will be planting your flower seeds in these three ways. Next Fall when you come back to school as second graders, be sure to come over to the gardens and see if you were correct. Look for your flowers and decide which of the seeds you planted did well. When you come back inside, be sure to write in your journal if the best guess you made last Spring was correct.”
Planting in the Butterfly & Hummingbird Garden
The Purpose of the Lesson:
The first-grade children have planted flower seeds in Jiffy pots that have grown to seedlings. They have also used seed tapes to plant the seeds of flowers. The plants that grow from these seeds will be beneficial for the insects that come to the Butterfly and Hummingbird gardens. The plant’s color and the design of its flower will bring more insects to the garden in spring and throughout the summer.
All the children know the importance of the vegetables they planted last Spring in kindergarten. We need them for food. We are now planting flowers. Have we realized that flowers are important, too? The question for this lesson then becomes Why are flowers important? It is important to reiterate how important plants are to us. The first grade children learned in the Fall that flowering plants are a source of food for some animals. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out 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 even feel happy to see them. Therefore, we need to take good care of them.
A secondary purpose of this lesson is for the children to experience the magic in observing green tips of plants pushing their way up through the dirt from a tiny seed they had placed in their seed tape. With their family, they can come to the garden throughout the summer months to watch the growth of their plants. When Fall arrives, the children will be in second grade; they will then collect the seeds from their flowers to start replanting and begin the life cycle of their plant all over again. All the children and their parents will have then experienced the life cycle of their plants.
Sequence of Lessons Showing the Life Cycle of a Seed:
First Grade:
Seed to Seedling in the First-Grade Classroom:
This lesson is the beginning of a series of three 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 know 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, if they give it water and light.
Making a Seed Tape:
Essential Question: Do flowering plants need their own space to grow well?
Children know that a flowering plant needs the right amount of space to grow.
Planting in the Butterfly and Hummingbird 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 pollinator of the gardens.
Second Grade:
Harvesting Seeds and Making Seed Balls to Replenish the Prairie and Butterfly and Hummingbird 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
Background Information:
This lesson is part of an additional strand that runs throughout the curriculum of animal and plant adaptation and pollination. Last Fall, the children studied the process of pollination. Looking at the plants and the pollinators, it is hard not to wonder how this coevolution between the plants and their pollinators ever evolved. The adage form follows function works extremely well as the principle behind
pollination. It would be good to review with the children the plants that our pollinators need to exist and how they are able to help one another. There is a beautifully written book to review these concepts with the first grade children. It is From Seed to Plant written by Gail Gibbons. Her simple and colorful illustrations will give the first grade children a further understanding of the life cycle of the plants they will be planting.
The children plant in the Butterfly and Hummingbird gardens each Spring. When they return in the Fall as second graders, they will be harvesting the seeds of their flowers to enclose them in seed balls to replenish the Prairie, Butterfly, and Hummingbird gardens.
The classroom teacher will have a map of the Butterfly garden showing where seed tapes are to be planted. The flower seeds planted in the Jiffy pots will be planted at the border of the Hummingbird garden. In order for this to happen, there will need to be pre-planning. This is discussed in the Advanced Volunteer Preparation with the Living Classroom Committee.
Length of the Lesson: 30 to 45 minutes
Materials Needed:
- seed tapes and seedlings: from the classroom
- markers and/or popsicle sticks to identify where seed tapes have been planted
- sand lines, yarn, or popsicle sticks can be used to mark off large areas in the garden where seeds and plants could be planted
- cubes for measuring
- shovels and watering cans located in the shed — key for the shed located with the school secretary
- iPads or iPhones to take a picture of the children planting
- From Seed to Plant - a book by Gail Gibbons
- Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden - a book by Edith Pattou
- Journal: First Grade Is Planting
photocopies of: photosynthesis diagram, Our Planting Experiment, photo of sheltered raised beds and Parent Invitation to visit the gardens over the summer
Advanced Teacher Preparation:
Check all items in the kit against the Materials Needed list.
Reserve a time for the lesson on the Google Calendar.
The classroom teacher may wish to obtain the volunteers for the lesson, or the classroom teacher may ask the Living Classroom liaison to obtain the volunteer for the lesson.
At least two members of the Living Classroom Committee should be with each first-grade class.
Inform all parents two days before of the planting in the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens asking them to have their child wear old clothing on the day of planting.
Decide if the entire class is coming out to plant at one time or if groups are to be sent out to plant.
Advanced Preparation by Living Classroom Committee and volunteers:
- Be there on planting day. Seed tapes need to be planted at least one foot inside the fences so that the plants will get watered (water gets blocked by the big plants). Make a trench 5 to 6 feet long that is 1and 1/2 inches wide and 2 inches deep along the path and on the inside of the fence. This is where the children will plant their seed tapes.
- Mark well where the seed tapes are planted. Use popsicle sticks to mark the beginning and the end of the seed tapes.
- Help the children plant their seedlings in the peat pots at both sides go the Butterfly Garden path.
- The children have an experiment that needs to be planted. The experiment was developed in their Making a Seed Tape lesson. It needs to be planted in a 2 foot square section of dirt in one of the gardens. For the experiment, you need to make:
- a furrow about 2 feet long to accommodate the seed tape
- the children will make holes for the seeds in the peat pots with half the space between them than the seeds in the seed tape (8 spaces) in the next row
- the children will make holes for the seeds in the peat pots with no space between them
- Before the planting lesson, obtain the key for the shed from the Office Secretary. The small trowels and watering cans needed for the lesson are in the shed.
- Bring the trowels and watering cans to the garden.
Vocabulary:
The new vocabulary contained in the lesson comes from the two books, From Seed to Plant and A Seed Is Sleepy, Most of the new words are defined for the teacher and children right in the book when the concept is introduced. At the first grade level, these words are merely introduced. Mastery of these words is not necessary.
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
seed coat: the outside covering of a seed
germination: the seed coat breaks open and the seed begins to grow when the sun shines and warms the ground
germinate: cause to sprout or grow secretive: does not reveal itself too quickly embryo: baby plant
cotyledon: a plant’s seed leaves
monocots: seeds with one seed leaf, like corn
dicot: seeds with two seed leaves, like beans
dormant: slept undisturbed
minerals: organic food which can be present in the soil
photosynthesis: the process where plants make their own food
Lesson
Essential Question is : Why are flowers important?
The objective is for the children to understand that the flowers they will plant to enhance the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens will bring many benefits to our Earth as they:
- provide beauty
- foster happiness,
- feed bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, birds, and more
- eliminate CO2
- provide oxygen
- clean water.
Indoors:
“Exciting news everyone. I noticed something happening outside today. Has anyone else noticed anything? Fabulous! What did you noticed today?”
He/she saw some leaves on the trees and little tips of some plants pushing up out of the soil.
“Remember why we planted some of our seeds in school and didn’t take them out to the garden?”
“That’s right. We wanted to give them a head start growing so we would have beautiful flowers for our gardens as soon as we could. If we planted them outside when it was still cold, we might have to cover them every night and maybe even some days. We gave them shelter from the cold by keeping them inside. Shelter is one of a plant’s basic needs.”
Show the children the tray of seedlings.
“Look, children, at your seedlings. How did they get here? What are they going to become?”
“Great answers. I would like you to always remember that you started with a seed. The plants that you grow are important to have in our ecosystem. Please stretch your brains and tell me some of the reasons that make them so important.”
Answers:
- their beauty,
- helps us to be happy,
- food for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, birds, and more
- get rid of CO2
- gives us oxygen
- clean water
“Class, I would like to go over two your reasons. Flowers can get rid of carbon dioxide for us and they can then give us oxygen. This is a very important idea. It is actually a process that the plants use that helps our Earth breath better. It is called “photosynthesis”. Here is a Youtube video that demonstrates how a plant takes in CO2 and emits oxygen. Let’s watch.”
Photosynthesis for Kids – How Plants Make Food Animation Science
“Isn’t it wonderful what plants for us! Always remember how important these plants are. And now, you have been waiting for this I am sure. We are going to go and plant our seed tapes and these seedlings in the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens. I know that you are excited about planting. Your seeds will grow into a plant that will burst open with the most beautifully colored flowers that will bring many more animals to the garden. Volunteers who will help you plant your seed tapes are waiting at the garden for us. Remember your manners. The volunteers have already dug the trench where you will be placing your seed tape. Once the seed tape is in the trench, you will cover the trench and seed tape with dirt. We take our time to spread the dirt because we would not want any dirt to land in someone’s eyes if we are careless.”
“At some point in our planting time, I will call all of you over to one place in the garden, where we will plant the space experiment you created in our Seed Tape lesson.”
Pass out the children’s seedlings and bring the seed tapes with you.
“I have your seed tapes. Bring your seedlings and let’s go plant!”
Before the children are assigned to groups, bring them over and plant their experiment.
“Class, come over here to plant our space experiment first. Look, our volunteers have this bed all ready for us.”
“Let’s first plant the seed tape in the furrow. Now, we need peat pots with their seedling in the next row. I hope you remember that these seedlings are to be planted in half of the space we used to plant the seeds in the seed tape. That will make them how many inches apart?”
“Super! 8 inches apart! Here are the cubes for measuring.” (Teacher to choose one child to measure.) “ please put 8 cubes together to measure where the holes need to be dug. We can plant about 3 seedlings in this row.”
“For the last row, we are to put the seedlings in with no space between them. You are right! You may be able to put at least 10 in this row.”
“Your space experiment is planted. Remember to come here before you harvest your seeds next Fall to see which row of Zinnias grew the best. I am going to break you into groups now and you can go with one of our volunteers to plant the rest of you seedlings and seed tapes. Have fun.”
Divide the children into groups. Each group will go with their assigned volunteer to plant their seed tape. Following are the directions for planting:
first. Look, our volunteers have this bed all ready for us.”
“Let’s first plant the seed tape in the furrow. Now, we need peat pots with their seedling in the next row. I hope you remember that these seedlings are to be planted in half of the space we used to plant the seeds in the seed tape. That will make them how many inches apart?”
- Help the children unroll the seed tapes into the trench. The children can place the seed tape in and cover it with dirt. Mark where all the seed tapes have been planted.
- The seedlings in the peat pots can be planted in both the Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens. Help the child dig an appropriate hole to accommodate his/her seedling. Cover with a bit of dirt.
“Now that we are all done planting, I would like your volunteers to take a picture of you and the place where you planted your seed tape and also the seedlings. This picture and the date we planted, which is today, will go in your journals and on the chart in our classroom.”
“We have one last thing to do before we go in to wash our hands. Water your
plants very slowly.”
“You have done a splendid job today. I can hardly wait to see how big your plants will grow and how brilliant the colors of your flowers will be.”
“Let’s give a big thanks to all the volunteers that helped us today”
The children need to water their plantings before they return to the building. Ask the volunteers to take the tools back to the shed. Once you come back to the building, take the children into the washroom to wash hands.
“ Watch the garden every day and tell us when you see anything that looks green sprouting out of the dirt where you planted your seed tape. When you see these sprouts, we will go out to see them getting bigger.”
“Please come to visit your plants throughout the summer. When you come back to school after the summer, you will be in second grade. That will be Fall. Your plants will have grown. Remember to go and check out our space experiment. I wonder how many of you will have guessed right about which way your plants grew the best. Later in the Fall, you will harvest the seeds that your plants make. We will replant some seeds and some we will save to be planted in seed tapes by another first grade. You will also get to make seed balls with the seeds you collect. The seed balls help to replenish the gardens. What fun you will have!”
Purpose of the Lesson:
Being able to sit quietly and observe everything around one’s self is an important skill in learning about life and nature. As children progress through activities in the Living Classroom Learning Lab, they will use their senses to understand the plants and animals present in the environment. In this lesson, the children will begin to deepen their observation skills, and they will begin to understand what comprises nature. Their question is: What Is Nature?
Children are natural explorers. As they observe nature, children will learn the intricacies of the relationships between plants and animals. Connections begin to unfold as children learn about the plants and animals. In addition, a responsibility to preserve ecosystems in the face of environmental challenges of habitat loss and climate change develops. This diverse planet 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
Sequence of Activities in the Nature Detective Lessons:
Kindergarten
Essential Question: What is Nature?
Objective: Children use their senses to record sensory words and compose a free verse poem.
First Grade
Essential Question: What makes an object become a special treasure?
Children use their senses to observe, use sensory words in writing and develop an appreciation of nature.
Second Grade
Essential Question: Do all animals have a unique sound? Do all humans have a unique sound?
Children use their sense of hearing to compare the day sounds of the Living Classroom, which is all around you outside, to the night sounds of their backyards
Third Grade
Essential Question: What is a decomposer and why are they important? Children compose a paragraph describing this importance and create a poster illustrating the significance of these organisms
Fourth Grade
Essential Question: What adaptations does this plant make to ensure its survival? Children design their own mega plant which would be able to grow and be sustained for countless years
Fifth Grade
Essential Question: What is Nature?
Children reflect on their first answer in kindergarten and write a poetic diamanté
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 will take the first steps to becoming Nature Detectives - observers of our natural world.
Discovering and reflecting on how things work in the natural world has produced modern inventions.
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 grab hold, came velcro.
how bats fly and dolphins swim, came sonar.
how ducks swim using webbed feet, came flippers.
how termites build mounds and beavers build damns, came basics in architecture.
how nocturnal animals can see in the dark, came night vision. how things fall, came the Law of Gravitational Force.
More discoveries are waiting to be found.
Children must become Nature Detectives!
Length of Lesson: (1 hour 40 minutes)
Activity #1: Discussion What is Nature? & What are our five senses? (20 min)
Activity #2: Observation in the Living Classroom Outside (30 min)
Activity #3: Poem In the Living Classroom (30 min)
Activity #4: Poem If I Look Out the Window (20 min)
Materials Needed:
- Hand lenses for each child
- Pencils
- Clip boards for teacher, children and any volunteers
- Copy for each child of the following:
- Nature Detective recording sheet Using Our Senses
- Free Verse poem In the Living Classroom
- Free Verse Poem If I Look Out My Window
- Copies for teacher and any volunteers: Questions teachers and parents can use to help elicit greater responses from the children
- Copies for teacher and any volunteers: Describing Words
- Nature Detective Badges
- Scissors
- Lamination
- Safety pins
- Tape or Hot Glue
- Books to help answer the question “What Is Nature?”
- Backyard - One Small Square by Donald M. Silver
- The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
- Step Gently Out by Helen Frost Rick
Advanced Teacher Preparation: 30 minutes
- Copies for students and any volunteers
- Nature Detective Badges
Concepts Legend:
~ Ecosystems ~
&
~ Life Cycles ~
~ Adaptation ~
&
~ Pollination ~
~ Biodiversity ~
&
~ Food Chains ~
~ Patterns ~
&
~ Shapes ~
