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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Three Sisters Gardens

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students investigate companion planting. In this  communtiy gardening instructional activity students explore the tradition of the Native American Three Sisters gardening approach. Students act as botanists, anthropologists, folklorists,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does Your Garden Grow?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine birdseed to see if it is a fertilized seed. In this birdseed garden lesson, students experiment with birdseed on a sponge to see what grows. Students record the growth of seeds.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make your Garden Grow

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders role play as certified horticulturists as they study the biology of plants and gardening. They design a garden for their school based on what they researched and a given budget.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drawing Plants with Plant Studio Freeware

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students identify parts of plants by name and the relationship among these parts as they use Plant Studio Freeware Wizard and tools on the computer to draw a particular plant from life or from a picture.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coloring Fabrics With Dyes from Plant Materials K-12 Experiments & Background Information

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate the effects of acid and bases on dyes made with plant materials.  In this chromatography lesson students predict color outcomes and complete a lab activity on color combinations.
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Activity
Curated OER

Garden in a Jar

For Teachers K - 5th
Students construct a simulated garden. In this visual arts lesson, students use a baby food jar and place a small amount of green dough inside of it. Students then poke silk flowers through the dough. Students may decorate the jar using...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Garbage in the Garden

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students create their own compost.  In this soil lesson, students fill a bag with waste and soil, in order to create a mini compost bin. Students observe the baggies over a 6 week period, they record their findings and collect data on...
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Activity
American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture

My Miniature Greenhouse!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Here is an activity that will peak your super scientists' interest and knowledge of greenhouse gardening. Green thumbs flourish when they build, prepare, take care of, and observe their seedlings inside a miniature greenhouse. With...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does Your Garden Grow?

For Teachers K - 4th
Learners discover gardening by documenting plants grown on school grounds.  In this botany lesson plan, students utilize digital cameras to capture images of plants on photo hikes which are turned into a slide show.  Learners plant a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What a Garden Can Teach

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read about land and gardening and create found poems from the text. They use the poems to design interpretation quilts of communal text.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plant Classification

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students participate in an experiment that involves plant classification. They identify and are able to employ three methods of classifying leaves. Each student classifies leaves by each of the following methods: K-I 4.b, d, & e;...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Parts of a Plant

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students identify the parts of a plant and their functions. In this plant biology lesson, students view a PowerPoint presentation on plants and their parts and discuss the functions of each part. Students observe a real plant and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Carrot Heads Garden

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students create a carrot garden. In this gardening lesson, students discuss the conditions needed in order to grown plants while creating their own garden. They read the story The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

We Garden: My Life as a Fruit or Vegetable

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore agriculture by participating in a role-play activity. In this farm to fork activity, students ask and answer questions as though they were a specific plant about to be eaten. Students write responses to critical thinking...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native Beauty

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students plant wild flowers and maintain their garden. In this wild flowers lesson plan, students pick and prepare a gardening site, plant wild flowers, and maintain it everyday.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Edible and Medicinal Plants: Field Trip Guide

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Though it's designed to guide a field trip to the New York Botanical Garden, you could take resource like this one to a local park, wilderness area, school garden, or even a weedy empty lot. Middle schoolers identify plant parts and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pollination Power

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students go out into the garden and observe pollinating animals through hand lenses. In this pollination lesson plan, students also discuss how animals carry seeds to create new plants elsewhere.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prairie In A Bottle

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders observe images of prairie ecosystems and discuss the needs of living things. They create a prairie habitat in a closed jar to observe the water cycle and plant growth.
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Lesson Plan
Roald Dahl

The Twits - The House, the Tree and the Monkey Cage

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
A house with no windows and a garden full of stinging nettles make the perfect home for Mr. and Mrs. Twit. The seventh lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl takes a closer look at the Twits' home...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Grow Plants!

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students read and dramatize the stories "The Tiny Seed" and "The Carrot Seed" as an introduction to seeds and what they become. They work in small groups to plant their own seeds and over the span of a week (+ or -)students keep track of...
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Activity
Education Outside

Rain Dance

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
The importance of rainfall to the life cycle is underscored by an activity that engages class members in a discussion of how water effects newly planted seeds and supports their growth. Class members then create a dance to celebrate the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Texture In the Garden

For Teachers K
Students explore the garden environment. For this garden environment lesson, students investigate the needs and parts of a plant. Students discover the differences between fruits and vegetables while creating their own garden.
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Lesson Plan
Desert Discoveries

Creating a Garden Journal

For Teachers 3rd
Youngsters create science journals which are used to record observations from the school garden. The goal of this activity is to help kids tune into nature by making daily observations on the growth of the plants, and also to take note...
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PPT
Curated OER

Organic Matter

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Written for an agriculture curriculum, this presentation on organic matter is also informative for gardening or horticulture classes. It details the chemical makeup, affecting factors, functions, maintenance, and composting to create a...