School gardens are a wonderful way to build a connection between students and the outdoors all while covering necessary subjects in a hands-on environment. A difficult part of running a school garden is finding lessons to follow for the appropriate age group. Many organizations and schools have compiled free lesson plans and resources to help school gardens succeed. Many of these lessons align with STEM or other standards-based requirements, making them more practical for teachers to use.
That all being said, we’ve compiled a list of 10 of the best resources for school garden lesson plans.
1. School Garden Project
Grades:First-eighth (curriculum has two tracks: second-fifth and first-eighth)
Classroom Size:18-36 students but can be adapted for smaller group of 6-10 students
Summary:One curriculum,Science in the Garden, is a set of 10 lessons for grades second-fifth. Example topics include plant parts and functions, garden habitat, and soil composition.
The other curriculum, STEM in the garden, provides a series of subjects for grades first-eighth. There are two units in this curriculum: soil and plant parts. Students get to learn through scientific experimentation, playing games, and making field observations.
Both curriculums are easy to read and follow and provide all additional printed materials.
Having volunteered with this organization personally, I can ensure that their lessons are well thought out and that kids really like them. Each grade studies a different unit, so each year students get to study something new. This curriculum engages classes through tasting, planting, playing games/activities, and questioning.
通常,每天从教室里的介绍开始,然后学生们走到教室外面,分成4到5个小组,每组5到7个孩子。每组孩子轮流参加志愿者或教育工作者教的活动。学生与每位教育工作者相处约5-10分钟,然后进入下一个活动。
By rotating through activities and teachers, it helps keep the attention of the students. They look forward to these lessons and enjoy their time in and outside the garden.
Find It At School Garden Project
2. Growing Gardens
Grades:K – fifth (curriculum has two tracks: K-second and third-fifth)
Classroom Size:N/A, designed for after-school garden club or summer camp
Summary:TheGrowing Gardens Youth Grow Lesson Plan Manualprovides in-depth information on how to engage with students in the garden in addition to providing eight lesson plans.
Lesson times vary in length; some need 60-120 minutes and others can be completed in five minutes. However, the lessons are in order, so you could easily pull individual ideas from their guide to fit your needs. Some of their fun ideas include making a garden journal, going on a garden scavenger hunt, or playing games such as the “seed packet guessing game”.
Growing Gardens also offers a School Garden Coordinator Certificate training program, which helps build your garden education program at your school/organization. Sessions are held in person in Portland, Oregon over the course of a week and include visits to nearby garden sites.
3. Urban Harvest
Grades:Pre-K – eighth
Summary:If you’re looking for resources on creating your own lesson plans, check out the Curriculum and Resources page onUrban Harvest’s website. If you follow the Curriculum Garden Resources link, you’ll see a nice compilation of books on school gardening. Some examples are “The Growing Classroom” (Gr second-sixth), “Sowing the Seeds of Wonder” (Pre-K), and “Math in the Garden” (Gr K-eighth). To keep costs low, check to see if any of these can be found at your local library.
4. University Of Georgia Extension
Grades:K – eighth
Summary:课程按年级安排。每节课都按照地球科学、生命科学、物理科学等主题进行分类。Most lessons are aligned with Georgia Performance Standards, making it easier for teachers to usethese lessons.
Some of the plans list exactly which standards are being covered. Underneath the curriculum provided, there are additional resources for lesson plans including a bilingual Spanish-English/English-Spanish garden dictionary for elementary school students.
Find It At University Of Georgia Extension
5. Growing Gardeners
Grades:Pre-K through fifth
Classroom Size:Can be used for whole classroom or smaller groups
Summary:These lessons correlate with North Carolina Standard Course of study and are very easy to use. They focus onconnecting students to their foodby learning how it grows and where it comes from.
6. Kids Gardening
Grades:Pre-K-12th
Summary:Kids Gardeningprovides lesson plans for subjects on nutrition, pollinators and wildlife, soils and environment, plant science, and arts and culture. Each lesson specifies an age group and fully utilizes the garden as an outdoor classroom.
7. Learn About AG
Age Range:K-12th
Summary:Learn about Ag presents theirindividual lessonson a searchable table allowing educators to search lesson plans by grade, subject, or standards. Some of their creative lessons include tomato trivia, red imported fire ants, edible plant parts, and a garden plot: The tale of Peter Rabbit.
8. Cornell University
Grades: second – eighth
Summary:Cornell Garden-Based Learning offers short,stand-alone lessonscalled Activities, or alternatively, longer-term assignments found under Curricula, which can be taught inmultiple sessions. All lessons seem adaptable and vary in length.
虽然这些课程可以在学校时间使用,大多数课程似乎更适合花园俱乐部或夏令营。Some fun topics include drying flowers, making catnip sachets, and making plant dyes.
9. Whole Kids Foundation And American Heart Association
Grades:Pre-K – fifth grade
Summary:This guide includes indoor and outdoor lesson plans on a plenitude of subjects including gardening and botany, nutrition, consumer education, and agriculture.Each lessonfollows the same format: description, background, materials, preparation, activity, tying it together, national standards, etc. This makes it extremely easy for anyone to pick it up and follow along. Even if you don’t have an outdoor garden, you can still complete some of the indoor activities with your class.
Find It At Whole Kids Foundation And American Heart Association
10. Edible School Yard
Grades:sixth-eighth
Summary:Edible School Yard专注于中学教育,提供花园和厨房课程。它们提供了按顺序发生的秋季和春季旋转。同样,你可以单独使用一些课程,这取决于你有多少时间。
The sixth-grade lessons set a foundation for garden and kitchen classes including an orientation to the garden and kitchen, how to respect the garden, and lessons on water, decomposition, and bees, for example.
During the seventh grade, students build upon this foundation and delve into a series on corn (how to cook with it and it’s importance to the world) as well as how to use a microscope, and a lesson all about our food system.
最后,在八年级,学生们通过测试土壤的pH值水平,谈论食物选择对环境的影响,谈论与农业有关的正义和劳动。
This is a really great choice for middle school appropriate lessons and offers a great hands-on experience in both the kitchen and the garden.
Eileen Rosemansays
I teach vocational skills to young adults with special needs. Right now, we are discussing and using hands on skills needed to be a landscaper and/or gardener. Do you have a website and reference that I can check out that would benefit my students?
Kimina Jamisonsays
Eileen, I can’t think of any specific recommendations, but I’ll be sure to let you know if I stumble across any. Maybe there’s another insteader that can help you out… Good luck on your search!