Curriculum

As our introduction to the students, we had the students paint the planters we set up in the school to show them the location and prepare for a school year of gardening!

As we quickly approach our first planting project, we explained the crucial role worms play in compost and the life cycle of plants, then allowed them to make their own toy worms.

Since this curriculum begins in the fall, we had our students plant daffodils in their own personal pots that they were able to decorate and claim, and taught them about how to care for a plant.

After winter break, we focused more on plants that we'll eventually integrate into the campus! We taught the students about the various types of succulents and how to care for them, then gave them cuttings/leaves to plant.

We had a lesson about pollination, fruits, cleaning, and other ways that animals help plants in the natural world. In addition, we started journals to track the growth of the daffodils.

As the tulips we maintained were beginning to wilt, we went over what causes plants to die, from overwatering to overheating, and encouraged them to continue watering the plants in the future,

Ahead of Mother's Day, we helped create fun cards themed around flowers for the kid's moms!

Our first scientific lesson, we introduced the students to the six main types of soil, then had them fill the planters with soil in small groups to prepare for planting season.

Since this curriculum begins in the fall, we had our students plant daffodils in their own personal pots that they were able to decorate and claim, and taught them about how to care for a plant.

As the wintertime settled in, we did a hands-on experiment using rubbing alcohol and chlorophyll from leaves outside. Details can be found in the slideshow and here. This was a joy and worked out quickly!

As our daffodils begin to grow larger, we taught the students what it means to have an annual versus a perennial flower, and replanted the flowers into our larger planters so they could act as campus decor.

On a hot spring day, we taught them about the seasons and the weather cycle. As the daffodils had grown and begun flowering, we also had them create seed shakers to sprinkle wildflower seeds throughout the planters.

To get more into the science of how plants work, we went over the parts of a flower, from the roots up to the reproductive parts of a flower. Then, we had them dissect flowers to see the learning in action.