Mounds Park Academy: Day 2

Abby and I went in on the following Monday morning to teach the 3rd and 4th grade classes once again. I had constructed a syllabus that revolved around two main topics. The first thing we were going to do was conduct the plant family activity that Mary kindly constructed for us. We started by doing a brief lesson on the white board of what the six plant families were: carrot, cabbage, nightshade, lily, cucurbit, and legume family. We passed out about 2 identification cards for each family, since the class sizes were around 10-18 students. Once they received these, they took time to find other students in their family and discussed the characteristics that might tie their family together. Abby and I walked around to help the students clarify different features at this time. They were then told to write up the conclusions they made on the board, and then present them to the class. While this was successful in some regard, it was harder to do with the third graders who did not have as much knowledge on the topic so getting together in groups to discuss was a little more difficult. In addition, this portion of class took the full amount of time, so we were not able to get to the second part of the lesson which went over various plant parts, and what each contributes to a balanced meal. We were able to incorporate some of this material into our following lesson; however, not to the degree I planned on for this day.

This is the greenhouse at Crookston elementary school. Right nowit is full of plants that they are growing for their mothers day sale

Last Day at Crookston Elementary School

The third and last time of teaching at Crookston elementary was probably my favorite lesson with them.  We had taken a lesson plan from Ag in the Classroom called, The Importance of Plants. This lesson plan went over ways humans use plants, factors that influenced crops. Important crops in Minnesota and why are certain crops grown in specific areas of Minnesota. Crookston is a big farming community and I felt like the kids could relate to this plan more because of Crookston’s history in farming. Through this lesson plan we talked about the 10 most influential crops of Minnesota, which included both agricultural crops and common horticulture plants. The kids had great answers to our questions and seemed to know more than I thought they would about all the questions we asked. It was really fun to teach in Crookston and it was a fun class to be with.

Second day at Crookston

The second time that Mitch and I went, we started out by taking the kids out to the greenhouse so they could check on their microgreens. Theirs were ready to be harvested, so we showed them how to pick them and what parts to eat. Some of the kids really enjoyed trying them and some didn’t want anything to do with tasting the microgreens. Overall the liked growing microgreens and asked us if they could grow more. It was great knowing that they really enjoyed the lesson. After that we did have some more time so we talked about apples. We discussed what their favorite apple was, how they thought apples are propagated and how many varieties of apples there are. The students seemed to like discussing this topic.

First Day at Crookston Elementary

A couple weeks ago Mitch and I went to Crookston Middle school to teach a 6^th grade class. I was excited to go to this school because they already have a greenhouse. While we were there we talked about what microgreens are, how to plant them and the commercial importance of them. The students had just finished testing so it was a challenge to get and keep their attention. We took the class out to the greenhouse and split them into groups of four so that they could seed their own flat of microgreens. They seeded cabbage, sunflowers and peas. It was nice that they kids were already familiar with the greenhouse, and that this wasn’t their first time planting. We did have a power point to go over the parts of the seeds with them, but having them seed the microgreens took a lot longer than we anticipated.

Curricula for School Gradens

A big part of what our class has been doing this year is looking at how what curriculum material are available to teachers who want to start a school garden. The problem with this project is that there is a lot out there that isn't free, isn't easy to use for teachers who don't know anything about gardening and doesn't list what state or national standards it fulfills.
Thankfully you can find ones that do, so fear not. The curriculum that I spend most of my time reviewing was The Minnesota School Gardens Guide: A Guide to Gardening and Plant Science. I thought this curriculum was a huge step in the right direction for garden curricula. It was well laid-out, easy to understand and listed what Minnesota State Standards each lesson fulfilled. It looks as if any of these lessons would be accessible to teachers, whether they know much about gardening or not.
In our first lesson at Mound's Park Academy, we utilized the lesson "Yo Seeds, Wake Up!" and I thought it was a great way to understand the germination process. We modified it slightly because we were also planting microgreens that day and only had 15 minutes for teaching the lesson, but overall I think it went well.
The last awesome thing about this curriculum is that it's available for free online. I suggest that if your school is starting a garden or you just want some tips on incorporating garden-related material into your lessons, to check it out. You can find it here on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's website.

The first trip into Champlin Brooklyn Park Academy

A couple weeks ago Monica and I went into Champlin Brooklyn Park Academy's greenhouse to teach 1st graders.  It was a great time.  While we were there we talked about an important part for allowing plants to grow that has a tendency to not come to mind.  Space!  Plants need space to grow effectively.  To show this we had a coloring activity that kids seem to enjoy.We had then planted some pea plants varying the amount of seeds in each container to show how space can affect the plants.  Sadly when Monica went in two weeks later the plants ended up molding and did not grow.  The kids are going to try growing sunflowers so I will get to see how those are going tomorrow.