Curated OER
Garden Grid
Basically, your class reads about different garden plants from an included handout and seed packets that you provide, and then uses a grid to plan out where to place the plants. They can practice counting with the seeds, grouping,...
Curated OER
A Pressing Project
Students create a collection of pressed plants. For this plant lesson, students use newspaper, plywood, and a rubberband to press plants they previously collected.
Curated OER
Pollination Power
Second graders study and examine the structure of a flower. In this pollination lesson plan, 2nd graders observe pollinators in the garden and dissect a flower. Students then plant strawberry plants in the garden and observe the...
Curated OER
Wildflower Beautification Project
Students, in cooperative groups, design and create a wildflower garden for the community. They write letters to property owners requesting use of their land and then write invitations to their parents and to local, state, and federal...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are All Plants Created Equal?
Photosynthesis requires energy and produces food, and cellular respiration produces energy and requires food. An interesting lesson analyzes the factors that affect the rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Classes spend one day...
Agriculture in the Classroom
The Garden Chef
Introduce young chefs to nutritious eating with a cookbook that is divided into sections focusing on one of the five food groups. It includes lessons, activities, and recipes. How wholesome!
Curated OER
Make your Garden Grow
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.
Curated OER
Edible and Medicinal Plants: Field Trip Guide
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...
Curated OER
Organic Matter
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...
Curated OER
Garden Starters
Students grow their own gardens. In this planting lesson, students use egg cartons to start their own gardens by planting and caring for seeds. A game, a song, a craft, and a recipe are all included with the lesson to complement the theme.
Roald Dahl
The Twits - The House, the Tree and the Monkey Cage
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...
American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture
My Miniature Greenhouse!
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...
Curated OER
Flutterings and Flowers
Fourth graders investigate the significance of natural resources and the habitats of butterflies. They create a list of their own favorite foods, then watch a video about habitats. Students identify things in the video that animals and...
National Park Service
Reduce Our Carbon Footprint, Let’s Compost!
Roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty with this elementary and middle school compost lesson. All you need is a large plastic container, a couple old newspapers, some organic waste, and a few hundred worms and you're ready...
Curated OER
Carrot Heads Garden
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.
Curated OER
Birdseed Garden
Students create their own garden. In this plant growth lesson, students sprinkle a damp sponge with birdseeds. Students place the sponge in the sun and watch the seeds sprout.
Curated OER
Growing Up (And Around, and Down...) Exploring Plant Growth
Students build plant growing structures. In this plant growth lesson, students plant growth structures such as a garden tepee or a crawl through tunnel. They grow plants that are appropriate for the structure.
Curated OER
Gardening in Containers
Students plant a garden. For this gardening lesson, students use containers to plant a garden. This lesson provides a good source of information for teachers who wish to begin their class's own container garden.
New York City Department of Education
Isabella’s Garden
Create rows and rows of vegetables. Pupils use their knowledge of multiplication to find the number of vegetable shoots planted in a garden and ways to arrange the vegetables in the performance task. Teachers use the suggested unit...
Horticultural Society of New York
Dress Up Your Salad
Salad dressings use a variety of different ingredients, but it's important to have a healthy balance of greens to create a delicious mix. Young chefs examine five types of herbs including chives, basil, dill, parsley, and thyme to...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Leaf Litter Ecology Lab
Some organisms spend their entire lives in leaf litter. The third in a series of six is a great lesson exploring the community of leaf litter. Groups gather and then spread leaf litter over white paper and remove leaves/twigs while...
Curated OER
Investigating Native Plants
Students explore Earth science by participating in a gardening activity. In this botany lesson, students discuss a group of non-native plants that would grow well in a school garden. Students complete a plant science graphic organizer...
Curated OER
How Do Plants Grow?
Students investigate plant growth. For this plant growth lesson, students investigate what would happen to plants if they did not have water and sunlight. Students conduct experiments to determine what plants need. Students create a...
Curated OER
Inviting Butterflies to the Schoolyard
Students create a butterfly garden. In this butterfly garden lesson, students plot a garden with plant species that will attract butterflies. Students learn about the specific plants and items that will help butterflies use the garden.