Captain Planet Foundation
Help a Sister Out: Garden Companions
Explore Native American gardening traditions with a lesson plan on companion planting. Based on the concept that certain crops grow better when planted near other specific crops, kids research the gardening method with background links...
Curated OER
Sioux Chef Sean Sherman: A Rebirth of Native American Cuisine
Many families have special dishes they serve during holiday celebrations and get-togethers. Many of these recipes have been handed down from generation to generation and often come with stories. Introduce your middle schoolers to the...
University of Wisconsin
Rain Garden Species Selection
The activity really comes to life within its intended unit on starting a rain garden. Working in groups, participants research native plants and coordinate them with the conditions in the designated garden area. Give the class access to...
Australian National Botanic Gardens
Aboriginal Plant Use in South-Eastern Australia
The Aboriginal people of Australia survived for over 40,000 years by using the plants that grow in the bush for food, medicine, tools, and utensils. Introduce young botanists to the wonders of the Outback with a 25-page packet that...
Curated OER
Growing a Native American "Three Sisters" Garden
Students explore plant life by creating their own gardens in class. In this food growing instructional activity, students discuss the types of gardening methods Native Americans used in order to keep healthy. Students plant corn seeds in...
University of Wisconsin
Rain Garden Maintenance
Maintaining a garden is an ongoing responsibility. This resource follows a series of activities in a unit that resulted in the planting of a rain garden. What you will find here are general instructions for watering, weeding, pruning,...
Cornell University
Plant Cell Crime Scene
Use science to solve the mystery of the Poplar murder. Pupils use forensic botany to determine if a suspect could be the killer. By analyzing images from a Transmission Electron Microscope, learners determine if the material found on the...
Curated OER
Creating a Three sisters Garden
Students understand that a three sisters garden is comprised of corn, beans and squash. In this three sisters garden lesson, students understand that Native Americans planted three sisters gardens and grow a three sisters garden....
Curated OER
Giant Smelly Plant Attracts Thousands
Read and discuss a news article about a rare corpse plant that bloomed in Washington D.C. Because this native Indonesian plant blooms so rarely, people flock to see it. After reading the article, your class answers comprehension...
University of Wisconsin
A Rain Garden Year
Pupils become plants in an interpretive play that depicts what happens throughout the seasons in a rain garden. As you narrate, students bloom, flower, and go to seed accordingly. The lesson is first in a series of lessons written for...
University of Wisconsin
Bimodel Botany Bouquet
Gardeners are given an individual plant specimen from a bouquet of local rain garden plants. They group up by their plant type and then make observations together, name the plant, and introduce it to the rest of the class. You then share...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Gardening
A Reading Adventure Pack invites scholars to start gardening. Following a reading of two books—fiction and nonfiction—young green thumbs repurpose food containers to grow an herb garden in their kitchen, plant seeds in starter pots out...
Fluence Learning
Writing Informational Text: Community and School Gardens
Two informational texts feature community gardens of the past and present and how seeds grow. Scholars read, discuss what they have read, complete a timeline, define words, and compose a brief essay about the texts' main idea.
Curated OER
Native Beauty
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.
Curated OER
The Alphabet Garden
Third graders transplant, tend and observe a plant for each letter of the alphabet in a school garden. They work individually to research and select a plant that will grow in their local climate. Students then care for and observe the...
Curated OER
Investigating Native Plants
Young scholars explore Earth science by participating in a gardening activity. In this botany lesson plan, students discuss a group of non-native plants that would grow well in a school garden. Young scholars complete a plant science...
Curated OER
And Now, What to Plant?
Students build a bird sanctuary. In this service learning lesson, students explore the variety of plants that could be put into the garden and make the selection of best plants for the area.
Curated OER
Native Plants at School -- A Garden Landscape Project
In this native plants at school -- a garden landscape project learning exercise, students design the landscape for a school garden by identifying native plants, creating a presentation and creating a plot plan within the budget. This...
Curated OER
Growing Garden Companions.
Students understand that some plants grow better with other plants. In this companion planting instructional activity, students observe the "three sisters" growing system used by the Native Americans. Students understand that small...
Curated OER
Native Plant Research Project
Students study indigenous plants. They examine why they are special, why some might be threatened, by what forces (pollution, habitat destruction), and what else relies on the continued existence of these plants (insects, animals). They...
Curated OER
Aquatic Roots
Young scientist use reference materials to research various local aquatic plants and or animals to find out whether they are natives or exotics. They investigate their impacts on people, other animals and the environment. Students...
University of Wisconsin
Conjunction Function
As part of a unit, this lesson familiarizes youngsters with components of a rain garden. They speculate about the role of an assigned component in contributing to a rain garden, and ultimately, in the health of the local watershed. Each...
Curated OER
Native American Three Sisters Gardens
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,...
Curated OER
Botanical Garden Field Trip
Learners take a field trip to a botanical garden. In this habitat lesson, students walk through the garden and see various species of plants and animals. Learners take a canopy walk and see coniferous trees. Students write about what...