TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Apr 26, 2020
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Flowers Seeking Pollinators - California Academy of Sciences
Grades
2 to 7In the Classroom
In a perfect world, students would use this lesson as a starting point for planting and growing their imaginary garden. Although it might not be possible to plant a garden in every case, consider using portions of the lesson to let students grow a plant of their choice in the classroom. Enhance learning by using edublogs, reviewed here, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, to document the growing process including failures and successes. Include images, videos, and student writing to document their learning.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Kitchen Garden Planner - Gardener's Supply Company
Grades
K to 8In the Classroom
Use the garden planner in a variety of content areas. In math, use the grid system found on the site to reinforce multiplication and addition facts. In science, ask students to create vegetable gardens or fruit gardens as they learn about different types of plants. Have older students research planting zones to create a garden appropriate for your location or research methods used for organic gardening. After learning about plants and gardens, have students use a comic creation tool like ToonyTool, reviewed here, to create single frame cartoons. Create cartoons with gardening tips or plant facts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Plants Map - Bill Blevins
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Share Plants Map on your interactive whiteboard or projector to locate and discover different kinds of plants. Click the map to find species near you. If you are lucky enough to have a school garden, Plants Map is the perfect site for planning, documenting, and sharing your garden with your students and community.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be shared by URL
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
How Does Your Garden Grow? A Project-Based Approach to Learning - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 6In the Classroom
After reading one or two of the suggested books as a class, brainstorm what students know about gardens using your interactive whiteboard or projector. Consider setting up stations around the room with the other recommended books and their activities; be sure to request some of the books on inter-library loan if you do not have them in your school. After completing the stations, return to the brainstorm and revise what students know about gardens and planting. Use some of the ideas from Gather Information to implement spring garden planting, literacy, and a growing understanding of science. Next step, planting! Use one or more of the ideas in this article for planting your garden. You might even consider working across grade levels and subjects and planning a school garden together. Your health/PE teacher will probably join in the effort! Follow through with one or more of the Show What You Know suggestions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Grow For It - North Carolina 4H
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans included on the Grow For It site as part of a plant or nutrition unit. Share ideas from the site with parents interested in helping set up a school or classroom garden. Once you have started your garden, engage students by having them upload a photo they have taken and add their voice to explain what they learned using a tool such as Blabberize, reviewed here. Ask a local 4H leader or Coop Extension Agent to come to your classroom to discuss local plants and gardening ideas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
National Farm to School Network - Tides Center National Farm to School Network
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Visit this site for information about nutritious foods, local produce, and in-school gardening projects. The Farm to School Network resource center includes several lesson plans that offer opportunities for students to learn about growing and harvesting fruits and vegetables. Learn more about the many diverse ways to design and support school gardens by visiting School Garden Resources, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
You Are What You Eat - Examining Nutrition through Literature - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 7In the Classroom
This is a thorough unit on food and nutrition. Start with activating prior knowledge on your interactive whiteboard or using your projector. Use Padlet, reviewed here, once students have sorted their favorites into categories and project the results on your whiteboard. When teaching science, social studies, or health content about nutrition, foods, plants, or farms, consider pairing fictional books along with informational texts (several are suggested) to maximize the potential of every unit of study. This article is a good starting point. What a perfect way to integrate healthy eating, whether during the holiday season or spring garden planting! Speaking of planting, whether you are considering or implementing a school garden unit you will want to check out this article.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
The Edible Schoolyard Project - Alice Waters
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use the search feature to find lessons by grade, topic, or even season. View videos available on The Edible Schoolyard to learn how to begin a classroom or school garden. Show the videos to parents to encourage help and participation. If your school doesn't have an area for planting a garden, be creative! Plant a small garden in a wagon to roll in and out each day! Enhance learning by creating a class wiki using PBWorks, reviewed here, and having students update your garden's growth through pictures and words each week. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Grow a Garden in a Glove - Museum of Science and Industry
Grades
3 to 9In the Classroom
This site could be used to study photosynthesis, seed germinations, and the basic requirements of life. Share the slides on your projector or interactive whiteboard. The teacher could set this up and grow the seeds and then show them to the students to begin an inquiry. This could lead to discussions on oxygen and carbon dioxide, limiting factors, environment, and growth. It could be used as a long term project where students journal the daily or weekly changes of the seeds. Replace paper journals and engage students by using a digital blog like Penzu, reviewed here; with Penzu you can add images or your own artwork as illustrations. Enhance student learning by having cooperative learning groups take digital pictures of their progress and narrate the photos. Challenge students upload a photo they have taken and add their voice to chronicle the progress using a tool such as Blabberize, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Gardening/Spring Flowers - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
4 to 9In the Classroom
Share the puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students work with a partner to try out the puzzles on their own. Have students (or groups) create their own word puzzles to share as a class challenge as a student-run interactive whiteboard activity or share them on a class wiki.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
School Garden Curriculum - Calif. School Garden Network
Grades
3 to 8In the Classroom
There are some great interdisciplinary opportunities here, but teachers will need to work thoughtfully to adapt the raw materials to local circumstances. Consider sharing information from this site with your school's parent/teacher organization to gain support and possible funding for a garden project. Gardening is a perfect topic for student blogs. Have students replace paper and pencil journals and use Edublog, reviewed here, to share the progress of their gardens including images and journal entries.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Kids Gardening - National Gardening Association
Grades
3 to 8This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
If you aren't lucky enough to have outdoor gardening space, take advantage of ideas offered for indoor gardens, such as terrariums and container gardening. Check out the extensive lesson library to search by theme, standards, season, and more. You will also find lessons and activities appropriate for science and math. Use the Growing Poems, found here, to enhance your classroom poetry unit. Whatever activities you choose, have students record the growth in their garden or container by taking photos. As a summation for your gardening project use Photo Joiner Collage Maker, reviewed here, to create a collage of your garden photos with special effects, text, frames, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form