Primary: Students will use their senses to evaluate different types of apples and select their favorite. Students will write an opinion piece with supporting reasons, and students will develop a bar chart to report results.
Have students learn all about poinsettias, their unique parts, and their role in holiday traditions. A coloring page is included.
Learn the life cycle, jobs, and communication skills of honey bees!
Grades 4+: Students will develop an appreciation and understanding of the natural development of seeds, learn the anatomy and function of each seed part through a seed dissection, and classify seeds as monocots or dicots.
Students will have fun with these grade-level appropriate math activities using apples.
Primary: Students will construct a diagram of an apple tree’s life cycle and learn the importance of pollinators.
Grades K-3: In this lesson, students will model what a seed needs to germinate and a plant needs to survive by creating a wearable mini greenhouse. Modifications of this lesson are provided for the different grade level NGSS.
Secondary: This lesson uses a real-world scenario of designing a garden with the hopes of selling the produce it generates. Version here is developed for secondary students and could be paired with lessons on economics, plant science, meal planning, and business planning/financial literacy.
This lesson allows students to design and plant a garden while using several math skills to determine angles and ratios. There is a modified version of the lesson if you do not wish to actually plant and harvest the produce.
Students will learn how soil is the foundation of food and other materials that help people live. They will also learn the components of soil, uses and properties, and describe the role soil plays in a healthy ecosystem.
Visit Mulberry Orchard in Shelbyville to learn how the Gajdzik family grows fruit to sell at their store and local schools. Use the corresponding lessons to teach math, creating and interpreting data, apple life cycles, and all about pollinators and honey bees.
Visit Courtney Farms in Bagdad, Ky. to see how they grow more than 100 different types of vegetables to sell to local customers, grocery stores, and restaurants. Then learn about plant parts and nutrition.
GRADE LEVEL: K-12 This is a comprehensive guide to school gardening and catalog of corresponding lessons made possible from a USDA grant and assistance from the Kentucky Farm Bureau.