WELCOME EDUCATORS OF YOUNG MINDS!!
Thanks for visiting our blog. Here you will find links to research, lesson plans and activities that nicely supplement My First Organics seed starting kits and the Classroom and Homeschool Bundles.
If you’d like, feel free to share resources that you discover on our Facebook Page. First, Become a Fan. Then, you can post on the Wall and/or add to the Teaching Resources Discussion Topic.
RESEARCH
A great place to start is the Life Lab Science Program. WE LOVE LIFE LAB! Why? They are a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that has been working in the field of science and environmental education since 1979. In other words, they’ve been doing this for a long time, and they know what they’re talking about.
We recommend their award winning curricula and programs that help schools develop gardens where kids can create “living laboratories” for the study of the natural world. Since developing the first Life Lab school garden in Santa Cruz in 1978, Life Lab has worked with over 1,400 schools across the United States training tens of thousands educators.
If you’re wondering about the impact of garden-based learning on student achievement and health, we recommend starting your education with two reports prefaced by Life Lab Education Director, Whitney Cohen:
- The Impact of Garden-Based Learning on Student Health and Nutrition
- The Impact of Garden-Based Learning on Academic Achievement
FREE CURRICULUM & TEACHING RESOURCES
We’ve found some fantastic free teaching resources to inspire you. All we ask is that you remember to make sustainable choices in growing media (organic), natural materials (biodegradable, reusable and/or recyclable) and pest control (no synthetic fertilizers, fungicides or pesticides). Check out Organic Gardening’s tips.
- National Gardening Association – We love the NGA because we share a mission — “To promote home, school, and community gardening as a means to renew and sustain the essential connections between people, plants, and the environment.” They’ve been around for a really long time (since 1973) and have earned the title of being the definitive source for gardening information in the Nation.
Their Kids Gardening site is no exception. It has a deep library of resources available in the Teacher’s Room section of their website; browse through Classroom Projects, Thematic Explorations or start on the Activities page to narrow down your search. It’s not broken down by grade, though.
They have made a comprehensive curriculm for grades 3-6 available on their site for free. If you’re a 3rd grade teacher who has a My First Organics Classroom Bundle, this is worth downloading and looking into as a subsequent lesson after plants have sprouted. Check out LiFE’s Origins: Linking Food and the Environment. Although the first module, Growing Food, starts in 4th grade, we like to think of our educator bundles as a primer for this very important program. - DOOF Food Literacy Curriculum – WE LOVE DOOF! Notice it’s Food spelled backwards! They have all sorts of resources to help make food fun for kids. Download their free food literacy curriculum developed by a few teachers in Oakland, California for grades 2-5.
- USDA Agriculture in the Classroom – The USDA really hit it out of the park with this resource. Start with the ‘Basic Search’ and get free activities, lesson plans and more by grade and/or agricultural content. There’s also a Teachers Resource area on their main site that links to various other topics.
- California School Garden Network – Access over 100 K-12 FREE lessons that link school gardens to your curriculum. Simply awesome.
- California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom - We’re Californians, so we wanted to link our State’s version of the National program because it offers incredible, free lesson plans for K-12.
- Garden Mosaics – Funded by the National Science Foundation Informal Science Education program and by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Its mission is “connecting youth and elders to investigate the mosaic of plants, people, and cultures in gardens”. We can’t believe what’s available for free on this site. First, check out the Science Pages that has informative illustrations that simply summarize big concepts like composting and interplanting for pest control. You can then print a black and white version with related activities! English and Spanish versions are available, too! These might be too advanced for K-3, but it may inspire a simpler version for your class.
- Sustainable Table – While their content targets grades 5-8, Sustainable Table is a great educational resource. It offers sources to change the food being served to your kids in the cafeteria, to start a school garden, examples of educational programs and centers across the U.S.
