In this activity from Kids Gardening, your students will dissect bulbs! Bulbs are plants growing from an underground mass of food storage tissues. The storage capacity of a bulb is a special adaptation for survival.

Students will:

  • Learn about bulbs.
  • Learn the different parts of a bulb and what they do.
  • Explore the parts of the bulb through dissection.

There are many options for branching out from this activity into science, math, art or language.

Lesson by Big Green.

In this lesson, students will identify that plants need specific things to grow into a healthy plant.

  • Plants need L.A.W.N.S.: light, air, water, nutrients, and space to grow.
  • Air and water serve a vital role in the growth process.

There is an easy acronym to help remember basic plant needs (the things that plants need to survive and thrive): L.A.W.N.S.

How are We Connected? is a teachers resource to help students develop an understanding of and appreciation for where our food and fibers come from. Students learn about the ideas of community, interdependence, cycles, and how all things change over time. There are over 75 “facilitated learning experiences” organized around four “threads” that flow through the seasons: Who Are We?, Who Lives Here?, What’s Happening?, and How Are We Connected?

A one page infographic poster from Little Green Thumbs with evidence-based ideas for how your garden can be used to build environmental stewardship.

Ideas include:

  • Get Close to Nature in a School or Classroom Garden. Connection with nature is key for child development (Thorp & Townsend, 2001), and hands-on experiences are the best way for students to develop an understanding of their complex world.
  • Cultivate Wonder and Positive Relationship with the Environment. Students gain more positive attitudes about the environmental after participating in a school garden program. (Waliczek & Zajicek, 1999)
  • Observe and Understand How the World is Connected. Children gain their most powerful understandings of their natural environment through direct exploration of nature. (Lekies & Beery, 2013; Thomas & Thompson, 2004)
  • Build Knowledge about the Natural World. School gardens as a knowledge building tool for core subject materials (Williamson & Smoak, 1999) as well as agriculture, ecology and sustainability.
  • and more!

Check out the simple, practical dishes that you can prepare in the classroom with your students. What are you waiting for? Let’s get cooking!

We asked our Little Green Thumbs teachers for their tried and tested garden-inspired recipes and they sent us their favourites.

After a growing season with your students, there is no better way to enjoy the harvest than to prepare a meal or snack together with your fresh garden vegetables. Many students have already heard the saying ‘you are what you eat’, and it’s pretty true!

Fueling up on healthy nutritious snacks gives us the energy, strength and drive to complete challenging tasks and learning. Cooking with students is a fantastic way to build kitchen confidence and positive relationships with healthy foods.

Outcomes

3.0 Example of curricular outcome

  • Language

  • Grades

  • Subject

  • Themes

  • Types

Bulb Botany

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Making Seed Bombs

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The People – Plant Connection

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Tasting Etiquette Activity

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Tasting Activities from Big Green

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Plant Needs (Gr.3-5 Lesson)

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