Best Practices in Middle School Gardens - Instructional School Gardens

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Best Practicesfor California Middle School

Instructional School Gardens

Instructional gardens have become increasingly popular in California schools as living laboratories. Theyoffer an appealing way to make academic content lessons come alive through hands-on experiential learning.

As one middle school U.S. History teacher said, The hands-on garden based activities reinforce the lessonsstudents learn in the classroom. Anything they do in the garden they remember ten times better. The visualsand activities act as a cue.

Middle schools offer special opportunities for developing instructional school garden programs. Students areable to better handle some of the physical demands of gardening activity. Their maturing and inquisitiveminds make them receptive to new experiences, and particularly to education that allows them to develop so-cial networks, gives them real-life problems to solve and empowers them to create solutions.

Middle schoolers need rigorous, relevant, hands-on curriculum. They need a variety of teaching modali-ties. [With school gardens], they get outside of the classroom, till soil, pull weeds, taste food straight off the

plant or vine, learn about plant parts, learn herb and vegetable identification, and then bring it into theclassroom and prepare and consume it! Ms. Nugent, Culinary Arts teacher, Petaluma Jr. High School

Middle Schools also present special challenges for garden-based education because of single-subject academicrequirements and the developmental stages of students. With this in mind, many middle school teachers, ad-ministrators and parents have been passionate, committed and creative in their efforts to bring students into

the garden for an enhanced educational experience.

In 2007-2008, a team from the California Department of Education and University of California Davis trav-eled across the state visiting 11 Middle Schools in order to share their successes and best practices. Here weoffer highlights from these site visits:

Middle school instructional school garden lessons and curriculum

Tips for working with teens and pre-teens in middle school gardens

Middle school gardens and the community

Sustaining middle school instructional garden programs

Carmel Middle School

student displays the

fruits of their labor.

Tips from California Middle SchoolsVisit www.cagn.org for Middle School stories

Middle School

Lessons and Curriculum2

Working with Middle

School students

4

Middle School Gardens and

Community7

Sustaining Middle School

Garden Programs

8

Contents:


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Middle School garden lessons and curriculum

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Emerson Junior High School, Davis, empha-

sizes Medieval and U.S. History and Geography. They

have also developed lessons for Math, Biology, Art,

and Spanish

The European Medieval Peasant Garden con-tains culinary and medicinal herbs commonly usedduring that era.

U.S. History Fall Harvest8th grade lesson teachescrops brought to America with the African slaves. TheGarden calendar synchronizes planting and harvesting

with the lessons.

World Map--Origin of Crops reinforces geographysubject matter. Students make Geography Bars at theend of this unit. They are a yummy energy bar made

with crops students have planted, harvested & studied.

Emersons Spanish teacher has developed a compre-hensive Spanish language Gourd Project.

The Art teacher bases activities onAndy Gold-worthys art. His art involves the use of natural andfound objects, to create temporary paintings orsculptures which highlight the character of their envi-ronment.

The Dichotomous Key teaches 9th grade biologystudents scientific and analytical sorting and categoriz-ing skills.

Biology teacher, Pat Dressendorfer, with

students working on the Dichotomous Key.

All public school teachers are responsible for teaching

subject matter that aligns with the California state educa-

tional standards. Middle schools, because of their single

subject emphasis present unique challenges for teachers

wanting to incorporate garden-based learning into their les-

son plans.

Middle School teachers and garden coordinators have

created a range of instructional activities that bring stu-

dents into the garden. Some are complete lessons and teach

to Californias standards, and others are activities that can

reinforce or link to a standard.

The more garden activities and lessons can be designed as

an integrated part of students classroom content subject

matter, the more successful and sustainable the school gar-

den program will be.

The most common subjects to be taught in an instruc-

tional school garden are science, life science, biology and

life cycles. Teachers have also developed creative lessons

for history, social science, language arts and life skills. Be-

low are examples of successful lessons .

At Carmel Middle School, Carmel, the

garden is fully integrated into its science pro-

gram. Students spend regular time in the gar-

den from 6th

to 8th

grade. See Organic Garden Curriculum

Overviewfor how 6th - 8th grade lessons

connect to the standards

6th Grade Compost Critters

Please visitwww.csgn.orgto download samples.
http://www.csgn.org/http://www.csgn.org/http://www.csgn.org/


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Middle School garden lessons and curriculum

Blaker-Kinser Junior High School, Ceres

The Agriculture teacher, Mr. James, believes in

having students do real work that connects to agri-

culture and real life problems. These inevitably

draw upon math, science, life science, and life

skills.

Math is taught by having students figure out

how to arrange irrigation, dig a trench, or con-

struct raised beds. For example, they apply

math concepts while laying laser line and plan

how far apart to space the drippers. They learn

principles of hydraulics by working with pres-

sure regulators.

Mr. James students have constructed a large

tool storage shed, a lathe house, repaired

wheelbarrows, fixed hammers, and grown

crops and prepared them for the Stanislaus

County Fair.

Baird Middle School, Fresno

Baird is a magnet school emphasizing an integrated curric

lum of agriculture, technology and foreign languages.

school showcases several gardens, among them a gar

of mosaic murals and sculptures highlighting crops fro

around the world.

In this class, students look at things on the microscopic le

and then go out into the garden, and there it is. So wh

they talk about a plant and how it grows and what it n

they have planted the seeds and have seen it grow and

have measured it. Its not abstract. It doesnt take a wh

other lesson to get them up to speed.

The 6th graders dissect flowers and study pollination a

fertilization.

7th grade students go out into the garden and measure

plants; look at cells under the microscope; study how p

cells (and animal cells) are structured. They compare t

difference between animal and plant cells. Then they

ate models of the internal structure and workings of ce

8th Gradersstudy biotechnology and the double helix, how biotech is going to impact agriculture.

Page

Students build a new wheelbarrow from old

parts in Blaker-Kinsers

school garden program

Integrating 8th grade science and the garden at

Baird Middle School


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Tips for working with teens in middle school gardens

Without exception, teachers and garden

coordinators expressed delight in working with

this age group in the school garden setting. In

fact, gardens are considered the most effective

way to engage students in active learning, be-

cause they offer hands-on, real life applications

for academic content. In addition, gardens allow

for positive socialization and collaboration, so

necessary for students at this age. Here are a

few tips and strategies expressed by teachers.

For more ideas, visit the Tips sections of indi-

vidual schools atwww.csgn.org.

Students at Petaluma Jr. High rotate roles

in their Culinary Arts class.

In Petaluma Junior High Schools Culinary Arts class, students rotate

among many roles, from harvester, to head chef, to table setter. The roles

are clearly laid out and students are assessed on how well they perform.

At Carmel Middle School, students rotate through the garden in various

classes throughout their three years at the school. All students visit the

garden in the same sequence, and learn the rules early on.

Mr. James (Blaker-Kinser) chooses a major project for students to work

on each year, and every Monday, he walks the garden grounds to deter-

mine the jobs needing to be accomplished for that week. He divides up

tasks and assesses students on qualities such as cooperation, stick-to-

itive-ness.

Whether the garden is mature and developed, or just in its early stages,

there are always specific tasks and activities that can be assigned to stu-

dents.

Harvesting is one of the jobs in

Culinary Arts.

The more students know what to expect in terms of their roles and behavior in the

garden, the easier the teachers job is. More than in elementary school, middle school

students will embrace roles and responsibilities that afford them a sense of empowerment.

Many teachers rotate garden and cooking jobs to give all students a chance at taking the lead.

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Break students into small groups of 6 8 for

specific tasks. Let them socialize as long as

they can remain focused on the main task at

hand. Teachers agreed that at this age, it is impor-

tant to allow students to socialize (and counter-

productive to be too restrictive about socializing.)

Small groups work best for accomplishing tasks as

well as for working together cooperatively.

Let the students take the lead in developing

ideas for the garden as much as possible.

Create ownership for students through

hands-on projects. This approach is particu-

larly effective as students mature into their teen

years. With a bit of structure and focus, students

become very creative and can devote a LOT of

energy to their projects.

If students can help create the garden, they are

more invested in it.

Students at University Heights Middle School,

Riverside, came up with the plan for a raised bed

that would allow wheelchair access, since that

program involves many special education stu-

dents.

Blaker-Kinser students regularly win prizes at

their county fair each year for the crops they nur-

ture and enter.

Students at Claremont Middle School, Oakland,

designed and built much of the infrastructure for

their garden, including arbors, creative trellises

made from bike tire rims & spokes, tiles and

pavers, and a miniature riverbed.

Mr. Somawang and students of Baird Middle

Schools garden program, Fresno

Tips , contd

Students at Claremont Middle School,

Oakland, stand beneath their creative

trellis, made of bike tire rims.

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Develop ways to celebrate students

products and successes.

Middle school students are old enough to cre-

ate partnerships in the community, and can

find creative ways to bring community mem-bers into the school environment.

Several schools find ways to sell what the stu-

dents grow in the garden.

Some schools hold regular festivals or mini-

farmers markets to display wares and bring

families into the school community.

Students from the Garden Club at Roosevelt

Jr. High in San Diego came up with the

brilliant idea of harvesting lavender, making

sachets, and selling them to other students to

put in their gym lockers.

Petaluma Jr. High students make

bruschetta and sample their creations.

Students at Blaker-Kinser, Ceres,

grow prize-winning tomatoes and

peppers and enter them into the

Stanislaus County Fair.

More Tips

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Partnerships are an crucial part of every school garden program. Without partnerships, gar-

dens could not be established nor sustained. Some common types of partnerships include

Local businesses: Typically, instructors received significant donations from local businesses, such

as soil, mulching materials, plants, irrigations supplies, labor in the form of rototilling and such.

Some businesses such as restaurants purchase produce from school gardens.

Parents and community volunteers: Many instructional garden programs are virtually run by par-

ents or other community volunteers.

Master Gardeners: UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners often play a significant supportive

role in school gardens.

In San Diego, Roosevelt Junior High School shares a portion of their garden grounds with the San

Diego Zoo. The zoo maintains the garden grounds in exchange for using them during the summer

months for their day camp programs. The zoo also hosts a science program for students at the

school.

The Chico Jr. High School garden got off the ground when an active member of the Shasta Cascade

Chapter of Slow Food contacted the principal and teachers and got the ball rolling.

Middle school gardens and the community

Farmer Boys Restaurant, near Univer-

sity Heights Middle School, Riverside,

buys the schools tomatoes for their

salsa specials on Farmer Days.

These Cooperative Extension

Master Gardeners, Patricia Carpenter

and Marlene Sisemore, were indispen-

sable in establishing and maintaining

the Emerson Jr. High School garden.

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Best Practices in Middle School Gardens - Instructional School Gardens

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