Garden Classes represent our signature field trip experiences for school groups visiting the Garden! Each program begins with an introductory program in the Jordan Education Wing. Trained instructors engage students with storytelling, group-participation activities and inquiry-based hands-on experiences. All activities are standards-based and age-appropriate, and each student will pot a plant of their own to bring home! I would combine the "Heaps of Seeds" class with my garden in a glove lesson plan. Upon return to the classroom, the students could write about the differences in the growing environment at the Botanical Garden and in their Glove Garden.

This is a fun and creative way to get students thinking about size and shape. This lesson could also be used for osmosis. Students could use different liquids to soak the gummies in overnight and make measurements and predictions about size and shape in a journal. It would be fun to do this lesson, because at the end you get to eat gummy bears!

In this lesson, students learn about the varying sizes of ocean waves, what causes the variation, and where to find giant waves. Students will learn the parts of a wave, and discuss wave height, wavelength, and wave period. They will experiment with creating waves on the National Geographic Wave Simulator and discuss how geography affects waves. I like this lesson because it gives students rural country areas (areas without oceans) insight into our oceans. This lesson could be paired with a lesson about ocean currents or temperatures (and temp. change). In addition to using the on-line program, I would bring in a giant aquarium with toy boats to show what happens with waves.

Students create a class book about aquatic life in or near local river(s). This lesson would be broken into several parts (classroom lecture followed by a trip to a local water source). I like this lesson because it gets the students out of the classroom and exploring our environment. This lesson is a great way to teach students about microscopic life forms in addition to aquatic life. I like how the lesson included journals to document findings.

The Three Gorges Dam in China has been completed and is considerably larger than the Hoover Dam here in the United States. With this lesson plan students will learn how a dam is constructed, it's purpose, and the dangers associated with dams. I would add some videos to this lesson to show the students how large or small dams can be and I would show a video of a dam breaking and the damage it can cause (Johnstown, Pa - 1889).

Skip Discover Education Main Navigation Skip Discover Education Main Navigation Students will: 1. Understand the relationship of the nine planets in our solar system to the sun by creating a three-dimensional representation. 2. Understand the planets' relative distance from the sun and their approximate size in relation to the Earth. I like this lesson because students need to understand our solar system and earth's relation to other planets. I would keep the completed solar system on display in the classroom to ensure students retain the material and can reference it if needed. I like how this lesson plan has adaptations and ways to extend the lesson.

Students use potatoes to light an LED clock (or light bulb) as they learn how a battery works in a simple circuit and how chemical energy changes to electrical energy. As they learn more about electrical energy, they better understand the concepts of voltage, current and resistance. I chose this because I never did this in school! This really seems like an exciting and engaging lesson/activity. This lesson could be done in separate parts, with the first part being lecture based (learning about electricity) and the second part being the activity with the potato. I like how this resource has follow-up questions at the end of the lesson.

This lesson involves watching plants grow from seeds. Students use a glove and place one seed in each of the fingers and thumb. A damp cotton ball is added to hydrate the seeds as they grow. Students can watch their seeds grow into seedlings and eventually transplant elsewhere to become full grown plants. I would add some things to this lesson (such as a daily or weekly journal to document the growth of the seeds). I chose this because during an observation I saw this lesson in action! The students (grade 1) loved it and were excited to see what their seeds were doing each day and excited to know that when the seedlings were big enough, they would be planting them outside their school. It's valuable to me because I think it's important for students to understand the plant cycle and to appreciate the act of growing things (not just trees or flowers, but we can grow our food too!) I would use this lesson with different books to get the students engaged; I would use journals to monitor and make predictions about our seedlings as well.