Educational Philosophy:

A community garden is student-centered project based education program, where participants actively construct their own
understanding of agriculture and how its related to place. It provides opportunities for students to relate to the world of
food and conceptualize food production, consumption and distribution. I believe that it is crucial that participants
understand food production because their personal health and environment health is reflected on their food choices.
There is a big disconnect and lack of understanding of how food reaches our tables and how what we eat affects our
bodies and environment. A community garden is used as a lens to enhance understanding of; environmental science,
science literacy, geography, weather and science tools,

Its valuable that students work together to solve problems and that the messiness of student-led work is an important
part of the process of learning to guide their own learning. Students who discover the answers rather than being told
understand concepts in greater depth and are able to cross disciplinary boundaries to solve real world problem a greater
depth of understanding concepts and crossing interdisciplinary boundaries.

Goal:
The goal is to have students make more consciences decisions around food choices. This program aims to
create a hands on place/project based understanding of food production, consumption and distribution,
expanded understanding of how food reaches are table.

Audience:
This program is intended for public/private schools at the 5-6th grade level. Depending on the location, a
community garden can be outside, in a green house or in side with UAV lamps. 6th grade students are able to
empathize with people being affected by their food choices outside of their immediate social circle. 6th grade
students are expected to grasp and use the scientific process.

Need:
In todays world with urbanization there is little connect with youth and food. This program aims build those
bridges of understanding. With the increase population in the world it is very important to know the
consequences of what we eat.
Desired Results

Established Goals:
1. Build scientific literacy: develop scientific practices, identify scientific understandings and how to use science
technology and tools.
2. Discover a sense of place: explore a personal connection to their environment.
3. Building awareness of food choices: understanding the cause and effect of our food choices.
4. Develop interdisciplinary understanding: develop understanding that the sciences are not independent of
each other and the cause and effect of the natural environment.
5. Improve social literacy: development of social skills in a social setting, which helps people to communicate in
a respectful manner, as well as becoming involved in a community.

Essential Questions:
1. Why is it important to understand where are food comes from?
2. How do our food choices effect our environment?
3. How do our food choices effect our health?
4. How does agriculture affect our community?

Understandings:
Next Generation science standards

SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES AND STANDARDS:

Developing and Using Models

Modeling in 68 builds on K5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict
more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Develop a model to describe phenomena. (MS-LS2-3)
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Planning and carrying out investigations in 6-8 builds on K-5 experiences and progresses to include investigations that use
multiple variables and provide evidence to support explanations or solutions.
Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test
design solutions under a range of conditions.
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Analyzing data in 68 builds on K5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing
between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena. (MS-LS2-1)
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 68 builds on K5 experiences and progresses to include constructing
explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and
theories.
Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict
phenomena. (MS-LS2-2)
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Engaging in argument from evidence in 68 builds on K5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that
supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).
Construct an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute
an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem. (MS-LS2-4)
Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly developed and agreed-upon design criteria. (MS-LS2-5)

DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS:

ESS2.A: Earths Materials and Systems
 The planets systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over
fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions have shaped Earths history and will determine its future.
Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and
living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect
oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns. (MS-ESS2-6)
Because these patterns are so complex, weather can only be predicted probabilistically. (MS-ESS2-5)
The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time,
and globally redistributing it through ocean currents. (MS-ESS2-6)
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
Humans depend on Earths land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh
water, and biosphere resources are limited, and many are not renewable or replaceable over human lifetimes. These
resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geologic processes. (MS-ESS3-1)
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and
causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earths environments can have different impacts (negative
and positive) for different living things. (MS-ESS3-3)
Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative
impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise. (MS-ESS3-3),(MS-ESS3-
4)
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current
rise in Earths mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human
vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering
capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge
wisely in decisions and activities. (MS-ESS3-5)
LS2.B: Cycle of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Food webs are models that demonstrate how matter and energy is transferred between producers, consumers, and
decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem. Transfers of matter into and out of the physical
environment occur at every level. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plant or animal matter back to the soil in
terrestrial environments or to the water in aquatic environments. The atoms that make up the organisms in an
ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. (MS-LS2-3)

Scientific Literacy:
Science is a systematic process for understanding the world. The most important tools we have are our five
senses.

Building Awareness of Food Choices

Building a connection to what we eat, where is comes from and how it effects more than just ourselves. Expanding
scope to include communities and the environment.

Sense of Place
Sense of place is a term that describes my personal connection to a particular environment and it can be
developed by being present in a place, exploring my feelings about a place and myself in it.

Social Literacy
Having empathy helps build respect and understanding for one another. We can accomplish more when we work
together effectively. We can work on developing more effective communication, cooperation and collaboration
skills.
 Evidence of Understanding

Performance Task:
1) Project based learning: Students will perform various projects throughout the year demonstrating
understanding of the goals and core examples. The journals will extend the entire year while other projects will
last anywhere from a week to several months. Projects will start out examining local plants and agriculture and
expand to continental and global scale as the year progress

Other Evidence:
1) Weekly journal review: Each student will record data on soil moisture temperature and other variables that
affect a growth of plants.
2) End of year portfolio review: the students will have to put all of their information into a portfolio to display all
they have learned throughout the year.
3) Projects- will be assessed differently from project to project. Project will cover different factors that are
associated with their plant in the garden

Example Project

Introduction to the garden- week one

Goals:
Build scientific literacy: Students will be researching information about their plant species.
Discover a sense of place: students will have to learn about their environment and correlate that with the particular
species
Develop interdisciplinary understanding: plant physiology, climatology, ecology,
Improve Social literacy: Working in groups.

Essential Questions:
Why have a garden?
Why is your species of plant valuable to our community?
What environmental factors influence what you can grow in our environment.
What are the health benefits to growing your plant?
What are the inputs (water, sun, nitrogen) and outputs (calories, CO2)?

Understandings:
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
o learn how climate effects what we can grow.
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
o must come up with explanations for chosen species
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
o looking at resources students will start to conceptualize the impact agriculture have on society.
Description:
First the class brainstorms why a community garden important. Class is then split into 5 groups. Each
group is to pick one edible plant species to be planted in the garden. Each group must make a case and
presentation for why their plant should be planted.

Duration: 1 week

Day one: 1-2hr

Research day. Student use resources (Books, computers, professionals) to determine what species their
group will pick for their project.
Brainstorm ideas in groups

Questions:
What can you grow in our climate?
What are the limiting factors?

Understandings
o Constructing explanations and designing solutions
o Weather and climate

Day two: 1-2hr

Students continue research on their selected species. Brainstorm presentation ideas. Presentation must
be 5-10 minutes
o Constructing explanations and designing solutions
o Weather and climate

Day three: 2-3hr

Put presentations together. Be creative and informative.
o Constructing explanations and designing solutions

Day four- 1 hour

Presentation day! After prepare kids for trip to farm. Brainstorming activity to generation questions for
farmers.
o Explanations and designing solutions

Day 5- half to full day

Start with 5 senses.
Drawings of particular plants. Discuss unique features
o Build senses of place
Visit small organic farm with a variety of crops. Inform students of reasons for growing the certain types of
crops. Tour farm and have time for Q and A
Upon return have the kids look up the weather and record in field notebooks.
o Sense of place
o Human impacts on earths systems.
Materials. Field notebooks, hand lenses
 Journals

Field notebooks-entire semester

Goals:

Build scientific literacy: develop scientific practices, identify scientific understandings and how to use science
technology and tools.
Discover a sense of place: explore a personal connection to their environment.
Building awareness of food choices: understanding the cause and effect of are food choices.
Develop interdisciplinary understanding: develop understanding that the sciences are not independent of each
other and the cause and effect of the natural environment.
Improve Social literacy: development of social skills in a social setting, which helps people to communicate in a
respectful manner, as well as becoming involved in a community.

Essential Questions

How does a scientist organize and interpret data?

How can we relate scientific findings to the real world? What are the implications?
What does it mean to be scientist?
Local and world resource use?

Understandings:

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Students will make predictions based on quantitative and qualitative data
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
students build understanding of numbers a and what they can physically understand using the 5 senses and how those to
are interrelated
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Students will have to construct explanations on why they are seeing the changes

Description: The field Notebooks will be used weekly for an hour every Monday. It will include qualitative and
quantitative data monitoring of each groups individual plant. Through observation and analysis students will
build a connection and understanding their particular species. They will observe the change over time. This
practice will build science literacy, scientific process, prediction skill, interpreting data, and constructed
explanations.
Materials: Labquest, PH sensor, Nitrogen and Phosphorus strips, soil moisture sensor, temperature probe,
journal, hand lenses, computers with access to WiFi.

Field notebook
Date

PH

Soil
Temperature

Moisture %

Air
Temperature

Hi and low
air
temperature
Precipitation

Phosphorus

Nitrogen

Height of
plant

Width of
plant

Using the 5 senses to describe the physical characteristics of the plant:

Using the data, you have collected describe the variables effecting your plant;

Can you make any connection between the abiotic factor effecting your plant and its appears?

Please draw your plant in as much detail as possible?

How has change?

 Food log- one Month midyear projects

Goals:
Improve Social literacy: development of social skills in a social setting, which helps people to communicate in a
respectful manner, as well as becoming involved in a community.
Building awareness of food choices: understanding the cause and effect of are food choices
Discover a sense of place: explore a personal connection to their environment.

Essential Questions
What are we eating?
How much land/resources does it take to feed me/others?
Where does my food come from?
How does what I eat impact the planet and my health
The difference in resource use between meat and non-meat products

Understandings:
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
amount of abiotic factor use to produce the produce
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
Students can relate their research to CO2, energy input and how it affects the planet

Descriptions:
After every lunch student are required to write down what protein source they ate. The thought is to
start building awareness of what they are eating. The students will choose one food item to investigate.
Students will have to find where the specific ingredients are grown and what resources are allocated to
its production and distribution. Students will relate this to climate change and see how what they eat
effects the planet.

Step 1:
Have students record information about their protein source for lunch in depth, saving rappers
from food products for references and have them keep a record book. Have students do this for 2-4
weeks, bringing awareness to what they are consuming.
Building awareness of food choices:
Discover a sense of place
 Log Book
Date

What was the

Protein product

Where is it
produced

Calories

Weight

Grams of protein
per serving

Step 3: In pairs, after a month of recording data and leaning where their food comes from, each student will do
an investigation and presentation on their protein source. The presentation will demonstrate resources
allocated to that particular food, transportation, Carbon footprint. Each student will be and expert on that
particular food.

Presentation must answer:

How much water does it take to produce your food product?

How much land does it take to produce this produced?

How is it transported?

How many grams of protein does it produced?

How much is produced annually?

What is its carbon footprint?

How does this Produce effect its environment?

Knowing what you know now would you continue to eat this food product?