Teacher: Content & Title: Grade Level:

Macayla Warren Science. Food: 4th

Locally Grown and
Nutritious
Standards:
Science Standard: Concept 3: Organism and Environments
PO 1. Describe ways various resources (e.g., air, water, plants, animals, soil) are
utilized to meet the needs of the population.
PO 3. Analyze the effect that limited resources (e.g., natural gas, minerals) may
have on an environment.
Objectives (Explicit & Measurable):
SWBAT explore how fruits and vegetables grow by planting them in the school
garden and nourishing them with their basic needs: water, sunlight, air and soil.
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable Assessment: formative and summative):
(formative) At the end of the lesson, students will complete an exit ticket about
two new things they learned today, and one thing that they enjoyed the most
about planting in the garden.
(summative) At the end of the unit, the students will be able to write a three
paragraph, persuasive letter expressing their reasons as to why someone should
make the switch to eating more locally grow foods, and how it will be more
beneficial to them and the environment in the future.

Sub-objectives, SWBAT (steps that lead to completion of objective; sequence

from simple to more complex):
SWBAT identify the basic needs plants need to grow
SWBAT plant seed in the school garden after learning about the plant
growth/life cycle.
Lesson Summary and Justification: (summary gives detailed information
about what students are doing. Justification why is this lesson being
taught)

This lesson is being taught to inform students, and allow them to experience the time,
effort and resources that it takes to plant and grow fresh vegetables and fruits. This
will give students a first hand experience into learning why people around the world
remain hungry or malnourished. Students will be experiencing what it is like to plant in
a garden; some students may never get another opportunity to experience or watch
this happen other than this opportunity. This lesson also teaches students a skill that
they can take with them to use at home a start a garden, or a skill that they will be
able to utilize in their future.

Background Knowledge: (What do students need to know prior to completing

this lesson)

Prior to this lesson students will need to have knowledge on:

The basic needs of a plant (water, sunlight, soil and air)
The life/growth cycle of plants
Malnutrition and hunger (Day 1 & Day 3)
Food distribution (Day 2)
Misconception: (what possible misleading thoughts might students have?)
Misconception: Plants need plant food to eat.
Reality: Plant food (fertilizer) can provide additional minerals and nutrients for
plants. While plants do require these substances for growth, they can fulfill these
needs through minerals in the soil and through photosynthesis. Plants do not eat.

Process Skills: (what skills are you introducing or reinforcing)

Skills that I am teaching to the students, and also reinforcing are: how and why
students need to work as a team, and also how to plant seeds and ensure that they
are providing with the quality and quantity of resources the plants need to grow and
survive.
Four Ways of Thinking connection: (Provide a complete explanation of how
your lesson plan connects to futures, system, strategic, or values thinking.
Define the way of thinking you selected and used in this lesson plan.
Remember, this should be included meaningfully in the lesson plan.)
In this lesson, Futures Thinking will be utilized to aid the student in imagining the
future they wish to see. By using Futures Thinking, students should hopefully learn to
value freshly grown fruits and vegetables after learning and experiencing the effort
that it takes to plant them and care for them. With Futures Thinking, students should
also walk away with a better understanding of what it would be like to live in a place
where they cannot afford fresh fruits and vegetables, and what the world could look
like if gardening/farming were to disappear.
Safety: (what safety rules and items need to be addressed?)
Students will need to wear closed toed shoes.
Students will listen to and follow the teachers directions and rules:
How deep to make the hole for the seeds to go in.
How far apart to space each seed.
How much water to give the seeds, ensuring to not over-water the seeds.
Students will not:
Horseplay or run around while actively participating in the lesson, especially not
around the garden.
Not use any materials or tools before the teacher has given any directions or
has modeled how to use them.
Yell at one another (use inside voices).

Inquiry Questions: (testable in the here and now.)

1. (to explore) How long does it take each seed to grow into its ripe fruit
or vegetable?
2. (to elaborate) Why do you think it takes so long for fruits and
vegetables to grow?
Key vocabulary: (list and define) Materials: (list item and possible
1. Garden- a section of ground or land quantity)
used for planting and growing flowers, fruit Garden
and vegetables. Soil
Seeds
2. Seed- a flowering plant's unit of Water
reproduction, capable of developing into Plastic trowels
another such plant. Watering can
Gloves (if students want them)
3. Malnutrition- lack of proper nutrition,
caused by not having enough to eat, not
eating enough of the right things, or being
unable to use the food that one does eat.

4. Futures Thinking- how the past and

the present influence the future.
Engage - In this section you should activate prior knowledge, hook student
attention, pose a question (IQ#1) based on your lesson objective that students
will seek to answer in Explore.
Teacher Will: (hook) Students Will:
Ask students What types of things Talk with a shoulder partner about
grow in gardens? what they think grows in gardens.
Call on students and have them share
their thoughts.
Ask students How long do you think Share their thoughts on how long
it takes for fruits and vegetables to they think it takes for seed to grow
grow? in to fruits or vegetables.
Call on students and have them share Share what their favorite
their thoughts. fruit/vegetable is/are.
Ask students to think-pair-share about what
their favorite fruits and/or vegeatables
are/is.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
Have students talk with a partner or do a think-pair-share to get the students thinking
and talking. This allows students to hear what others think, and gain new information
that they may have never knew or thought of. Students who are ELL also benefit from
this because they can practice the proper vocabulary with peers before they use it
further into the lesson.
Explore - In this section students should take the lead and actively use materials
to discover information that will help them answer the question posed in
Engage. Teachers may choose to give steps to follow, especially for younger students,
but the goal is for students to discover some or all of the sub-objectives of the lesson.
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #1) Students Will: (list all steps)
Bring the class outside to the garden. Go outside to view the garden.
Allow students to explore the garden, Explore the garden, and talk
and touch the soil before they begin amongst one another about what
planting. they are observing.
Ask the students what they want to
see grow in their school garden and
why.
Have the students think-pair-share
their answers and reasons why they Think-pair-share their thoughts.
want to see their specific fruit or Raise hands, and say what they
vegetable grow in the school garden. want to see grow in the garden,
and explain why.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
Have students talk with a partner or do a think-pair-share to get the students thinking
and talking. This allows students to hear what others think, and gain new information
that they may have never knew or thought of. Students who are ELL also benefit from
this because they can practice the proper vocabulary with peers before they use it
further into the lesson. By having the students explore the garden before discussing it,
students can make observations and discover new information that they may have not
been expose to yet.
Explain In this section students share what they discovered, teacher connects
student discoveries to correct content terms/explanations, students
articulate/demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of the lesson sub-objectives
by answering the question from Engage before moving on.
Teacher Will: Students Will:
Ask students to share what they have Share their observations (other
observed from the garden. plants that are in the garden, the
Explain how plants use the soil to location, about the soil, etc.)
grow, and why they need a specific
type of soil to go to their fullest
potential.
Ask students to think back to a
previous day and state the basic
needs of plants (air, soil, sunlight and
water). State the basic needs of plants
Have the students talk with a new
partner, then call on individuals to say
1 of the 4 basic needs.
Explain why plants need each of those
to thrive.
Explain and model how to make each
hole in the garden (the correct and Watch and listen to the teachers
incorrect way). directions and modeling.
Explain and model how to correctly
place the seed in the hole they just
created.
Explain and model how to corrected
cover the seed.
Explain and model how to correctly
space seeds out from one another,
ensure they have enough room to
grow.
Explain and model how to correctly
water the seeds, and how much water
to use so that the seeds are not over
watered.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
Have students talk with a partner or do a think-pair-share to get the students thinking
and talking. This allows students to hear what others think, and gain new information
that they may have never knew or thought of. Students who are ELL also benefit from
this because they can practice the proper vocabulary with peers, and they can also
learn new vocabulary by listening to their partner(s) ideas. Modeling exactly what your
expectations are for the students allows for them to have a better understanding of
what they are expected to do, and also gives them a visual to go off of when they are
attempting to plant on their own. This also allows ELLs to understadn the directions
better because they are able to visually see what they will need to do, instead of
hearing/comprehending the directions.
Elaborate In this section students take the basic learning gained from Explore and
clarified in Explain and apply it to a new circumstance or explore a particular aspect of
this learning at a deeper level. Students should be using higher order thinking in this
stage. A common practice in this section is to ask a What If? question. IQ #2
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #2) Students Will:
Place students in to paird, or groups Get into their assigned groups or
of three. partnership.
Give each group a plastic trowel, and Collect all needed materials from
each student 1 seed. the teacher.
 Give each group a specific area to Go to their designated section of
plant their seeds in. the garden.
Allow students to begin the planting Follow all steps and directions,
process, one student at a time. and begin planting their seeds,
Guide students through the steps if one student at a time.
they need the assisstance. Ask for help if they need it.
Walk around the garden to observe
and ensure that all students are
following the correct steps and
directions.
Assist any students individually that Answer with their thoughts.
may need help.
Ask students why they think it takes
so long for plants to fully grow.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
Allowing students to work with a partner or in small groups ensures that all students
have an equal opportunity to experience using the tools and planting in the garden. It
also allows students who struggle, or who may be ELL to have someone they can look
to for help if they are unsure of how the teacher explained the directions. Students are
also able to talk through the process with one another, and this allows them to share
ideas and gain new information from their peers.
Evaluate In this section every student demonstrates mastery of the lesson
objective (though perhaps not mastery of the elaborate content). Because this also
serves as a closing, students should also have a chance to summarize the big
concepts they learned outside of the assessment.
Teacher Will: Students Will:
Have students finish up planting Finish plating their seeds.
their seeds. Return all materials.
Have the students bring all
materials back, and put them into Return back to class, and wash
the bin they belong in. hands.
Have students return back to class,
and wash hands. Think-pair-share about something
Have the students sit at their desks they learned from planting in the
and do a quick think-pair-share garden.
about what they learned from
planting in a garden. Receive their notecard.
Give each student a notecard for
their exit ticket. Write their answers to the questions
Have the students write two new on their notecard.
things they learned during the
lesson (vocabulary word, anything
about a garden or planting, etc.),
and also one thing that they really
enjoyed from the lesson. Turn in notecards and return to their
Have the students bring their desks for wrap up.
finished notecards up to the
teachers desk.
Have the students return to their
desks for wrap up.
Closure: (revisit objective, IQs and make real world connections)
Ask the students what the main necessities of plants are.
 Remind students of why it takes so long for plants to completely grow.
Explain to the students that Day 5 will be their reflection day. They will be
writing a persuasive letter to someone they know about healthy, locally grown
foods.
**Best Practices List the Best Teaching Practices you will use to enhance
the learning outcomes. In each section where prompted, list the best
practice, how the practices will be used and the purpose.