Lesson 10 - weeds

Lesson 10 focused on weeds.  Below is the powerpoint that was used.  It has animations in it so is best viewed downloaded. 

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByllasgG-WNUeEtmMTRVMXczejA/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

Lesson 9 - Variation

Below is a link for the powerpoint for lesson 9 - variation.  There is one activity at the end.  The powerpoint has animations so it is best viewed downloaded.

Link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByllasgG-WNUSzJ5YkZUNW9aSDg/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

Lesson 8 - Butterflies and Broccoli

The link below will take you to a powerpoint with animation and pictures!  This is best viewed from powerpoint so that the animations occur correctly or via

Link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByllasgG-WNUUFR0YlBZQUQ3U00/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

Garden lesson 6 - canned vs fresh

The link goes to a powerpoint presentation with animation and pictures for lesson 6.  Activities are at the end.

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByllasgG-WNUUldFQm5nWHY4bVk/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

Second Grade Garden Lesson 4 - Parts of a Flower

This week we discussed all the parts of a flower.

Goals:

One goal was for the kids to have an introduction to the vocabulary.
The other goal was for the kids to realize that there are a lot of parts that make up a flower.
 

Lesson:

We discussed the following diagram:

• Stamen is the male part of the plant
• Pistil is the female part of the plant
• Stamen has 2 parts – the anthers have the pollen on it.  And they are held up by the filament.
• Pistil has 3 parts.  The stigma is the sticky surface that the pollen sticks to.  The style holds up the stigma and the ovary which contains the ovules.  This is where the seed will form once a flower is pollinated.
• The sepals protect the developing bud. 

Activities:

Table 1

At one table, we had a blank flower and the kids had to try to remember the different flower parts.

Table 2

Here the kids played bingo so that they had practice just hearing the flower part names over and over again.  Sample bingo card:

Garden

We discussed how our plants were growing.  Each time the kids make observations about the garden and we discuss them.  We also looked at flowers in the garden area to see how many different parts they have.

Bingo cards and Flower worksheet are in the ppt found here.

Learning Crafts - Peninsula and Islands

The other day we visited Newport Peninsula and Balboa island which sparked a fun conversation about the differences between a peninsula and an island.  It was a fun chat and it ended up with a craft because it would be so much fun to build a peninsula and an island!

The green is simply green homemade play-doh and the blue is just food coloring in water.  The trays are the kind that you would bring dinner to somebody in and the toys are from our miscellaneous toy bin.  One green play-doh piece is attached to the side of the tin to make the peninsula and the other green play-doh is the island.  

Enjoy!

Field Trip - Balboa Island

Today we took a trip to Balboa Island!  We brought scooters and rode around the island picking up some salt water taffy along the way!  Here's the scoop:

• First we parked at the beach parking at the Newport pier and walked across the street to the Balboa Island Ferry
• The Balboa Island Ferry has been running since 1919!  So it's a piece of history!
• Kids 5 and under are free; Kids 5-11 are $0.50 and Adults are $1.00 each way
• After arriving at the island we walked straight ahead and ran into a little playground!  It is very small but a perfect spot to stop for a water break and let the little guy stretch his legs.
• Then we walked straight across the island until we hit the walking path that goes around the island.  We turned right and stumbled upon a public beach right next to a public pier!

• Then we took a stroll down Marine Avenue where we found this gem!

• Balboa Candy had salt water taffies of every flavor imaginable!  You could buy them individually so it made for an inexpensive and unexpected fun treat!  They are only about $0.29 each!
• Then we finished our walk around the island and rode back to where we started.  It was a awesome way to spend the afternoon!

Enjoy!

Second Grade Garden Lesson 3 - The Seed

Next up is investigating the seed!  Since the class already covered the parts of a seed - this lesson is going to focus on how seeds travel.

Lesson Goals:

• Understand that seeds need to be spread and that if a seeds falls straight to the ground - it would have difficulty growing.  It needs to be spread.
• Understand that there is a variety of ways that they are spread.

Overview:

• When the seeds travel away from the plant its called dissemination
• Seeds travel in different ways:
• Some seeds stick to animals with burrs or a sticky substance
• E.g. mistletoe
• Some are in fruit and get pooped out by animals
• Some travel on the wind
• E.g. dandelion which travels on the wind and gets planted when ants carry it down their hole
• E.g. maple seed
• Some travel by water
• E.g. a coconut which floats because it has special water proof fibers and air inside; it floats across oceans
• Some seeds have exploding sacks
• E.g. the squirting cucumber and the sandbox tree
• The sandbox tree has barbs on bark and its sap is poisonous to animals
• It can launch the seeds at 160mph
• Some seeds need  fire to be released
• E.g. the bishop pine tree where the resin glues the seeds in shut until a forest fire melts the resin and releases the seeds

Table 1

Materials needed:

• Styrofoam balls (about cue-ball sized)
• craft materials (feathers, string, straws, pipe cleaners etc.)

Divide the kids in pairs/groups and give each pair a ball and a handful of craft materials.  Let them each design a seed pod.  Have them discuss how their seed pod will travel.

Table 2

Materials needed:

• worksheet
• pencils
• pomegranate seeds
• cut up avocado

Allow the kids to try the pomegranate seeds and the avocado.  Discuss that animals eating seeds is one ay that seeds travel.  Ask them what animal eats the avocado.  The answer is that there is no currently living animal that eats avocado; it is called an evolutionary anachronism.  Giant Ground Sloths from long ago ate it but there isn't an animal alive that can eat the seed because it is poisonous to current day animals.

Then they can complete this worksheet:

Enjoy!

Second Grade Garden - Lesson 2 Soil

We are starting the year by looking at how plants grow and spread.  The first piece to this puzzle is the soil.

Lesson Goals:

• Understand that different soils hold water differently.
• Understand that different soils offer different amounts of resistance to root growth.
• Know that the most desired type of soil is “Loam” although different plants have different needs.

Overview:

• Three main types of soil (we looked at examples of each)
• Sand (brought in sand from the sandbox)
• Clay (just brought in some dirt from the backyard - we have soil with a lot of clay in it)
• Silt (no example of this one)
• Discussed particle size
• Sand is made up of the largest particles
• Silt has the next largest
• Clay has the smallest particles
• Discussed how particle size affects the ability of the soil to hold water and to hold plants
• Sand - cannot easily hold plants; water filters through it quickly
• Silt - has smaller particles than sand so its better at holding water and plants
• Clay has the smallest particles so its very compact and can hold the roots of plants very well but it offers a lot of resistance to root growth; it also holds a lot of water in the soil and doesn't filter it through
• The most desired type of soil is loam.  Loam is "a type of soil that is good for growing plants".  Loam is good for vegetable gardens...but not cacti. 
• Soil can be amended to create loam.  Compost or sand or clay can be added to soil to create loam.

Table 1

Materials needed:

• cups with hole in bottom
• sand samples
• clay soil samples
• water
• cups for catching water 

Put some sand in one cup with a hole in it and clay soil in the other cup with a hole in it.
Pour some water into each cup and observe how quickly water comes out the hole and how much water comes out.  Water should come out of the sand cup faster and more sand should come out of the sand sample cup.

An expanded version of this experiment can be found at https://utah.agclassroom.org/teachercenter/index.cfm?controller=main&action=lpsearch&lpID=499&searchGrade.gradeID=5&searchSub.subjectID=2

Table 2

Materials needed:

• worksheet
• pencils

Introduce the graph and show how to read it.  Each of the examples are native Californian plants.

Worksheet (click here for document)



Garden

We walked around the garden and looked at the soil.  We discussed why what we planted has not come up yet.  The kids shared their observations.


Enjoy!

Second Grade Garden - Lesson 1 Planting

We were all very excited to start gardening again!  The first lesson gave a fun introduction by looking at seeds, planting seeds and guessing how well seeds will grow!

Lesson Goals:

• Plant the garden
• Understand the parts of a seeds
• Participate in the scientific process by forming a hypothesis

Structure:

The class of approximately 30 second graders is split into 3 groups of about 10 each.  There is one teacher and one or two volunteer parents.  At the start of the lesson the overview material is covered.  Then the class is broken into its groups.  Each lesson is given 45 minutes.

Overview:

• A seed is composed of the embryo (the baby plant), the seed coat, and the cotyledon (the seed food). 

• Hypothesis: a seed needs love to grow.  Seeds need water, sun and soil but how about some love?  There are studies that show that when music is played for a plant it grows better.  Other scientists have demonstrated that talking to plants improves growth while others have tested how plants respond to certain tones.  In this experiment, "Love" is defined as talking to the plant.  There will be two plants in each sample.  The garden volunteer will take the plants home and keep them somewhere sunny.  The plants will all get watered at the same time and talked to on the following schedule:
• "No love" plants will not be talked to.
• "Some love" plants will have "Good Morning" and maybe a short song.
• "Love plants" will be brought inside for about an hour every day to enjoy the constant chatting that happens indoors.

Table 1

Materials needed:

• worksheet
• soaked lima bean seeds (soak the night before)
• glue

Dissect a seed.  Pull the seed coat off and open the seed to find the embryo.  Glue each of the parts to the paper. 
Worksheet (click picture for ppt link)

Table 2

Materials needed:

• worksheet
• pots
• seeds (we used radish seeds)
• soil
• wipes
• pencils

Plant a seed and make an educated guess at how the plants will grow to fill out the worksheet.  Label each group as follows:

1. No Love
2. Some Love
3. Lots of Love

Worksheet

Garden

At the garden we planted sweet peas, carrots, radishes and broccoli.  Each group planted one row of seeds and one broccoli plant.  Each student had a chance to plant a seed or be a part of the planting the broccoli.


Enjoy!