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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
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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.
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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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