Bonnie Plants’ Third Grade Cabbage Program is a free program offered to third grade classrooms nationwide. The purpose is to support youth to eat healthy and be garden advocates. To support this purpose, Bonnie Plants offers resources online to help students grow their cabbage. In addition, lesson ideas and recipes are provided along with help for teachers and parents. Visit the Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program website for more details about registration.
You can also view a complete list of the Third Grade Cabbage Program scholarship winners for 2011 for each state.
Being outside has so much to offer; whether you are a gardener or not, there is a place for you in the Great Outdoors. Each year, thousands of third graders nationwide find a special place outside by participating in a program which challenges them to grow an oversized cabbage.
Jean Persely for NGA with Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff
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Jean shares some of her ideas to get kids interested in composting:
Ask students what happens to blue jeans and t-shirts in the landfills? Can they be composted?
Ask for an old cotton t-shirt and/or an old pair of jeans to be donated. Place them at the bottom of the compost pile, or use a smaller piece for a worm bin. Do the students realize they are wearing plants? How long will it take to break down? Have students make guesses as to what will happen to these old clothes.
Do you have multiple working compost bins at school? Have a t-shirt composting race with another class. Which class will have a faster compost pile? What causes one compost bin to decompose materials faster than the other? Was one pile being turned more than the other? Take the temperature inside the pile. Is one pile hotter than the other?
Consider doing an experiment with a piece of a t-shirt in one pile and a plastic bottle in another. Let the students predict what will happen.
As the wife of an active duty Marine, Jean Persely has made the most of her frequent moves by teaching others to “bloom where they are planted.” Jean has committed to making a positive impact on any community she joins. It was in 2005, that Jean developed a vision to impact a school community by planning the introduction of a garden.
Since 2006, Students at Myers Elementary School have been involved in every aspect of the garden. Students engage in lessons on historical plantings, nutritional information, cooking classes, endangered species and so much more.
As a garden coordinator, if you can understand what motivates your volunteers you'll be more prepared to recruit, support and retain a support network. Download Volunteer Surveys(PDF) »
Ann English for NGA with Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff
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How to Design a Rain Garden
This detailed account provides step-by-step instructions for designing, installing, and maintaining a rain garden. Additional content provided to use this as a high school activity. Download How to Design a Rain Garden (PDF) »
Instructions for how to install a rain garden and use it to promote environmental stewardship.
Rain Garden at Coolidge High School, Washington DCSchool gardens have a long and successful history with a variety of purposes. Ninety six percent of the 2010-2011 National Gardening Assoc
This curriculum unit, developed by the education staff at the National Gardening Association addresses the core specific elements of the water cycle for K-12 students. There are four grade specific lesson plans, but the lessons can easily be adapted to meet the needs of any age classroom. Content in the lessons covers different aspects of the water cycle and applying the principles to activities and inquiry that can be discussed in and out of the school garden.
Here's a high school activity to help relate the benefits of composting to your students: Inquiring about Compost
If you like that activity, be sure to check out our new Compost Activity Kit which features standards-based lessons for the Kindergarten through eighth grade crowd.
Student gardener at Atwood Elementary contributing to the compost pile.Compost. It’s all around us. Whether we assist in the process or not, composting is taking place. If we choose not to use it, we are missing a valuable opportunity.
Keep your Students Learning over the Winter Break!
Here are some fun activities you can send home with your students over the winter break to keep them engaged. You may even consider encouraging your students to get their parent's involved and complete these activities by offering extra credit when they return from winter break.
Successful school gardening with kids in any situation requires a set of great resources. Having resources that enable you to seamlessly use the garden to enhance the core curricular areas makes your job, as the teacher, that much easier.
Like many other garden-related projects, wreaths represent a simple activity that can be modified for multiple grade levels and can be used to teach many concepts related to environmental science, math, design, and history.
