Gardening Lesson Plans

Gardening is a great way to get students outside and learn about the natural world. There are many resources out there that can help teachers plan gardening lessons for their classrooms.

The Center for Ecoliteracy describes gardens as “laboratories where students apply what they have learned in the classroom.” By learning about plants, soils, and other nature-based subjects through a variety of hands-on activities, children can develop their understanding of these topics.

Teaching Students About Plants and Soil

Using a school garden is a wonderful way to incorporate science, math, language arts, and social studies into the curriculum. It’s also a great way to build relationships with parents and community members.

There are some excellent free gardening lesson plans available online. Some of these are for school age groups, but they could be used by garden clubs or summer camps too.

This website offers a range of lesson plans for both indoor and outdoor gardens. Most of them are easy to follow and tie in with national standards.

The website also has a number of books about school gardening, some of which can be purchased. The books cover a variety of subjects including nutrition, consumer education, and agriculture.

Growing Healthy Habits is a garden-based nutrition education curriculum that uses gardening to encourage students to eat more fruits and vegetables and improve their diets. It includes introductory materials, four lessons and associated handouts.

These lessons are targeted to middle school students and include both garden and kitchen lessons. They can be used together or in sequence depending on the time available.

In addition, some of these lessons are based on scientific concepts that are correlated to state standards and make them more easily accessible for teachers.

For example, one of the lessons is about plant roots and how they help plants grow. The other is about how to use a microscope.

Some of these lessons are geared for elementary students and can be used in a preschool or kindergarten class.

Another great resource for gardening lesson plans is School Garden Project’s Science in the Garden Curriculum. These lessons have been refined by the School Garden Project staff through years of experience and have been aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Other lessons on the site focus on earth science, life science, and physical science. They are arranged by grade level and some are correlated with Georgia Performance Standards.

The curriculum includes a teacher’s guide, gardening guide, at-home parent booklet, posters, and student handouts. It is available in both print and PDF formats.

Educators who have been using the curriculum report that the lessons are very easy to teach and students love it. They have also reported that the teachers’ involvement in the lesson planning process has led to better results.

These lessons are for grades K-3 and can be used in a classroom setting or with an outdoor garden. They are correlated to North Carolina standards and may be adapted to Georgia standards as well.