My First Garden

Empowered Learner

Overview

My First Garden makes learning about gardens, flowers, vegetables and the principles of horticulture a fun learning experience.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Understand the basic vocabulary of plants.
Understand how plants grow and what they need to grow.
Be able to apply them to activities connected to plants.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words:

Exposure: Exposure is how much sun a certain spot gets.
Soil: Soil is the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed and in which plants grow.
Drainage: Drainage is the act of water running off the soil.
Minerals: Minerals are the substances occurring in nature, usually comprising inorganic substances.
Organic Matter: Organic matter is the decaying plant or animal material.
Manure: Manure is the excrement, especially of animals, or other refuse used as fertilizer.
Compost: Compost is a mixture of various decaying organic substances, as dead leaves or manure, used for fertilizing soil.
Peat Moss: Peat moss is the dead fibrous material that forms when mosses and other living material decompose.

Pre-planning

To prepare for this lesson:

Review the My First Garden Teacher's Guide.
The teacher should preview the extension and activities that are connected to gardening.

Note: My First Garden is laid out nicely for students to complete independently or with a partner. It is easily adapted for lower grades.

Accommodations

See Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students.net site in the Teacher Resources.

Steps

Directions for this activity:

Log onto My First Garden.
Begin with Show me the Basics.
After completing the activities click on My First Garden to return to the main page.
Continue with Gardening Fundamentals, My Garden and then the Garden Gallery.
Use this video or one of the others from PRE-PLANNING with the students.

Assessment Options

Different options for assessing the students:

Observations
Check for understanding
Teacher created assessment
Find a Kahoot or create one on plants
Student-created posters

MITECS Competencies & ISTE STANDARDS

MITECS: Michigan adopted the "ISTE Standards for Students" called MITECS (Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students) in 2018.

Empowered Learner
1a. Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
1b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
1c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
1d. Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.