Preschool – Kindergarten
2 What We Learned in the Garden
Objectives/Assessment Targets
Students will:
- Observe wind streamers and bubbles to identify direction and speed of the wind.
- Sort various animals according to their natural habitats.
- Describe various natural objects.
Activity Preparation
This lesson is a review of content. It can be used to check in with students about what they have learned thus far. Check in with students mid-way, or at the end of the year. This lesson can be used to better understand which lessons to dive deeper into, and which lessons may be more appropriate for each class of learners.
Prepare a large piece of cardboard for students to collectively create a collage that expresses the current season.
Materials
- Bins or other containers
- Animal and plant visual aids or models
- Drawing materials
- Wind streamers and/or bubbles
- Season chart (optional)
Activity 1: Reviewing Weather and Climate
Students use wind streamers and bubbles to observe the direction and speed of the wind. Prompt students to notice how fast the wind is going, whether it changes direction, and whether it is warm or cold.
Ask:
What season is it and what is the wind like today?
Wind and water can change the shape of the land.
Weather is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region at a particular time. People measure these conditions to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time.
Activity 2: Reviewing Animals (Preschool)
Gather model animals/insects and large bins, boxes, or baskets. Place the models in three piles on one side of the room. Place large bins on the other side of the room with labels of different places (homes) in the garden. In pairs, students run to a pile, choose an animal, and get it to its “home.”
There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Activity 3: Reviewing Nature
Demonstrate what a natural object is by showing examples found in the garden. Let students know that they will be asked to collect natural objects that they find in the garden. Explain that natural objects are produced by nature, like bark, leaves, and not man-made,
like plastic or paper.
Prepare tubs for student to place their found objects and sort accordingly (pine cones, rocks, dried herbs, bugs). Students use their senses to describe what they have found. Invite pair sharing or group sharing. Prompt students to match what they have found with
visual aids or examples of similar objects in the tubs.
Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things.
Student Reflection
What is your favorite thing that you learned in the garden?
Additional Information
Prompt students to use their site words to describe objects. Check in with teachers to learn the site word for the week.
English Language Learning (ELL) Focus: Commonalities
- I like the garden because ______________.
- My favorite thing about the garden is _____________, because________________.
Sources
Preschool Plan It, PRESCHOOL-PLAN-IT.COM
The content found in this demo chapter has been adapted from Berkeley Public Schools’ Gardening and Cooking Program via www.oercommons.org.
