The Edible Schoolyard

CLASSROOM LESSONS

The Worm Unit
The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo
Ecology Fair
Science at Home Projects
Rogue D'Etampes Pumpkins and Central Tendencies
Edible Schoolyard Tastings

Visit the Garden Lessons section to learn more about related lessons taught in the Edible Schoolyard garden.

Visit the Kitchen Lessons section to learn more about related lessons taught in the Edible Schoolyard kitchen.

The Worm Unit
Worm Encounters
Notice worms in the garden during jobs (digging, composting, planting); this is an ongoing activity over a nine-week period; students record their worm observations in their garden journal

Worm Bin
Students build a worm bin as a garden job and bring the bin to the classroom

Students collect hay, food scraps and red wigglers for the bins.
Students compare indoor and outdoor worm bins.
Students report their observations at the circle (Ramada).

Video
Watch the ‘Wormania’ video starring Mary Applehoff. Students take notes.

Worm Observations in the Classroom

Students draw worm body parts in their garden journals.
Students observe worm movement.

Worm Experiments
Students develop worm experiments. They include: purpose, prediction, procedure, results and conclusion.

Worm Readings

Students use jigsaw technique and take notes.
Read aloud There is a Hair in My Dirt, by Gary Larson.

Cartoons

Students cut out Far Side cartoons (worm-related) and put them in their garden journals.
Students create their own worm cartoons and add them to their garden journals.

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The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo
Envelope Play

Overview
The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo by Charlotte Pomerantz is a true story that illustrates what can happen when we view nature as a series of isolated pieces rather than as connected parts of systems within systems. In the story, which takes place in Borneo in the early 1950s, DDT is sprayed to control mosquitoes, which it does. The DDT, however, then works its way through the web of life wreaking havoc along the way. In the end, the attempt to control mosquitoes brings about the death of wildlife, destroys human’s homes, and unleashes a plague of rats.

It is our belief at The Edible Schoolyard that one real life story can often be more powerful than a thousand statistics in getting important ecological concepts across to our students. This activity is designed to allow students to gain a better understanding of the many important ecological concepts involved in this story by having them interact with it through the use of an "envelope play."

For more information about this story, visit "The Pursuit of Interconnections" on the Rocky Mountain Institute web site

The Principles of Ecology at work here include:

Networks: All members of an ecological community are interconnected in a vast and intricate network of relationships, the web of life. They derive their essential properties and, in fact, their very existence from these relationships.
Dynamic Balance: All ecological cycles act as feedback loops, so that the ecological community regulates and organizes itself, maintaining a state of dynamic balance characterized by continual fluctuations.

Objectives

Students will gain further evidence for the importance of viewing the processes on earth through the lens of interconnected networks rather than as isolated events.
Students will gain further understanding of dynamic balance by witnessing a scenario in which nature’s inherent ability to remain in balance is thrown off the by intervention of technology.

Materials
For each student:

1 sheet 8 _ x 11-inch card stock
1 sheet 11 x 17-inch white paper
Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
DDT sheet
1 pair of scissors
5 paper clips
1 envelope

For the teacher:

The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo (this book is out-of-print, however it can be found in many public libraries)
Map of Borneo (optional)

Procedure
DAY 1
Read the story out loud to the class. Ask students to write down all the main characters.
Begin making the props for the play. Each student will have an island and a full set of characters. This will take about a full 90-minute class period.

Island of Borneo Prop
Pass out the large sheet of white paper. Have students draw the outline of the island and the water surrounding it. You may want to have a map of Borneo on display as a guide. Remind students that an island is a body of land completely surrounded by water.

Lead a brainstorm of flora, landforms, and water on the island. You may wish to reread some sections of the book to help students remember. Give students some time to sketch in flora, landforms and water: mountains, ridges, forests, rivers, and crops (sugar cane, rice, mangoes, and coconut palms). It is not necessary to draw the crops in detail. Instead, students can label sections of land where the crops are grown. Do not draw the fauna or the huts. These will be made from the card stock in the next section. Ask students to label areas for villages, but do not draw them in.

Character Props
Lead class in a brainstorm on the most important characters in the play. Caterpillars, mosquitoes, cockroaches, geckoes, cats, cats with parachutes, rats, helicopters, farmers, thatched huts, and DDT should all be on the list.

The following list includes all the characters and the number to make for each:
Caterpillars (8), Mosquitoes (10), Cockroaches (10), Geckoes (6), Cats without parachutes (7), Cats with parachutes (7), Rats (10), Fish (5), Helicopter (1), Farmers (1 family), Thatched hut (1), DDT (20)

The characters in the play will all be made from rectangles cut out from the card stock. Make the rectangles 1-inch x 2-inches. Have students sketch the characters on the rectangles. Write each character’s name underneath the drawing. Write "DDT" on the card for DDT. Students may want to add a drawing of a skull and crossbones to signify the danger.

Alternatively, you may wish to have students make just one of each character and have them make many DDT cards. Instead of attaching more than one character to a predator, students can attach just the DDT. Or, you may wish to have the characters on ready-made sheets for the students to cut out.

One hut will represent all the huts in the village. Have students draw and cut out the shape below. Then fold down the legs. Make the hut about 2-inches x 2-inches. Ask students to color the hut so it looks as though it is made from thatch (straw or palm leaves).

DAY 2
Design Envelope
Write the title of the play on one side and write a table of contents on the other.
Title: The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo

Table of Contents:

Island map
Hut
Farmer and family
Caterpillars
Geckoes
Mosquitoes
Cockroaches
House cats
Helicopter/DDT
Parachuted cats

Set up the Play
Instruct students to set up their “stage” in the following way:

Place the hut in the village area
Place the caterpillars and geckoes on the hut.
Place the farmer family and the cats without parachutes in the hut.
Place the rats in the forests.
Place the fish in the river.
Place the cockroaches in and around the hut.
Place the mosquitoes around the hut.
Place the helicopter, DDT, and the cats with the parachutes off to the side.
Give each student 5 paperclips.

Enact the Play
Students use the Envelope Play they have made to enact the play at their desks as you read the story aloud. Begin rereading the story from the beginning.

Helicopter flies over the island and drops DDT all over the island.
Buzz mosquitoes. Paper clip DDT on mosquito card. Turn over the mosquito’s card to indicate the mosquito is dead.
Cockroaches crawl in hut. Paper clip DDT on the cockroach card. DO NOT turn it over.
Caterpillars crawl on hut. Paper clip DDT on caterpillar cards. Geckoes eat one card of caterpillars and one of cockroaches. Paper clip one caterpillar card/DDT and cockroach/DDT on one gecko card.
Cats each geckoes that are moving VERY slowly. Paper clip geckoes to cat cards. Turn over the cats’ cards to indicate they are dead. Talk about DDT residue and the cumulative element of the pesticide as one animal eats the other.
Place some DDT in the river.
Bring the rats out of the forest/jungle to the hut.
Put cats with parachutes in the helicopter and drop them on the island. These cats chase the rats back into the forest/jungle.
Collapse the hut.

Review the Play
a) Ask students to retell the story through the lens of networks or dynamic balance. Have students draw the networks in their journals.
b) Discuss dynamic balance:

What happens on the island when the balance is disturbed?
What upsets the balance? [when there are no more geckoes, there are more caterpillars and the huts collapse],[when there are no cats, there are rats and then plague]

Homework
Use the Envelope Play to retell the story at home. Write and illustrate the story in your own words.

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Ecology Fair
Ecology is the study of the relationships of living things to one another and to their environment.

What is it?
Ecology is a big topic. This is your opportunity to become an expert on one aspect of ecology. You will get a chance to show off what you learned during Open House at King’s Ecology Fair.

What are the guidelines?
This project has three parts:

1) Written Report
Write a detailed report in your own words. Your report should include the following:

An introductory paragraph to tell what your report is about.
Other paragraphs to tell about what you learned.
A concluding paragraph explaining the Principles of Ecology you researched.
A bibliography with at least three sources:
A book

A newspaper/magazine/encyclopedia article

A third source that you may choose

2) Project
Your project should support/illustrate your written report. Here are some ideas for projects (please remember, these are only suggestions. Be creative and have fun!):

Habitat study/restoration
Children’s book
Interview with an expert
Brochure
Ecology game
Ecology web site
Garden project
Artistic interpretation (song, rap, play, poem, etc.)

3) Oral Presentation
Share what you have learned with the class. Your presentation should be 3-5 minutes.

Ecology Project Due Dates
3/22 -- Parent/Student signatures; Project Proposal
3/29 -- Rough draft of written report and bibliography
4/4 -- Project and final draft of written report and bibliography
4/4 and 4/5 -- Presentations in class
4/5 6-8 pm -- OPEN HOUSE and ECOLOGY FAIR

While we will spend some time in class working on this project, you also will need to make time to work on your project at home. During the first week and weekend, you will need to go to the library to begin gathering books for your research. You also may research on the Internet. Bring your books to school on Monday March 26.

For Parents or Guardians
I have read over this assignment with my child and understand what is expected. Parent/guardian signature and student signature required. Turn in this completed sheet with your final written report.

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Science at Home Projects
Science at Home projects are science projects that students do for homework. Some teachers assign them weekly; others alternate them with a weekly math assignment. Science At Home projects are used to strengthen students' investigation and experimentation skills by giving them additional practice with the scientific method. In most cases, they have the added benefit of being aligned to the curriculum being studied in the classroom. They also serve as a good way for parents to work together with their children. Science at Home projects use simple, easy-to-find materials. If necessary, the supplies are given to students. Ideally, these lesson are tied to their work and learning in the Edible Schoolyard garden. Include sample experiment that is garden related.

Rogue D’Etampes Pumpkins and Central Tendencies: a Sixth-Grade Math Lesson

Weigh 12-15 pumpkins of varied sizes on a produce scale.
Record data
Calculate the mean, mode, median, range, and outlier (central tendencies).

Mean = average
Mode = most common piece of data
Median = the middle piece of data when in order from smallest to biggest weight
Range = the difference between the smallest and biggest weights
Outlier = a piece of data that stands out, either very small or very big

Analyze the Data

Which is the most useful of the central tendencies?
Is the mean or he mode more representative?

*This could be done with any type of produce that has some variety in size: tomatoes, beets, zucchini, potatoes, or apples. This reinforces the 6th grade California Math Standards in the data component.

Edible Schoolyard Tastings
These activities take place throughout the year to emphasize seasonality, and can be done in a classroom or out in the garden. Students taste fruits and vegetables that are grown in the garden or bought from local farms at the farmers market. They use their senses to record observations about the produce. This can be done with different varieties of one type of vegetable or fruit as a comparison, or with simply one type. The main objective is to broaden their awareness of new foods, and to pay careful attention to their senses.

Materials
Cutting boards, knives, toothpicks, journals or paper and pencils to record their ideas.

Preparation

Wash the fruits, vegetables, and hands.
Have them list their five senses in their journal with blank lines in between to record observations.
Describe the fruit or vegetable to the students including: some background history on the produce, where it was grown, what the variety is, etc.
Have students taste noting its texture, taste, sound, smell, and physical appearance in the correct categories.
They should use the most descriptive words they can, and can also draw pictures to help describe details.
Creative writing can be incorporated at the end to extend the lesson. Poetry lends itself well. Haikus and acrostics can help students who need more structure. NOTE: Haiku Poetry follows this pattern: a three-line poem with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third. Acrostic Poetry spells the fruit or vegetable down the page and includes words beginning with each letter. See student samples below:

A fancy red fruit
With juicy red seeds inside
The pomegranate

Red
Awesome
Seeds
Plants
Berries
Excellent
Ripe
Raspberries
In
Edible
Schoolyard

Tastings have been offered as part of staff development for our teachers. It gives teachers an opportunity to broaden their pallets and be creative as well. A particularly popular tasting included apples of many varieties. These where sampled, and then each teacher selected one apple to highlight in a personal ad. The most original ad received an apple pie for a prize.

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WHY TEACHERS GO WITH STUDENTS TO THE GARDEN AND KITCHEN

Since the inception of The Edible Schoolyard, classroom teachers have accompanied their students to the garden and the kitchen. The alternative was to have a pullout program in which the garden and kitchen classes are taken over by a teacher other than the regular classroom teacher. There are three reasons for this policy:

The desire of staff was to make Edible Schoolyard activities an extension of students' regular classroom education, not a separate experience. Garden, kitchen, and classroom teachers shared the belief that integrating the program into core curriculum would enrich students' overall educational experience. Teachers use garden and kitchen activities as common reference points to activate prior knowledge. Also, specific lessons that meet the California Content Standards are developed to build on experiences in the garden and kitchen. Some examples include compost and worm lessons, links to the Landforms science curriculum, plant structure and function, and ecology.

The opportunity for teachers and students to interact in a setting very different from the traditional classroom was seen as an important component. In the garden and kitchen, teachers have the experience of spending informal time with small groups of students. Participation in kitchen and garden activities enables students to build more complete relationships with teachers, volunteers, and one another. The program provides a new dimension in students' relationship to the school, by enhancing their potential to demonstrate their abilities and be successful. It also gives teachers insight into the whole child, an understanding that translates into the classroom environment.

Involving credentialed teachers in the garden enables The Edible Schoolyard to employ non-credentialed teachers who share their expertise and enthusiasm for gardening and cooking with students. The gardener' s responsibilities, for example, include determining the jobs necessary in the garden on a daily basis, care of tools and equipment, an overall understanding of the planting schedule, and coordination of staff and volunteers. Taking on these responsibilities allows the classroom teacher to focus on class management and to fully participate with their students in the garden and kitchen sessions.