Lesson on local, sustainable food production: plant lifecycles in your garden
For the last two practicums during the autumn, I taught my classes about the plant life cycle and how they can take a seed and, with a little time, grow a plant that can feed their family and provide additional seeds for the following spring. The lesson was designed to be interactive and memorable. I harvested large vines from my garden showing all stages of the life cycle. The first year I brought in pumpkins and an enormous jack-o’-lantern and read the book Pumpkin Pumpkin. The story followed the life cycle of a pumpkin from seed to harvest, with the boy creating a jack-o’-lantern at the end of the story. The second year I taught this lesson I brought in cucumber seeds/vines and sliced up a finished cucumber that all the students could sample. The learning engaged all their senses and was intended to inspire a future generation of gardeners who appreciate sustainable methods of food production they can recreate with their own families at home.
ENSU-Giveback-Lesson