Downloading CitySprouts Lessons
What?
Our curriculum is designed to fulfill the mission of CitySprouts, to cultivate curiosity and wonder in students through hands-on science learning in their own schoolyard gardens.
To this end, our garden science lessons:
- start with children exploring natural phenomena hands-on
- pose questions that prompt children's deeper thinking about core ideas in science
- encourage children to talk about their thinking
- allow children to explore at their own pace, and
- provide a context to practice social emotional competencies such as self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making
We work with and through Cambridge and Boston Public Schoos,, and thus our curriculum is designed to make the most of places where the garden and growing connect with the concepts, standards, and practices detailed in the Massachusetts Science and Technology/ Engineering Curriculum Framework.
Each lesson identifies specific standards taught, but more generally speaking, all of our lessons hew to the broader core ideas under which the standards fall and to the practices outlined in the framework’s appendix:
- Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).
- Developing and using models.
- Planning and carrying out investigations.
- Analyzing and interpreting data.
- Using mathematics and computational thinking.
- Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).
- Engaging in argument from evidence.
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.
Why?
Hands-on, inquiry-based learning in the garden makes science exciting! The young scientists we teach thrive in our outdoor garden classroom because of all the different ways we lead them to observe, explore, and discover the workings of the natural world right in their own schoolyard.
How?
Our lessons are designed to be co-led by a garden educator and a classroom teacher. Teaching outdoors presents special challenges, and it is always best to have one or more educators present who knows the students and their needs. The garden educator's role is to take the lead on teaching, but many of the activities will benefit from co-facilitation by an adult who knows the students’ individual learning styles and needs.
The lessons themselves are targeted at those brand new to garden education. Our hope is that more experienced educators might be able to use them as a springboard from which to develop class sessions tailored to the specific environment and needs of a given class.
***To build our curriculum we have collaborated with Cambridge Public Schools Science department, and relied on lessons developed by many talented Garden Educators who have worked for CitySprouts. We also have made use of a multitude of fine open source materials, including those created by the Berkeley Unified School District’s Gardening and Cooking Program, LifeLab, and KidsGardening.org. Every effort has been made to credit sources appropriately.
Downloading CitySprouts Lessons
What?
Our curriculum is designed to fulfill the mission of CitySprouts, to cultivate curiosity and wonder in students through hands-on science learning in their own schoolyard gardens.
To this end, our garden science lessons:
- start with children exploring natural phenomena hands-on
- pose questions that prompt children's deeper thinking about core ideas in science
- encourage children to talk about their thinking
- allow children to explore at their own pace, and
- provide a context to practice social emotional competencies such as self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making
We work with and through Cambridge and Boston Public Schoos,, and thus our curriculum is designed to make the most of places where the garden and growing connect with the concepts, standards, and practices detailed in the Massachusetts Science and Technology/ Engineering Curriculum Framework.
Each lesson identifies specific standards taught, but more generally speaking, all of our lessons hew to the broader core ideas under which the standards fall and to the practices outlined in the framework’s appendix:
- Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).
- Developing and using models.
- Planning and carrying out investigations.
- Analyzing and interpreting data.
- Using mathematics and computational thinking.
- Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).
- Engaging in argument from evidence.
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.
Why?
Hands-on, inquiry-based learning in the garden makes science exciting! The young scientists we teach thrive in our outdoor garden classroom because of all the different ways we lead them to observe, explore, and discover the workings of the natural world right in their own schoolyard.
How?
Our lessons are designed to be co-led by a garden educator and a classroom teacher. Teaching outdoors presents special challenges, and it is always best to have one or more educators present who knows the students and their needs. The garden educator's role is to take the lead on teaching, but many of the activities will benefit from co-facilitation by an adult who knows the students’ individual learning styles and needs.
The lessons themselves are targeted at those brand new to garden education. Our hope is that more experienced educators might be able to use them as a springboard from which to develop class sessions tailored to the specific environment and needs of a given class.
***To build our curriculum we have collaborated with Cambridge Public Schools Science department, and relied on lessons developed by many talented Garden Educators who have worked for CitySprouts. We also have made use of a multitude of fine open source materials, including those created by the Berkeley Unified School District’s Gardening and Cooking Program, LifeLab, and KidsGardening.org. Every effort has been made to credit sources appropriately.