"Just Tastes So Local"
Lesson Plans created by -Brian Benito - for EVE 546 Spring 2009
Overview: Most
people get their vegetables from their local grocery store.
However, a growing number of people choose
to plant their own, working the soil for many weeks in order to eat
food that
they are more familiar with. These
people are gardeners and over the next few weeks you will learn how to
build,
plant, water, cultivate, and harvest food from your own garden.
This lesson is
designed for students to gather a recognizable connection between the
food they
eat and the way it is grown. Students will gain
basic knowledge of nutritional value from the vegetables harvested
locally. They will also
learn of the benefits of organic farming; how it may affect their
health, and
the health of the planet. Lastly, the students will be encouraged to
participate in a community outreach field trip and will donate a
portion of their harvest to a local food bank or community organization
in
need.
Objectives:
Students will:
- Gather a recognizable connection between the food they eat and the way it is grown.
- Gain a basic knowledge of nutritional value from vegetables harvested locally.
- Learn how to design a garden and begin to prepare it for planting.
- Gain and understanding of the water cycle and how it is important to the survival of their food.
-
Learn the skill of planting food and maintaining it once it is planted.
Key Concepts: Food
Pyramid, Organic Gardening, Vegetable recognition, Food miles, Garden
design, Food cultivation, Water cycle, Chemical identification,
Composting
Subjects: Social
Studies, Biology, Ecology, Geography, Botany, Chemistry, Technical
Education
Duration: 1 season
Setting: Any classroom
Season: Spring
Interdisciplinary Connections
Frameworks: See Standards
Matrix
Individual Lesson Titles:
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Click
here for a PDF version of this unit plan -
Click
here for a PDF version of the Standards Matrix -
Matrix of Lesson Standards
Other EE lessons that would engage learners in a variety of inquiry activities including the following:
- Cove River Historical Site - Creating a Historical Timeline
- Navigating the Landscape - Geocaching
- People and Cultures - Natie American Site Introduction - Approaching the land with reverence - smudging.
- Soils
- Native Flora - plants of the region and habitats of coastal CT
- Native Fauna - animals of the region - birds
- Invasite and non-Native sepcies - invasive plants
- All about Insects
- Native and Colonial Agriculture
- Water and its uses - water quality
Environmental Science Education @ Cove River
Other Environmental Science activities conducted at the Cove River Site include SCSU Graduate and Undergraduate as well as local West Haven High School Environmental Science students using the GLOBE Program field observation strategies to gather information and data. These field investigations follow an Earth Systems Science approach. For each of 4 earth "spheres" - Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere and Atmosphere - field data are collected for analysis and sharing with the broader GLOBE Program community, which includes students from over 110 different countries.
SCSU Science Educaton & Environmental Studies - Cove River Historical Site GLOBE Investigations... coming soon!
- Geoshere investigations
- Hydrosphere investigations
- Biosphere investigations
- Atmosphere investigations
- other investigations
Mr. Kevin Dickson's Environmental Science and Ecology Classes - West Haven High School... coming soon!
Student Investigations: Zizi Yu's Hydrology Investigations..... coming soon!
Archaeology Education @ Cove River
The
Archaeological education activities occuring at the Cove River Site
have been directed by local experts in partnership with researchers
from the Yale Peabody Museum. A separate section ofthis website is
devoted to educational material, lessons and activities connected to
the history of human habitation and the story of native american life
ways at the site.
- Cove River Site Archaeology
- Local Native American life ways in coastal Connecticut
No Child Left Inside!
A generation of children are growing up with little opportunities taken to explore nature. What ever happened to un-structured play in our own backyards and neighborhood parks and open spaces. Where's my tree fort?
More than any other generation, today's kids spend a great deal of time indoors. No Child Left Inside℠ is a promise, and a pledge... to help Connecticut's children live active, healthier lives while they enjoy the natural treasures of our state parks and forests - and discover the rewards of becoming environmentally conscious citizens.
- Connecticut State Department of Environmental Quality - No Child Left Inside website!
Nature Deficit Disorder!
The term “nature-deficit disorder” was coined by author Richard Louv in his book “Last Child in the Woods” to describe what happens to young people who become disconnected from their natural world. Louv links this lack of nature to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression.
Green outdoor settings appear to reduce ADHD symptoms in children across a wide range of individual, residential, and case characteristics. - Kuo and Taylor, NIH article
- A National Coalition for Environmental Education - No Child Left Inside website!
