Granny's Garden School

The goal is always to take the students outside. For those occasional rainy days, many teachers like the consistency of continuing your scheduled garden time with an inside activity. Many of our lessons can be modified into an inside activity. Below are additional alternatives. Each inside activity requires some advance planning to collect the needed supplies. Some supplies are available from Granny's office, while others need to be collected from other sources.

Grade	Activity	Summary
K, 1, 2	Literature Connections	Books are used to teach about garden-related topics or to be a creative writing or poetry example. This requires advance planning to get the book from the public library or Granny's library.
1	Compost Skit	Interactive skit to teach students about things that happen in the compost pile. Skit is located in the barn for signing out.
1	Packaging Seeds to Measure Weight	Students package seeds to use in the upcoming spring season following an investigation to compare weights of the same volume.
1, 2	Habitat Loss	Interactive game adapted from Cincinnati Nature Center's Shrinking Habitat Game that shows students the impact of wild habitat loss.
2	Using Seed Patterns to Make Predictions	Students use seeds to find an addition pattern in increasing lengths and package seeds for the upcoming spring season.
2	Seed Parts and Germination	Uses dissection of pre-soaked lima bean seeds to discuss science topics of plant parts and how plants grow.
3	Garden Haiku	Students write a haiku based on a plant, animal, or other feature of the gardens.
3	Do Seeds Need Light to Grow	Uses lima beans for students to set up an experiment following the steps of the scientific method the students study.
3	Packaging Seeds to Investigate Weight and Volume	Students package seeds to use in the upcoming spring season following an investigation to understand the difference between weight and volume.
3, 4	Oh Deer!	"Oh Deer!" is an interactive game that shows students how habitat changes affect wildlife and resources. Source: Colorado Department of Natural Resources
4	Cinquains in Nature	Students write a cinquain based on a plant, animal, or other feature of the gardens.
4	Packaging Seeds to Investigate Mass, Weight, and Volume	Students package seeds to use in the upcoming spring season following an investigation to understand the difference between mass, weight, and volume.
4	Plant Life Cycle with Fungus Experiment	Uses an experiment to grow fungus to discuss the life cycle of the fungus plant and reinforce the scientific method.
4	Roots, Stems, and Photosynthesis	Uses lima bean experiment and celery to observe science topics of roots systems and photosynthesis.
4	Seed Parts & Germination	Uses dissection of pre-soaked seeds to discuss science topics of plant parts and how plants grow.
4	Seed Viability Test	An activity from GardenHive.com to test for seeds that germinate and pot for later transplanting in the gardens. Start with 10 seeds to practice calculating percentages.
any	Pressed Flower Bookmarks	Uses flowers pressed in September to make bookmarks.
any	Seed Tapes	Alternative to make seed tapes for planting if planting day is rained out.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." Robert Louis Stevenson

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