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Weeds are a fact of
garden life. There are three basic types of weeds in our area. In September, as the students are getting to know their class
gardens for the school year, we use weeding as the basis for science and math
activities that include data collection, sorting, and graphing. Beyond
this activity, we make weeding a part of any activity that takes the class to
their class garden bed locations.
Often times, several
students will finish with the planned activity early. Keep a bucket handy
for those students to pull weeds while they wait for their classmates to finish.
The best method to direct student weeding is to pre-pull a weed or two that you
want the students to pull. Have the samples on hand for viewing so
students know what they are to pull. This puts the focus on the weeds to
eradicate and not plant seedlings, and it reduces student questions about which
plants are weeds. Remind students always to ask about a plant in
question before it is pulled.
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Related lesson plans |
Grade |
When in Our Garden
Cycle |
|
Sorting and Counting Weeds
- Weeds
are used to practice counting and to apply the concepts of
“more” and “less”. |
1 |
September |
|
Comparing Plant Parts Using Weeds -
Weeds are used to
compare similarities and differences of the same plant parts and to
discuss how certain traits help the weed to survive.
|
2 |
September |
|
Weed Sorting and Graphing -
Weeds are used to
collect, organize, and
summarize data in charts and bar graphs. |
3 |
September |
|
Comparing Weeds using a Venn Diagram -
Weeds are used
to collect, organize, and
summarize data in charts and a Venn diagram. |
4 |
September |
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