Garden Design Lesson Plan

Concept:
*Student will be able to use appropriate tools to measure the distance between seeds when
planting
*Students will be able to generate a budget to purchase seeds and planting materials.
*Student groups present their garden plans.
Objective:
*Recognize and identify crops by name.
*Generate, create, design and plan a garden.
*Determine an appropriate tool for measuring.
*Estimate and measuring using a nonstandard and standard unit of measurement.
*Compare and order length and width.
*Identify and understand the value of currency.
*Create a list of materials necessary to create a garden
*Develop a budget for purchasing materials
Materials:
*Grandma Lenas Big OlTurnip
*Garden plan template
*Class Garden plan
*Measuring tools unifix cubes, string, paper clips, rulers.
*Large sheets of bulletin board paper or chart paper
*Glue sticks
*Crayons
*Pencils
Vocabulary:
*seed catalog
*garden plan
*zone
*crop
*turnip
*space
*measure
*length
*width
*feet
*inch
*budget
*grid
*plant
*germinate
Lesson:
1. Refer to the shared reading book, Grandma Lenas Big OlTurnip. Review with the students
the crop she planted in her garden. Ask the students if they can remember what kind of
catalog Grandma Lena was studying at the beginning of the story to help her decide what
type of turnip to plant in her backyard garden a seed catalog.
2. Have students share what they experienced while exploring the catalogs and seed packets
during their science exploratory work station. Display the planting weather chart and
discuss the various zones for planting. Acknowledge the zone specific to our area. Using

this information and a piece of bulletin board or chart paper, advise the students that they
will work together to design a garden plan. They need to remember that while planning
they need to consider how much room each plant needs to grow and measure that much
space for each plant. Use the recording tool from the science exploratory work station to
help. We may want to consider giving them a limited number of plants per crop, for time
purposes. Students will draw and label their plants.
3. MODIFICATIONS: 1. Based on level, we may want to consider using NON-STANDARD units
of measurement decicubes, unifix cubes, paper clips, etc. instead of the ruler. 2. Predrawing a grid is also an option and allowing the students to place their flowers within the
grid.
4. Divide students into pairs or triads and place them around the room with plenty of space
so they can design their garden using the chart paper.
5. Once the design is complete and using the seed catalogs, students will create a list of
seeds used and cost per seed packet to develop a budget. Students will add together for a
total cost to build their garden.
6. After regrouping, the student groups will share their garden plans with the class. Each
group will mark their crops on the class garden plan chart. After all groups have presented,
discuss which crops had the most votes and which had the least.
7. Have the students discuss how they worked together to identify their crops and how the
final crops were chosen. Let the students share their experiences when working together
as a team or group.
Informational Writing:
Identify and discuss the crops you chose with your team for your garden design. Write about why
you chose these crops and something you learned about them from the seed catalog.
Exit Slip:
How did the seed catalog help you decide which crops to grow? What important information did
you need from the seeds and catalog to help design your garden?