Measuring and Designing Our Garden
Ages 4 and up (one 30-45 minute session)
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Objectives:
- To explore the space that will be the garden from an imaginary “bird’s eye” view,
- To begin to realize the diversity of plant life in the world,
- To understand what we usually plant in our zone and why,
- To learn that there is a place for creativity in the garden.
- To understand and learn about spatial relationships
- To learn how to use a tape measure, and what units of measure are.
Materials:
- Large piece of drawing paper for each of the children
- Colored pencils or crayons and double sided tape,
- A map of the US or a globe,
- Chalk board or something large for the teacher to work on in front of the class,
- Lots of seed catalogs that can be cut up for the sake of education.
- Scissors for everyone
- Measuring tape
- Large wooden pot labels
Set up:
Set out the seed catalogs. Take a walk into the garden with the children to measure its parameters. Place double sided tape in long strips on drawing paper to simulate rows in the garden.
Part One:
Allow the children to measure several things with the tape measure (a fence, themselves, or buildings). Have them pull it out completely to see how far it will go. Ask the children if they know how long an inch is.
Show them the garden plot or the proposed space for the garden. Put a few wooden pot labels on the corners to mark the area. Show them how to measure the garden and count along with them to find out its measurements.
Part Two:
Explain that you want them all to pretend that they’re birds looking down onto the garden. Have them explain how it looks from the air. Draw the way it might look on the chalkboard. Pass out the poster board and explain what the tape signifies. Explain what paths are and have them put some in their garden picture with the crayons and colored pencils. Stress original work from each child. Have them take a seed catalog and have them search for plants they want in their garden. Have them cut the pictures out and stick them where they want them in their gardens on the sticky rows.
Part Three:
Collect the drawings and start talking about the different plants that were chosen. Talk about the growing season and how many days your area has from the last spring frost to the first fall frost. (See table 2). Show them where they are on the globe. Talk about the equator and how warm it is there. Pull out a calendar and mark off the frost dates. Have the children count the days in between those dates explaining these will be the number of growing days in their area. Explain that they can’t plant anything that has to have more days than the number they came up with. Look in the seed catalogs and see which plants fit into that category. Compare these plant choices to the art work. Encourage discussion and then have the children vote on what they will plant. Make a list of the plants they can plant and order the seeds. Make a seeding schedule (See tables 1 & 3 ).
Questions:
- Why would this be a good place for a garden?
- How many children will fit in this space?
- How many plants do you think will fit in this garden?
- When do you think we will be able to plant our garden?
- What will happen if we plant seeds that need a longer time than what we have?
- What can we do to plant seeds that need just a little bit longer than the time we have in our area?
