Urban Agriculture Curriculum Guide

Created by Ilana Baker, Kate Butell, Josh Klier, Emma Clary, and Roman GomezEdited by Sofia Tagkaloglou

Dear Staff at the Tot Learning Center,

We are a group of high schoolers who had the privilege of working with the Talking Farm to design a curriculum for you. This curriculum will allow you young learners to experience nature firsthand, quite literally in their own back yard! It is our hope that these

activities will plant the seeds of knowledge in their minds, and create a lifelong interest and appreciation for the environment. We are honored to have been a part of this exciting partnership between you and the Talking Farm, and we hope that our work will have a lasting impact for years to come. Each lesson plan is simply a loose guideline for activities pertaining to a specific topic. Feel free to add to, omit, and alter these activities in any way you choose.

As you’ll see, each lesson has a portion that can be started at the preschool-such as reading a book. Weather permitting, the rest of the activities can be completed outside af the Farm. Some of the lessons have different activities for each age group, while some of them include the same activities for all of the ages. Again, this can be altered based on your judgement. Most of our lessons are meant for good weather. However, with this being the Chicago area, nothing about the weather is guaranteed. As you can see, we’ve included a lesson that includes playing in the snow, in case the weather decides not to cooperate. That being said, the lessons have no specific order in which they must be done in. Feel free to change the given order based on the weather or for any other reason.

Last but not least, we hope to continue to be a part of this wonderful project. We as a group would be interested in spending some time over the summer to come by the preschool/farm and help teach these lessons. We have some friends outside of our project group who expressed interest as well. We hope to be in touch with you to make this happen. We are excited to hear how it goes, and we are open to any feedback as we continue to create and improve the curriculum. Happy learning!

Sincerely,

Ilana Baker- ilanarbaker@gmail.comKate Butell- katebuetell@gmail.comJosh Klier- joshklier1999@gmail.comEmma Clary- eclary19@icloud.comRoman Gomez- 619983@eths202.org

Lesson #1: Sustainability in Food

Overview of Lesson: The kids will learn about how we as people can help and hurt the Earth.

Activities:● Lead kids outside and play and explore the farm

○ Ask about observations. What are sustainable parts of the farm? Tour the biodiversity in production, talk to Farmer Matt, and look at compost.

○ Is there anything that is disrespecting the farm? Any litter?

NOTESWhat are some things we all need?Food, water, clean air, a home, etcSo, what is sustainability?The ability to meet our needs without hurting the ability of our children to meet their needs.What is a sustainable food system?One that is beneficial for the Earth and the people who live here!

Draw similar diagram on board, using help of kids to identify partsPRODUCTION: Happy farmers*New word: BIODIVERSITY: different types of plants and animals growing/living togetherRespect to animals and plantsPROCESSING:Cooking yummy food!No additivesDISTRIBUTION:

Local is most sustainableACCESS:Grocery store, farmers market, etc, paying a fair amount for these goodies!CONSUMPTION:We eat it!WASTE:What happens when we throw something out? Where does it go? What is compost?A sustainable system would take food waste and compost it!

Lesson #2: Seedlings to Plants

Overview of Lesson: The kids will learn about how seeds grow into plants, and what they need to grow. Start by asking “Where do plants start? How do they grow?”

Activities: ● Have kids pick a plant and draw different parts of life cycle.

● Read the book One Bean by Anne Rockwell, or an other picture book about how plants grow.

● Play “Seed Seed Grow”-same idea as Duck Duck Goose, but when you are tagged you go into the compost bin instead of the cookie jar

● Go out on the farm and plant your own seeds-you will be able to check on them each time you come also explore plants that are already growing

NOTES*Lesson accompanied well with iPad for pictures and diagrams, or whiteboard to drawParts of a PlantRoots, stems, flowers, leavesWhat do you need for healthy plants?

1. Seeds2. Water3. Sunlight4. Good soil with help from compost!

Life Cycle of Plants1. Planting seeds, add water and sun! 2. Germination with small roots coming out of seed3. Seedling with first leaves4. Young plant with lots of leaves5. Mature plant with flowers or fruit

Examples can include sunflower, carrots, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, and spinach. It is recommended to guide through at least two different plants to show that plants can grow in different ways.

Lesson #3: Bees

Overview of Lesson: The kids will learn exactly how bees help the environment by pollinating flowers. They will also learn about how bees make honey inside of a beehive.

4-5 Year Olds:Activities: Read the book The Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive by Joanna Cole. After learning how bees pollinate plants students will take a magnifying glass to look around the garden at flowers to try to identify the pollen inside of flowers. Once they have finished

looking at the pollen they can draw a picture of a bee pollinating a flower or flying into a beehive.Materials:

-Paper-Colored pencils/markers-Magnifying glass-The Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive

2-3 Year Olds:Activities: Read the book Are You A Bee? by Judy AllenPlay a game of tag where the person who is “it” is the queen bee and tries to tag the other children. After playing tag have the kids sit down and learn how to sing the “bringing home a baby bumblebee” song (song attached)Materials:

-Are You A Bee?-Bumblebee Song:

I’m Bringing home a baby bumblebee won’t my mommy be so proud of me, I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee… Ouch! it stung me!

I’m mashing up a baby bumblebee wont my mommy be so proud of me, I’m mashing up a baby bumblebee...Uh oh! What a mess!

I’m licking up a baby bumblebee won’t my mommy be so proud of me, I’m licking up a baby bumblebee... Oh no! I feel sick!

I’m throwing up a baby bumblebee won’t my mommy be so proud of me, I’m throwing up a baby bumblebee… Uh oh! another mess!

I’m cleaning up the baby bumblebee won’t my mommy be so proud of me, I’m cleaning up the baby bumblebee… All better!

NOTES*Lesson accompanied well with iPad for pictures and diagrams, or whiteboard to draw

Bees takes 21 day from egg to maturity.The colony consists of:

1. Queen bee: cannot produce honey or pollinate on her own, but lays eggs for future of colony. Lives 2 to 3 years.

2. Worker bees: Produce honey. Live 6 weeks during production season3. Drones: Male honey bees. Live to reproduce with Queen and die after.

Interesting facts:In the winter, they do not hibernate, but instead huddle together for warmth.Hives are made from the wax from their bodies. They shake it off, chew on it until it gets soft and use it to construct their home.

Pollination:Bees pollinate one third of our food!Pollen- yellow powder from plants that allows them to make seeds and allow us to have more flowers! Sometimes wind carries it from flower to flower, but bees do too. Foods pollinated by foods include apples, mango, kiwi, peach, avocado, strawberries, green beans, sunflowers, coconut, eggplant, broccoli, tomato. Ask if they eat any of these foods?Honey - nectar taken from plants taken back to hive and made into honey

Communication:Round dance - movement in circle means food is less than 50m from nestWaggle dance - figure eight with pelvis means food is more than 150m from nest*exact distances vary by length of time in dance. Have kids learn dance and test them with various distances.

Lesson #4: Flowers

Overview of Lesson: The children will learn the different colors of the parts of the flowers (stem, petals, leaf) and learn that flowers smell and have nectar. Learn about native plants to Illinois.

Activities: ● The kids will explore the talking farms and be able to identify which parts of the

flower are usually which colors (the stems are green etc.) they can also smell the flowers and learn how each one smells different

● Have kids make tissue paper flowers by folding the paper and attaching it to a green pipe cleaner.

Materials: ● Multi-color tissue paper and green pipe cleaners

NOTES*Lesson accompanied well with iPad for pictures and diagrams, or whiteboard to draw

Lesson #5: Butterflies

Overview of Lesson: The kids will learn about the stages of butterflies as well as what butterflies do for plants and flowers. Ask kids about what plants the butterflies were attracted to. Explain how different colors and nectar attracts the butterflies

Activities:● Have kids color butterfly worksheet (attached)● Have kids make coffee filter butterflies

● Read the book Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert, or an other book about caterpillars turning into butterflies

● Have kids go out in the Butterfly Garden and look at butterflies. Ask them if they can find any caterpillars, chrysalises, in addition to the butterflies

Materials:

● Butterfly coloring sheet● Waiting for Wings book● Crayons and colored pencils

NOTES*Lesson accompanied well with iPad for pictures and diagrams, or whiteboard to drawFour basic life stages of a butterfly:

1. Egg for a few weeks2. Larva, aka caterpillar. Hatches from egg and eats everything. Forage must be

sacrificed for butterflies! This is the growing stage, and caterpillars can shed their skin 3 to 5 times in the process.

3. Chrysalis, aka pupa. Beauty sleep/ resting stage. Tissue breaks down into exoskeleton of butterfly. Usually brown or dark green to blend in. Very selective when to complete rest.

4. Mature butterfly! Ready to fly and have babies. Adult butterflies love nectar, that is their food. They love sunny, open spaces, fresh water and lots of different flowers including lavender, lilac, mint, milkweed, sage, snapdragon, daisies, blossoms, all preferably native to region of butterflies. They can see red, green and yellow so they like flowers with those colors, particularly red, yellow, orange, pink and purple blossoms! Butterflies usually last only few weeks in this stage before dying.

Lesson #6: Sunshine

Overview of Lesson: Kids will learn about sunshine and why it is important.

Activities: ● Sun art: Have the children color a paper plate, when dried children can add facial

features. Discuss the colors of the sun and its characteristics● Make a paper calendar for the classroom to record the weather on (Sunny, cloudy,

rainy etc.) ● Each day of the week have kids go outside and announce the weather. Keep track of

the weather using stickers and markers on the calendar

Materials:● Markers● Paper Plates● Stickers (If available)

Lesson #7: Soil and MudTell class a week before to bring old clothes and proper shoes and outerwear and be ready to get messy!

Overview of Lesson: Mud and dirt doesn’t only have to be messy, it can be fun! With some supervision and creativity, the children can make cool dirt creations. All ages:

Activities:● Go outside and play in the mud● Mud bakery- Pack the dirt into the muffin tins and buckets to make cupcake or cake

shapes. Then decorate with flowers pebbles and sticks. Kids can sell their mud desserts in a mud bakery!

Materials:● Muffin tins and tray ● Cake pan or bucket● Shovels● Flowers, pebbles, sticks, grass

Lesson #8: Rain

Overview of Lesson: The kids will make musical instruments re creating the sounds of rain

Activities:

● Making rain sticks out of paper towel rolls, beans, and paper. Fill a paper towel roll with beans, and staple paper to the ends of it.

○ After all the students have made their rain sticks they can shake them and pretend to create a thunderstorm. Some kids can stomp their feet for thunder to make the storm even bigger.

Materials: ● Paper towel roll● Beans● Paper

Lesson #9: Wind

Overview of Lesson: Children will learn what wind is and what it can move. They will also learn how wind can pollinate plants.

Activities: ● Wind experiment:

○ Turn on fan and show the kids all of the items. Pick one item at a time and pass it around so everyone can feel how heavy it is. Then ask if they think

that it will blow in the wind. Drop the item in front of the fan and determine if it blew in the wind. At the end explain that the heavier items are too heavy for the wind to blow and the light ones are able to blow in the wind. Explain how pollen and seeds are lighter so they can blow in the wind and help plants grow.

Materials: ● Electric fan● A piece of paper● Seeds● A pebble● A leaf● A stick

Lesson #10: How Our Food Gets Made

Overview of Lesson: The kids will learn about how foods are made into other foods, and where certain foods come from. Start by asking them their favorite foods, where do those foods come from? Do pizza, hamburgers, etc. just grow on trees?

Activities: ● Read the book Three Stalks of Corn by L Politi, How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?:

The Story of Food, or an other book that describes where certain food comes from● Go out in the garden and find a fruit/vegetable-name foods that can be made from it● Game ideas include:

○ Have 5 kids come up at a time and give them each a part. Have a farmer, truck driver, food maker, another truck driver, and a grocery store shopper. Have a plastic tomato and have it go through the process. Have the farmer pick it, the driver will drive it to the next destination, the food maker will put it into a ketchup can, the driver drives it to the grocery store, and the customer will buy it. You may need to coach them through it but once it is complete have five new kids come up and try it as well.

○ Place pictures of ketchup, popcorn, lemonade, and jelly on a wall. Have the students in groups of four and give each group pictures of tomatoes, corn, lemons, and grapes with tape on the back of each. Allow the kids to pick which picture they get. Have the groups stand in lines across the room and tell them that everyone in line will go one at a time to put their picture on the wall with the food that comes from it (ex. tomato goes with ketchup). Count to three and have them go one at a time and stick their picture to the corresponding food on the wall. When all of the teams are done have them come sit by the wall so you can discuss the correct answers. Continue with multiple rounds.

Materials: ● Book● Pictures (increase in size and print)

Lesson #11: Worms

Overview of Lesson: The children will learn about the life of an earthworm and why they are so important to plants and the earth. Before beginning the lesson you can ask the kids

to share what they already know about these wiggly creatures. Not only will they learn about them, they will be allowed to see and hold real worms!

Activities: ● Hold worms from worm bin!

○ If no worm bin, go outside and dig for worms. If they are hard to find, use the worms from the compost bin.

○ Allow kids to hold worms if they want to (teach them to be gentle and let the worm move in their hand, not squeeze it)

● Art projects vary for age groups:○ 2-3 Year olds: Use playdough to make a worm by rolling it on the table with

both hands○ 4-5 year olds: Use playdough to make a small apple (or other plants and

fruits) and make a worm as well. Allow the kids to put the worms on or in their apple so the worms are “eating” the fruit

Materials:● Worms (from the compost or dirt)● Playdough

Lesson #12: Recycling/ Helping the Earth

Overview of Lesson: Closing the loop on the sustainability of our food system happens with waste. Organic matter from plants was discussed with worms, but what about everything else? Clothes, paper, books, etc.

Activities:

● Make collage from old magazines and newspapers● With permission of teachers, put on gloves and look

for trash outside to pick up.

Materials: ● Pre-cut pictures and/or full magazine pages to cut ● Scissors (depending on age group)● Construction paper● Glue

NOTESWhat is recycling? Have you seen the blue bins? What do they mean?RE means againCYCLE means circleGoes on another circle, it cycles through people. It means to be used again!Why do we recycle? Do we want all of our stuff sitting on the Earth and hurting it? No! We want to use as much of it again as we can! How can we do that?Donate old clothing to other people, if it’s ripped take it to City Hall to recycle and use the fabric again for something else. All plastic containers are recyclable, so when we buy strawberries and blueberries in plastic boxes or plastic water bottles. Some plastics like yogurt cups or ketchup bottles have to be washed first! If it is paper, it can be cut up and made into art like old newspapers and magazines. Are we hurting the Earth by leaving our trash around? So what can we do? ALWAYS throw trash in garbage and see if there is a blue bin for recycling. Never throw it on the ground. Go home and ask our parents if we recycle, and if we don’t tell them it is important to reuse materials so we don’t make the planet dirty with our stuff!

Lesson #13: Urban Farming!

Intro/Description of Lesson: Summary of all lessons with more focus on what kids can do to help.

Activities:

● Fill up watering cans with water and let the kids go around the garden watering the plants and taking turns with the can. Let them do any other necessary work to help around the farm. Tour of farm

Materials: ● Watering cans (at the farm)

NOTESThings kids can do to help:

1. Never litter!2. Ask questions about their food! Where does it come from? What plant? Where is it

grown? Questions are great!3. Always throw out clean plastic containers and paper in recycling. Ask parents to ask

city for recycling bin!4. Spend time at the Talking Farm!5. Spend time outside in general!

Optional Season LessonsLesson #14: Leaves in the Fall

Overview of Lesson: The kids will get to explore the different leaves and the changes they observe. Start by asking if they notice anything about the leaves outside. What different colors do they see?

Activities:● Have kids go outside and collect leaves from the ground - NOT trees!

○ Make leaf collage○ Make rubbings with leaves and crayons.

Materials:● Paper● Crayons

Lesson #15: Snow

Overview of Lesson: The kids will learn about snow. Start by asking what they notice about snow. Is it cold or warm. When it falls, is it loud or quiet? What can you do in the snow? Does it stick together or fall apart?

Activities: ● Go outside and play in the snow.