Garden Lesson Plan: Living Systems

Nature Lab, The Nature Conservancy

Many elements are interconnected and function together to create the natural and productive living system that is your garden. The purpose of this activity guide is to teach students the ecological functions found in any natural system and model how these functions are performed by a natural area like a garden.

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Notes from our reviewers

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Sufficient materials and support videos are given to extend the and expand lessons. Suggestion by authors: if no garden space is available a virtual garden can be employed. This activity is part of a series on gardens. This activity can be integrated as part of a science class to tie together many interdisciplinary concepts. This activity is designed for middle school but can easily be adaptable to lower and higher grades.
This activity teaches students the ecological functions found in any natural system and models how these functions are performed by a natural area like a garden, with a focus on four ecological functions of a garden ecosystem: rainwater filtration, habitat provision, atmospheric carbon reduction, and food production. Students learn about the interaction of gardens and the watershed, organisms that lie in a garden, the relationship of a garden and carbon dioxide, and the role of pollinators. Students also learn about the environmental impact of gardens and best practices for gardens. This includes impermeable surfaces, the presence of trees, types of structures, and how to shape a garden to give it the "best" ecosystem. It also emphasizes how gardens connect nature and community and how they can help people and the environment. Comments from expert scientist: Scientific strengths: Complex processes, like the carbon cycle, are made easily accessible; hands-on activities can help students to these concepts. Suggestions: None.
This activity uses the 5-E lesson plan format. Students watch short videos and answer critical thinking questions associated with them in a discussion format. Some of the videos are optional and can be left out if the educator desires. These enable customizing the focus of the lesson to meet the content learning needs of the students. Students work together to apply what they have learned in an interactive hands-on activity. Evaluation questions, scoring key and final quiz are included. Extension has a creative component, it asks students to write about their life as a garden. The second part of the lesson plan asks the students to to design a garden using the information they have learned in the previous lesson. This allows students to synthesize their learning with a clear fun objective. Students can design a real garden to be planted on their school grounds or an imaginary one. This can be a place-based lesson.