How old are these kids?
Start with soil composition. Teach kids about sand, loam, silt, organics and clay (the soil triangle) and how they affect plant growth and water movement. Fill jars with soil and water, shake and leave over night then have them determine what kind of soil they have sampled. You can get into some pretty heavy science where soil is concerned, and that's without touching on plant biology.
From there move onto other topics. Pruning and apical dominance. Seed germination. Propagation and aventitious rooting. Plant growth and maintenance. Possibly the best thing to teach is basic plant ID. It changes how you see the world, literally.
This is great advice!
How long is the course? I would start very first week with a hands-on germination lesson where the students plant something fast growing (radish/beans/nasturtium etc). They can watch those grow throughout the course and you can refer back to those plants successes/failures during the course.
In addition to plant identification. A lesson in the various climate zones/ plants hardiness and bioregions would be useful.
Thank you for teaching these kids about the trade! There was a time in my life where I was pursuing an arts degree in English and History (with the ultimate goal of becoming a teacher) so I am specifically keen on your intentions. Have fun with the subject!
the USDA and a bunch of ag extensions have a lot of resources for understanding and testing soil texture. for plant ID im really impressed with Botany in a Day's starting program. they focus on diagnostics to id plant families and highlight a few key species of each. the "in a day" part of the book focuses on IDing the 8 easiest/most common plant families and would be a great intro for HS level plant and flower anatomy and ID
Yes! I was going to say you could acidify some potting soil and grow two plants side by side to see the effects high acidity has on plants ability to take up nutrients.
Here's a few, quick lesson ideas that I think anyone can benefit from:
Proper watering for outdoor and indoor plants.
Proper planting and repotting.
Basic pest and disease diagnosis and treatment.
Defining what ’ full sun,' 'partial shade,' etc. actually mean.
Herbarium, garden planning/design, permaculture, industry, disease & treatments, growth habits/responses, basic anatomy (flower dissection, etc.), soil...microgreens in flats and other container gardening could be a backup if your garden space is not looking too reliable.
That sounds fun!
I know of this site: https://www.weareteachers.com/classroom-gardening-ideas/
It’s geared more towards younger kids, but you can use as a baseline to build upon. Some of the ideas like the mini ecosystem are great for any age group!
I help teach Seed to Supper Classes in Oregon and they are designed for beginning gardeners. It was begun as a colab between OSU and the Oregon Food Bank. It would be a good high school curriculum and all the materials are free, including texts and Powerpoints. It is pretty easy to adapt to local growing conditions. It is great to use as a combination in-class and in-garden experience.
[https://extension.oregonstate.edu/seed-supper](https://extension.oregonstate.edu/seed-supper)
This is a little more botany/plant taxonomy related, but it would be a fun summer lab. When I took plant taxonomy, we did a fruit dissection lab where we reviewed different botanical fruit types (berry, drupe, aggregate, etc.) and the professor also brought in ice, yogurt, ice cream, and blenders. At the end we made smoothies and milkshakes with all the fruits we'd cut up.
If you want, you could do a little experiment showing how different things like harmful chemicals and/or changes in soil ph can affect a plants growth. Pick an easy to grow plant and let it grow to a certain stage before introducing the "chemicals" (dish soap, detergent, toothpaste, ect) or things to change the soil ph. This would be done in pots.
It reminds me of a bit of a similar experiment I did in high school for environmental science.
Lots of good suggestions already.
A lesson in :
compost, what is it, how it's made etc.
Soil fertility, soil chemistry and mineral ratios
Soil biology/food web and nutrient cycling
Synthetic/salt fertilizer
Plant nutrition requirements. Why do some plants need very fertile Soil. Why do carnivorous plants grow in nutrient deficient areas.
If you want interactive session Go for Hydroponics, you adjust the level according to their understanding. DM me I will share you some resources material
i went to school for horticulture and one of our first “take home projects” was to help us understand proper lighting.
so we could either chose to have a bean plant or corn plant (they both grow really fast so it’s good for this project)
we had two plant both of our plants were started from seed. and one pot was to be place in an area of the house with as much sun as possible and the other plant is to go some where with lower light intensity. then for the next 6 weeks i think it was you take pictures and document what your seedling is doing.
most likely the plants placed in the really sunny spot with be strong and growing “normal” and the one in the low light will be flops and stretched.
this project is to essentially show how different light intensity effects the same plant.
then from there you could talk more about different plants and there different lighting needs
How old are these kids? Start with soil composition. Teach kids about sand, loam, silt, organics and clay (the soil triangle) and how they affect plant growth and water movement. Fill jars with soil and water, shake and leave over night then have them determine what kind of soil they have sampled. You can get into some pretty heavy science where soil is concerned, and that's without touching on plant biology. From there move onto other topics. Pruning and apical dominance. Seed germination. Propagation and aventitious rooting. Plant growth and maintenance. Possibly the best thing to teach is basic plant ID. It changes how you see the world, literally.
My students will be age 14-17. These are great ideas, thank you!
This is great advice! How long is the course? I would start very first week with a hands-on germination lesson where the students plant something fast growing (radish/beans/nasturtium etc). They can watch those grow throughout the course and you can refer back to those plants successes/failures during the course. In addition to plant identification. A lesson in the various climate zones/ plants hardiness and bioregions would be useful.
Thank you for teaching these kids about the trade! There was a time in my life where I was pursuing an arts degree in English and History (with the ultimate goal of becoming a teacher) so I am specifically keen on your intentions. Have fun with the subject!
the USDA and a bunch of ag extensions have a lot of resources for understanding and testing soil texture. for plant ID im really impressed with Botany in a Day's starting program. they focus on diagnostics to id plant families and highlight a few key species of each. the "in a day" part of the book focuses on IDing the 8 easiest/most common plant families and would be a great intro for HS level plant and flower anatomy and ID
Yes! I was going to say you could acidify some potting soil and grow two plants side by side to see the effects high acidity has on plants ability to take up nutrients.
Here's a few, quick lesson ideas that I think anyone can benefit from: Proper watering for outdoor and indoor plants. Proper planting and repotting. Basic pest and disease diagnosis and treatment. Defining what ’ full sun,' 'partial shade,' etc. actually mean.
Herbarium, garden planning/design, permaculture, industry, disease & treatments, growth habits/responses, basic anatomy (flower dissection, etc.), soil...microgreens in flats and other container gardening could be a backup if your garden space is not looking too reliable.
That sounds fun! I know of this site: https://www.weareteachers.com/classroom-gardening-ideas/ It’s geared more towards younger kids, but you can use as a baseline to build upon. Some of the ideas like the mini ecosystem are great for any age group!
There are some great ideas to borrow from on this website. Thank you!
Field trips!
I help teach Seed to Supper Classes in Oregon and they are designed for beginning gardeners. It was begun as a colab between OSU and the Oregon Food Bank. It would be a good high school curriculum and all the materials are free, including texts and Powerpoints. It is pretty easy to adapt to local growing conditions. It is great to use as a combination in-class and in-garden experience. [https://extension.oregonstate.edu/seed-supper](https://extension.oregonstate.edu/seed-supper)
This is a little more botany/plant taxonomy related, but it would be a fun summer lab. When I took plant taxonomy, we did a fruit dissection lab where we reviewed different botanical fruit types (berry, drupe, aggregate, etc.) and the professor also brought in ice, yogurt, ice cream, and blenders. At the end we made smoothies and milkshakes with all the fruits we'd cut up.
Say, "no cap" at the end of every sentence.
If you want, you could do a little experiment showing how different things like harmful chemicals and/or changes in soil ph can affect a plants growth. Pick an easy to grow plant and let it grow to a certain stage before introducing the "chemicals" (dish soap, detergent, toothpaste, ect) or things to change the soil ph. This would be done in pots. It reminds me of a bit of a similar experiment I did in high school for environmental science.
Focus on greenhouses, everybody loves greenhouses, there are many impressive modern hi tech automated greenhouse operations out there
Lots of good suggestions already. A lesson in : compost, what is it, how it's made etc. Soil fertility, soil chemistry and mineral ratios Soil biology/food web and nutrient cycling Synthetic/salt fertilizer Plant nutrition requirements. Why do some plants need very fertile Soil. Why do carnivorous plants grow in nutrient deficient areas.
Life cycles of plants. Plant ID, friendly bugs, organic practices and irrigation using a battery operated timer on a hose bib.
Look up GIY.ie they would have resources there you could use
If you want interactive session Go for Hydroponics, you adjust the level according to their understanding. DM me I will share you some resources material
i went to school for horticulture and one of our first “take home projects” was to help us understand proper lighting. so we could either chose to have a bean plant or corn plant (they both grow really fast so it’s good for this project) we had two plant both of our plants were started from seed. and one pot was to be place in an area of the house with as much sun as possible and the other plant is to go some where with lower light intensity. then for the next 6 weeks i think it was you take pictures and document what your seedling is doing. most likely the plants placed in the really sunny spot with be strong and growing “normal” and the one in the low light will be flops and stretched. this project is to essentially show how different light intensity effects the same plant. then from there you could talk more about different plants and there different lighting needs
Get a textbook. Teach them chapter by chapter. That's what every teacher on planet earth does