Living Classroom-Garden Based Education
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Grade 5 Sample Lessons

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Lesson Title and Description

Energy Salad 1 & 2
Students develop a model to demonstrate the flow of energy and nutrients through a community while planting salad crops and later preparing and eating a salad.
​Alignment with California State Standards

Next Generation Science Standard:
 
5-PS3-1  Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
Lesson Title and Description
​

Sustainability on the Ground
Students learn about the meaning of sustainability though understanding natural systems in play within their school garden and how we can create a fully sustainable garden ecosystem with this knowledge.  The importance of beneficial insects, compost and water conservation are also covered.​
Alignment with California State Standards

Next Generation Science Standard:
 
5-ESS3-1  Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
 
5-LS2-1  Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers and the environment.
Lesson Title and Description
​

Eyewitness to Photosynthesis
Students learn about photosynthesis and discover how plants and animals exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.  Students observe and record the number of gas bubbles released from an aquarium plant (Elodea) when exposed to different intensities of light.  Students also participate in an interactive photosynthesis game and take part in a demonstration to test if the gas bubbles released by plants are similar or not to the carbon dioxide we exhale. Students will become familiar with the difference between respiration and photosynthesis and discover first hand the different gases produced during respiration and photosynthesis.
Alignment with California State Standards
​

Next Generation Science Standard:
 
5-LS1-1  Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
Lesson Title and Description

Colonial Uses of Plants
Students learn about how the American Colonists used plants for things other than food. They learn about flax, the fiber used to make linen, and how natural fruits, vegetables and herbs can make different color dyes. Students then get the opportunity to paint a linen square with their home-made colors. 
​Alignment with California State Standards

Social Studies:
 
5.3.2  Describe the cooperation that existed between the colonists and the Indians during the 1600s and 1700s (e.g., in agriculture, the fur trade, military alliances, treaties, cultural interchanges).
 
5.4.5  Understand how the British colonial period created the basis for the development of political self-government and a free-market economic system and the difference between the British, Spanish, and French colonial systems.
 
5.5.1  Understand how political, religious, and economic ideas and interests brought about the Revolution (e.g., resistance to imperial policy, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, taxes on tea, Coercive Acts).
Lesson Title and Description
​

Water World
Students learn how clouds form and discuss the cycle of water from evaporation to condensation to precipitation. Students create a self-contained wetland environment utilizing recycled tennis ball cans, sand, soil and seeds and play a water droplet game.​
​​Alignment with California State Standards

Next Generation Science Standard:

5-LS2-1  Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

Framework for K-12 Science Education: Science & Engineering Practices:
  • Developing and Using Models
  • Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena

​Disciplinary Core Ideas:


​LS2.B  Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems

Crosscutting Concepts:  Systems and System Models
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  • Living Classroom
  • Who We Are
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Our Supporters
    • Testimonials
    • News and Events
    • What's Growing On?
    • Annual Report
  • What We Do
    • Schools We Serve
    • Resources
    • Downloads
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Docent
    • Be a Garden Volunteer
    • Join A Garden Tour
  • Contact Us
    • Jobs
  • For Teachers
  • For Docents
    • Docent Training and Events
  • Support
  • For Parents