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THE UNDERGROUNDEarthworms are a friend to the farmer because they provide cultivation and fertilizer to farmland.

They make tunnels through the soil, allowing air and water to easily penetrate into the ground.

The earthworm turns the soil, mixing it with organic matter such as leaves and grass.

These cold-blooded animals have no arms, legs or eyes but eat their body weight in food each day.

Worm castings are natural fertilizer rich with nitrogen for the soil, making it rich for the gardens and fields.

Up to one million earthworms can live on one acre of land.

Worms breathe through their skin.

Earthworms can sense light even though they do not have eyes.

Being in the light too long will paralyze a worm.

Learn more about the Earthworm:

HarperCollins Publishers HarperCollins PublishersISBN13: 9780060001506 ISBN13: 9780064451994

MAKE A WIGGLY WORMMaterials:

• Pencil

• 2 pipe cleaners (varied colors)

Procedure:

1. Discuss how worms are beneficial to the soil. They are soil cultivators.

2. Have students lie down and wiggle across the room like a worm.

3. Make a worm by wrapping 2 pipe cleaners around a pencil.

4. Slide pencil out, and bend worm into desired shape.

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WHAT SECRETS CAN BE REVEALED?— Kind of seed

— Seed variety name

— Amount of seed

— Picture of crop

— Price

— Description of plant

— When to plant

— Where to plant

— How deep to plant

— How long will plant produce fruit, vegetable or flower

— Plant care suggestions

— Expiration date of seeds

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POLLINATOR SECRETSHoneybees live in hives, whether natural or manmade. Bees have many jobs from the queen bee, to drones, to workers. The workers collect pollen and nectar from flowers. They take the pollen and nectar back to the hive to feed the baby bees. The bee food made from nectar is called honey. Beekeepers collect the honey from the hive and replace it with sugar water for the bees to eat instead.

When bees fly from one flower to the next some of the pollen from one flower mixes onto another flower. This is called pollination, and it allows the plants to grow healthy blooms and then fruits and vegetables for us to eat. Bees pollinate fruit plants and trees like apples, berries, grapes, peaches, pears, and melons. Bees also pollinate vegetables such as pumpkins, broccoli, squash, cauliflower, beans, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. The bee collects nectar from a variety of other plants which produce nuts, herbs, and spices.

BEE FACTS— 20,000 to 100,000 bees can live in one hive

— Worker and drone bees live 6-8 weeks.

— The buzz from a bee is the sound of its wings flapping 200 times per second.

— One bee may visit 4,000 flowers to make one tablespoon of honey.

— Bees are beneficial to farmers because they produce honey and pollinate crops.

Crabtree Publishing Company Mulberry Books PublishingISBN 9780778740490 ISBN 9780688175313

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BUZZY BEESMaterials

• Sponges (small oval sponge per child)

• Black markers

• Pipe cleaners

• Bee keepers hive painting page (download from AgInTheClass.org)

• Tempera paints

• Small paper plates with flower designs

Procedure

1. Read a bee book to the class. Buzz-Buzz Busy Bees by Dawn Bently is a good choice.

2. Provide each child with an oval-shaped sponge.

3. Allow children to color stripes on the sponge to create a bee.

4. Insert pipe cleaner pieces into the head to form antennas and the side to create wings. The pipe cleaner will stick into the side of the sponge easily.

5. Give each child a bee hive page.

6. Talk to children about bees flying from flower to flower taking nectar to make honey and bringing it back to the bee hive.

7. Use paper plates with a flower design, or draw flowers on paper plates.

8. Scatter 3-4 paper plates around the room, and add paint to each.

9. Instruct children to get paint from a flower and paint their bee hive. This simulates the bee collecting nectar from flowers and returning to the hive. The result is a sponge-painted bee hive.

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CAPTURING THE MOST WANTEDWanted: Healthy VegetablesMaterials

• Computer

• Vegetable books from the library

• Poster board or large sheets of paper

• Markers, colored pencils or crayons

• Fresh or canned vegetables

• Ranch dressing

• Knife

• Cutting board

• Platter

• Napkins

Procedure

1. Have students choose a vegetable they would like to research.

2. Using books and the Internet, each student will research the vegetable he has chosen. Key items to find: Where is the vegetable commercially grown? Is it commercially grown in Virginia? If so, where? What are the health benefits of the vegetable? What part of the plant is eaten? What are the recommended serving sizes? How is the vegetable eaten/prepared? Find a recipe in which the vegetable is an ingredient.

3. After doing the research, have students create a “Wanted” poster for their healthy vegetable. Include a drawing(s) and the research information.

4. Display the “Wanted” posters in your classroom, hallway or school cafeteria.

5. To conclude the lesson, students can sample different vegetables. It is recommended you use the vegetables the studentst were researching. Students can assist in cleaning and cutting up raw vegetables.

Try this

Give each student an evaluation sheet for the vegetable-tasting exercise. Allow them to rank each vegetable on a scale of 1 – 5. 1 = Really do not like; 2 = Sort of don’t like; 3 = Neither like or dislike; 4 = Sort of like; 5 = Really like. After tasting each vegetable, the students will mark their evaluation sheets. After all vegetables have been tasted and evaluation forms completed, average the ranking for each vegetable. Create a graph showing how each vegetable ranked with the class.

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GARDEN SURPRISEWho is hiding in the garden? Create a face using seasonal fresh produce.

Materials

• Garden fruits and vegetables

• Knife

• Plate

Procedure

1. Wash your fruits and vegetables.

2. Cut them with an adult in the shape you want.

3. Arrange fruits and vegetables on a plate.

4. Create a garden face.

For more fun and educational

gardening activities check out

The Garden Chef curriculum materials at

AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOMwww.agintheclass.org

Discover the Secrets of The Garden Chef