Soil and Plant Growth

Sarah Fincher

Katie Wright

Ashley Dovenmuehle

Thematic Unit

• Theme: Soil and Plant Growth

• Grade: 3

• Time Frame: 10 days

Literature

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

• A Handful of Dirt by R. Bial• Gardens from Garbage by J. Handelsman• Young Gardener by S. Buczacki

Modification for Language Learners

• ESL students– Spanish English dictionary/partner available for

trouble with word meanings (Day 2) .– Use of multiple visuals (Posters, drawings, digital

images). “A picture is worth a thousand words.” – Secret Garden grouping with two ELL students and

English speaking students may be beneficial because through communication

• Lots of hands on activities

• Use of repetition to emphasize important ideas and increase retention

Graphic Organizer

Unit Introduction

How much soil is there on earth?• Go through the apple cutting activity, which provides

students with a powerful visual of just how little of the earth’s surface is able to grow plants.

• 10% of the earth’s surface, what we depend on for the world’s food supply, is displayed to the class by the small sliver of apple that is left after cutting everything else away.

• Explain to the students that this small amount of “good” soil is only one of the factors that limit plant growth; light, water and nutrients still have to be considered. They will now go on a journey to learn more about what plants need to grow.

Day 1

• Objectives: Science 2.01– TSWBAT use the five senses to write about soil

• Lesson: – Components of Soil

• Materials: – soil, Dixie cups, paper and pencil

• Activity: – List, Group, Label, and Write

• List soil characteristics from memory• Group into 5 senses category• Groups receive cups of soil to observe and write new qualities• Group terms back into the 5 senses• Come back as a class to take examples from each group and categorize the examples• Discuss all components of soil

• Assessment:– Students write one paragraph using 5 senses to describe properties of soil

Day 2• Objectives: Reading 1.05• TSWBAT create a talking drawing and demonstrate decoding skills and

knowledge of new meanings• Lesson:

– Vocabulary Introduction and Dictionary Skills• Materials:

– Spelling list, worksheet (predictions/corrections), pencils, mini posters, crayons, dictionaries

• Activity:– Students work with partners and predict meaning of selected words (use spelling,

meaning, and decoding skills)– Review Dictionary skills; students find words in dictionary and write the correct

meanings– Students use talking drawings in pairs for one word and share with partners

• Assessment:– Rubric for talking drawings

Day 3• Objectives:

– Reading 4.03 – Science 2.03– TSWBAT share written and oral products in a presentation

• Lesson: – Plant Growth and Writing

• Materials: overhead visuals, blank notes worksheet, Secret Garden Novels, paper and pencil, materials for props

• Activity:– Teacher gives direct instruction for concepts of plant growth and soil (use of visuals and

verbal emphasis on key words)– Students receive worksheet with key concepts and fill in the blanks that the teacher guides

them to complete (keep for future reference)– Students in process of reading Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (guided

reading/read aloud)• At point where Mary is planting her garden• After reading the chapter aloud, give students the following prompt-

– Share in paragraph form or in a presentation on how Mary got her garden to grow. • Students can work alone or in groups and must share results in class

• Assessment: Presentation of paragraphs (rubric)

Day 4• Objectives:

– Science2.04– TSWBAT complete worksheet based on observations of soil properties

• Lesson: – Basic Composition of Soil/ Start Webquest

• Materials: – Samples of soil, computers, and bottles, seeds, scissors, and paper towels for

earth system in a bottle activity• Activity

– Review Properties of soil• Bring in samples of humus, clay, sand, silt, and gravel• Each table observes and feels the differences in the components of soil and students

complete a worksheet with guiding chart to draw observations– Share directions for webquest– Start earth system in a bottle– Start working on webquest

• Assessment: – Worksheets showing observations (graded on effort)

Day 5• Day 5• Objectives: Social Studies 5.06

– SWBAT complete a KWL chart and add valuable comments in a class discussion• Lesson:

– Soil Contribution to Economy• Materials:

– KWL charts• Activity:

– Discuss importance of Agriculture (in communities)– KWL chart independently about agriculture and economy– Local farmer visits and discusses one form of agriculture that is popular in this

region– Students learn how the popular crop is grown, harvested, and where it is sold– Discuss as a class what would happen if the farmer had nowhere to sell crops or

consumers had nowhere to buy this crop– Continue Webquest

• Assessment: Completion of KWL Chart and student responses in discussion

Day 6• Objectives: Social Studies 4.04• TSWBAT compare and observe how tree farmers adapt to the

environment to fit their needs through discussion• Lesson:

– Farmers adapting to the environment• Materials: Notebook for writing observations• Activity

– Short discussion on chemicals added to soil, crop rotation, irrigation– Ask students “ Have your parents ever used fertilizer or a water hose?”

Connect to how farmers modify environment to meet needs– Field Trip to local tree farm to observe the environment being changed

to meet the needs of the plants ( temperature, water, light, etc.)– Continue Webquest

• Assessment: Responses to discussion• Home Learning: Make a list of 5 important things you learned from

the fieldtrip and share with parents

Day 7

• Objectives: Science 2.02• Lesson: Webquest • Materials: Computers, posters, crayons• Activity

– Devote time to completing webquest component of water

• Assessment– Check process of webquest poster (facts and

pictures)

Day 8• Day 8• Objectives: Science 1.01

– TSWBAT complete a worksheet comparing the earth system bottles• Lesson: Observing how certain qualities affect plant growth• Materials: worksheet, paper and pencil• Activity

– Give students worksheet with space for drawing that includes questions about all of the earth system bottles (measure how the qualities and quantities of light, water, soil, and nutrients affected plant growth)

• Assessment– Based on what students learned, they can compose 2 paragraphs to

record predictions on how successful team’s bottle will be– Worksheet on earth system bottles

Day 9• Objectives: Social Studies 5.03

– TSWBAT present results from taking on the roles of farmers and apply concepts of specialization in the local community

• Lesson: Concepts of specialization of labor in the local community• Materials: cards for different roles, posters for presentations• Activity

– Each table will be assigned a self-sustaining farming career – Class period spent reproducing farming roles in a game.

• Groups will practice modeling buying, selling, dealing, growing, harvesting, and surviving natural disasters based on cards of the game

– Students receive better understanding of what it is like being a farmer in a community

• Assessment– Presentation of each group displays how much money they earned and

lost, their struggles, their successes, and their connections to the real world farmers

Day 10

• Objectives: Reading 3.01– TSWBAT create a newspaper article displaying new knowledge about plants and

information related to the Secret Garden• Lesson: Creating Newspaper Articles • Materials: paper and pencil, computers, unit notes• Activity:

– Each student will create newspaper article to reflect what they learned about plants and from their readings of the Secret Garden to describe their insights (encouraged to add charts, tables, graphs, and pictures)

– As a class, the articles will be typed on the computer and combined to make a newspaper section

• Contact the local newspaper publisher to see if they could print a real copy for each student

• Assessment– Rubric for articles will be used

Display Bulletin Board with Webquest Posters

Bulletin Board Idea

Students Posters of Earth System in a bottle.

Poster #1

Poster #2

Poster #3

Poster #4

A basic overview of the different topics we covered

Overview

Photos of the students working

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3 Photo 4

Student Writings throughout Unit

Writing Writing Writing

Webquest

http://teacherweb.com/WQ/ElementarySchool/Soil/

ResourcesBurnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. New York: Signet Classic, 1987.

This book tells of the journey of a young girl named Mary Lennox as she is orphaned by her parents and forced to live at her uncles estate. She learns to accept her surroundings and along the way discovers a garden that she makes her own.

NCFB-Ag in the Classroom. Online. 16 November 2007. <http://www.ncaginthecla ssroom.com/>This website was very useful in providing hands on activities for students that related to our subject area of soil, plants and gardening.

Wood, Karen D. and Taylor, Bruce D. Literacy Strategies Across the Subject Areas. Boston: Pearson, 2006. This book provided many valuable ideas and strategies for literacy that could be integrated in a variety of subject areas. Having such versatility to be incorporated in any subject area, these strategies were a huge success in our planning. They also allowed us to integrate subjects, a very important part of unit planning and implementing.

Bial, R. (2000). A Handful of Dirt. New York: Walter and Company.This book gives a simple, yet informative overview of the properties of soil. A summary of where you can find soil introduces future topics on the book such as how soil is created, what soil is made up of, what lives in soil, the decomposition of soil, and the contribution of soil to gardens.

Buczacki, S. & Buczacki, B. (2006). Young Gardner. London: Frances Lincoln Limited.This text elaborates on how plants use soil to survive. Although there are activities to try, the greatest benefit of this book is its explanations for how plants grow, what soil is made up of, and how seasons affect what happens in gardens and its relationship to soil.

Handelsman, J. (1993). Gardens from Garbage. Connecticut: The Millbrook Press.The focus of this book centers on composting and how people can recycle discarded plant and animal material. Readers learn about the relationships between heat and decaying plant matter in a compost pile.

Favorite Components

• Sarah: Modeling the roles of farmers and the specialization of labor in communities

• Katie: Cutting of the apple to represent what portion of the earth can produce crops

• Ashley: Variety of activities available