Ties to Curriculum

Aysha, the Garden Coordinator, comes to Claremont every two weeks. During her “on” week, she works with 8-10 classes, and primarily with 6th and 7th grade science, because they focus on life sciences. On the other hand, 8th grade focuses on chemistry, which is harder to link to the garden. Working closely with the science teachers and generally following the overall trajectory of the textbooks, she develops lessons on subjects such as plant biology and plant parts, soils, living and nonliving elements, cells and cell structure.

When she came on board, the Principal wanted her to particularly focus on nutrition. On the day of our visit, the class had a nutrition lesson, focused on a Mediterranean style diet. After discussing links between common diseases such as diabetes and coronary disease, the class reviewed the Harvard pyramid, which puts a heavy emphasis on plant foods. This was followed by harvesting from the garden…

Next, prepping the greens for the salad

Finally, eating it!