Lesson Idea | Lesson Plan 1 Green Green: A Community Gardening Story

Purpose

What does “green” mean? Children in grades kindergarten through second will develop an understanding of the importance of taking care of their environment and how litter affects their community. They will determine how to dispose of waste by either recycling, composting, or putting in the trash.

“I Can” Statements

Kindergarten
- I can sort objects and materials and describe their properties.
- I can identify responsibilities at home and in the school and community and describe how individuals share those responsibilities to achieve common goals.

First Grade
- I can identify how properties and materials can change.
- I can work toward achieving common goals at home, school, and in my community.
- I can collaborate in a way that demonstrates respect for the right and opinions of others.

Second Grade
- I can identify how living things cause changes on Earth.
- I can make responsible choices respecting the rights of myself and others while being accountable for my actions.
- I can work effectively in a group to complete a task or solve a problem for which the group is held accountable.

Vocabulary

- Green
- Litter
- Recycle
- Compost
- Trash
- Landfill

Materials

- Reusable rubber gloves
- Carefully chosen bag of “trash” with items to be sorted into recycling, composting, and trash (kindergarten)
- Recycle bin (kindergarten)
- Compost bin (kindergarten)
- Trash can (kindergarten)
- 3 pieces of scrap paper (first grade)
- 3 equally sized pieces of mulch (first grade)
- 3 equally sized pieces of plastic (first grade)
- Zip lock bags (first grade)
- Water (first grade)
- Moist soil (first grade)

Engage

Read aloud Green Green: A Community Gardening Story

Explore

Do a community walk around the neighborhood. Have children look for litter (second grade also looks for ways humans affect the environment). Children take turns wearing reusable rubber gloves to pick up trash. How did that trash get there? Why would people litter? What would happen if we chose not to pick up the litter we see? Is there a way to keep litter from being in our community?

For further information, please visit Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed website.