Best Practices

for California Middle School

Instructional School Gardens

Tips from California Middle Schools

Visit www.cagn.org for Middle School stories

Instructional gardens have become increasingly popular in California schools as “living laboratories.” They
offer an appealing way to make academic content lessons come alive through hands-on experiential learning.
As one middle school U.S. History teacher said, “The hands-on garden based activities reinforce the lessons
students learn in the classroom. Anything they do in the garden they remember ten times better. The visuals
and activities act as a cue.”
Middle schools offer special opportunities for developing instructional school garden programs. Students are
able to better handle some of the physical demands of gardening activity. Their maturing and inquisitive
minds make them receptive to new experiences, and particularly to education that allows them to develop so-
cial networks, gives them real-life problems to solve and empowers them to create solutions.
“Middle schoolers need rigorous, relevant, hands-on curriculum. They need a variety of teaching modali-
ties. [With school gardens], they get outside of the classroom, till soil, pull weeds, taste food straight off the
plant or vine, learn about plant parts, learn herb and vegetable identification, and then bring it into the
classroom and prepare and consume it!” –Ms. Nugent, Culinary Arts teacher, Petaluma Jr. High School

Middle Schools also present special challenges for garden-based education because of single-subject academic
requirements and the developmental stages of students. With this in mind, many middle school teachers, ad-
ministrators and parents have been passionate, committed and creative in their efforts to bring students into
the garden for an enhanced educational experience.
In 2007-2008, a team from the California Department of Education and University of California Davis trav-
eled across the state visiting 11 Middle Schools in order to share their successes and best practices. Here we
offer highlights from these site visits:
 Middle school instructional school garden lessons and curriculum
 Tips for working with teens and pre-teens in middle school gardens
 Middle school gardens and the community
 Sustaining middle school instructional garden programs
Contents:

Middle School 2
Lessons and Curriculum

Working with Middle 4

School students
Middle School Gardens and 7
Community Carmel Middle School
student displays the
Sustaining Middle School 8
Garden Programs fruits of their labor.
Middle School garden lessons and curriculum
All public school teachers are responsible for teaching
subject matter that aligns with the California state educa-
tional standards. Middle schools, because of their single
subject emphasis present unique challenges for teachers
wanting to incorporate garden-based learning into their les-
son plans.
Middle School teachers and garden coordinators have
created a range of instructional activities that bring stu-
dents into the garden. Some are complete lessons and teach
At Carmel Middle School, Carmel, the
to California’s standards, and others are activities that can
garden is fully integrated into its science pro-
reinforce or link to a standard.
gram. Students spend regular time in the gar-
The more garden activities and lessons can be designed as
den from 6th to 8th grade.
an integrated part of students’ classroom content subject
 See “Organic Garden Curriculum
matter, the more successful and sustainable the school gar-
Overview” for how 6th - 8th grade lessons
den program will be.
connect to the standards
The most common subjects to be taught in an instruc-
 6th Grade Compost Critters
tional school garden are science, life science, biology and
life cycles. Teachers have also developed creative lessons
for history, social science, language arts and life skills. Be-
Please visit www.csgn.org
low are examples of successful lessons . to download samples.

Emerson Junior High School, Davis, empha-
sizes Medieval and U.S. History and Geography. They
have also developed lessons for Math, Biology, Art,
and Spanish
 The European Medieval Peasant Garden con-
tains culinary and medicinal herbs commonly used
during that era.
 The Art teacher bases activities on Andy Gold-
worthy’s art. His art involves the use of natural and
found objects, to create temporary “paintings” or
sculptures which highlight the character of their envi-
ronment.
 The Dichotomous Key teaches 9th grade biology
students scientific and analytical sorting and categoriz-
ing skills.

 U.S. History Fall Harvest 8th grade lesson teaches

crops brought to America with the African slaves. The
Garden calendar synchronizes planting and harvesting
with the lessons.

 World Map--Origin of Crops reinforces geography

subject matter. Students make “Geography Bars” at the
end of this unit. They are a yummy energy bar made
with crops students have planted, harvested & studied.

 Emerson’s Spanish teacher has developed a compre-

hensive Spanish language Gourd Project. Biology teacher, Pat Dressendorfer, with
students working on the Dichotomous Key.
Page 2
Middle School garden lessons and curriculum
Blaker-Kinser Junior High School, Ceres
The Agriculture teacher, Mr. James, believes in
having students do real work that connects to agri-
culture and real life problems. These inevitably
draw upon math, science, life science, and life
skills.
 Math is taught by having students figure out
how to arrange irrigation, dig a trench, or con-
struct raised beds. For example, they apply
math concepts while laying laser line and plan
how far apart to space the drippers. They learn
principles of hydraulics by working with pres-
sure regulators.
 Mr. James’ students have constructed a large
tool storage shed, a lathe house, repaired
wheelbarrows, fixed hammers, and grown
crops and prepared them for the Stanislaus
County Fair.
Students build a new wheelbarrow from old
parts in Blaker-Kinser’s
school garden program
Baird Middle School, Fresno
Baird is a magnet school emphasizing an integrated curricu-
lum of agriculture, technology and foreign languages. The
school showcases several gardens, among them a “garden”
of mosaic murals and sculptures highlighting crops from
around the world.
“In this class, students look at things on the microscopic level,
and then go out into the garden, and there it is. So when
they talk about a plant and how it grows and what it needs,
they have planted the seeds and have seen it grow and
have measured it. It’s not abstract. It doesn’t take a whole
other lesson to get them up to speed.”
 The 6th graders dissect flowers and study pollination and
fertilization.
 7th grade students go out into the garden and measure
plants; look at cells under the microscope; study how plant
cells (and animal cells) are structured. They compare the
difference between animal and plant cells. Then they cre-
ate models of the internal structure and workings of cells.
 8th Graders study biotechnology and the double helix, and
how biotech is going to impact agriculture.
Integrating 8th grade science and the garden at
Baird Middle School
Page 3
Tips for working with teens in middle school gardens

Without exception, teachers and garden

coordinators expressed delight in working with
this age group in the school garden setting. In
fact, gardens are considered the most effective
way to engage students in active learning, be-
cause they offer hands-on, real life applications
for academic content. In addition, gardens allow
for positive socialization and collaboration, so
necessary for students at this age. Here are a
few tips and strategies expressed by teachers.
For more ideas, visit the “Tips” sections of indi- Students at Petaluma Jr. High rotate roles
vidual schools at www.csgn.org. in their Culinary Arts class.

The more students know what to expect in terms of their roles and behavior in the
garden, the easier the teacher’s job is. More than in elementary school, middle school
students will embrace roles and responsibilities that afford them a sense of empowerment.
Many teachers rotate garden and cooking “jobs” to give all students a chance at taking the lead.

 In Petaluma Junior High School’s Culinary Arts class, students rotate

among many roles, from harvester, to head chef, to table setter. The roles
are clearly laid out and students are assessed on how well they perform.
 At Carmel Middle School, students rotate through the garden in various
classes throughout their three years at the school. All students visit the
garden in the same sequence, and learn the rules early on.
 Mr. James (Blaker-Kinser) chooses a major project for students to work
on each year, and every Monday, he walks the garden grounds to deter-
mine the jobs needing to be accomplished for that week. He divides up
tasks and assesses students on qualities such as cooperation, “stick-to-
itive-ness.”
 Whether the garden is mature and developed, or just in its early stages,
Harvesting is one of the jobs in
there are always specific tasks and activities that can be assigned to stu-
Culinary Arts.
dents.

Page 4
Tips , cont’d
Break students into small groups of 6 – 8 for
specific tasks. Let them socialize as long as
they can remain focused on the main task at
hand. Teachers agreed that at this age, it is impor-
tant to allow students to socialize (and counter-
productive to be too restrictive about socializing.)
Small groups work best for accomplishing tasks as
well as for working together cooperatively.

Mr. Somawang and students of Baird Middle

School’s garden program, Fresno
Let the students take the lead in developing
ideas for the garden as much as possible.
Create ownership for students through
hands-on projects. This approach is particu-
larly effective as students mature into their teen
years. With a bit of structure and focus, students
become very creative and can devote a LOT of
energy to their projects.

 If students can help create the garden, they are

more invested in it.

 Students at University Heights Middle School,

Riverside, came up with the plan for a raised bed
that would allow wheelchair access, since that
program involves many special education stu-
dents.

 Blaker-Kinser students regularly win prizes at

their county fair each year for the crops they nur-
ture and enter.

 Students at Claremont Middle School, Oakland,

designed and built much of the infrastructure for
their garden, including arbors, creative trellises
Students at Claremont Middle School,
made from bike tire rims & spokes, tiles and
Oakland, stand beneath their creative
pavers, and a miniature riverbed. trellis, made of bike tire rims.

Page 5
More Tips
Develop ways to celebrate students’
products and successes.
 Middle school students are old enough to cre-
ate partnerships in the community, and can
find creative ways to bring community mem-
bers into the school environment.

 Several schools find ways to sell what the stu-

dents grow in the garden.

 Some schools hold regular festivals or mini-
farmers markets to display wares and bring
families into the school community.
Students from the Garden Club at Roosevelt
Jr. High in San Diego came up with the
brilliant idea of harvesting lavender, making
sachets, and selling them to other students to
put in their gym lockers.

Petaluma Jr. High students make

bruschetta and sample their creations.

Students at Blaker-Kinser, Ceres,

grow prize-winning tomatoes and
peppers and enter them into the
Stanislaus County Fair.

Page 6
Middle school gardens and the community
Partnerships are an crucial part of every school garden program. Without partnerships, gar-
dens could not be established nor sustained. Some common types of partnerships include
 Local businesses: Typically, instructors received significant donations from local businesses, such
as soil, mulching materials, plants, irrigations supplies, labor in the form of rototilling and such.
Some businesses such as restaurants purchase produce from school gardens.
 Parents and community volunteers: Many instructional garden programs are virtually run by par-
ents or other community volunteers.
 Master Gardeners: UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners often play a significant supportive
role in school gardens.
 In San Diego, Roosevelt Junior High School shares a portion of their garden grounds with the San
Diego Zoo. The zoo maintains the garden grounds in exchange for using them during the summer
months for their day camp programs. The zoo also hosts a science program for students at the
school.
 The Chico Jr. High School garden got off the ground when an active member of the Shasta Cascade
Chapter of Slow Food contacted the principal and teachers and got the ball rolling.

These Cooperative Extension

Master Gardeners, Patricia Carpenter
and Marlene Sisemore, were indispen-
sable in establishing and maintaining
the Emerson Jr. High School garden.

Farmer Boys Restaurant, near Univer-

sity Heights Middle School, Riverside,
buys the school’s tomatoes for their
salsa specials on “Farmer Days.”

Page 7
Sustaining Middle School garden programs
Cultivate good relationships with the grounds and maintenance staff! They are your best
friends for maintaining the garden over the long haul. When irrigation problems arise, the grounds staff
are the “go-to” people. Any number of challenges can be minimized with the help of the maintenance
crew. In addition, reciprocal relationships can develop nicely in the middle school context. Middle school
gardens tend to be larger than elementary school gardens, and often students themselves can help main-
tenance crew in maintaining them. The beautiful gardens that result make everyone look good!
 At Carmel Middle School, the students and garden staff hold an appreciation celebration for the
maintenance and grounds crew every spring. They prepare pizzas with garden veggies, cook it in
their outdoor wood-fired oven, and celebrate and enjoy together.

Money, money, money. Funding is always an issue for instructional school gardens. In an ideal world,
financial support for gardens would be as guaranteed as for other subjects. However, in the current cli-
mate, this is not the case.
 Because middle school students are developing entrepreneurial minds (along with all their other
minds!), they often come up with wonderful fund-raising ideas and products. Teachers who en-
courage students to think about making money are often surprised at the novel ideas they come up
with.
 There are a number of organizations that regularly offer funding to support school gardens: The
California Fertilizer Foundation; the Western Growers’ Association, the National Gardening Asso-
ciation, for example. I
 In addition, much in the way of supplies and infrastructure can be secured by approaching local
businesses such as nurseries and irrigation supply stores.
PTAs/PTOs and school site councils can be approached for support.
 If a small portion of a teacher’s time can be “bought” to coordinate teachers around the garden,
this is helpful.

Administrative support is essential for maintaining the garden over time. Without support from the top,
it is very difficult to sustain the momentum. WITH such support, the garden program can flourish and
teachers and students alike can take great pride in their accomplishments.
 Middle school administrators are under considerable pressure to maintain academic standards.
Therefore, showing how instructional school gardens can be integrated into the standardized cur-
riculum, and how they can support learning is critical to gaining support at this level.

The California School Garden Network

www.csgn.org
Page 8