garden-based Lesson Plans

for Grades 6 - 8

MANY of our lessons listed as appropriate for elementary grades can easily and effectively be adapted for middle school by taking the theme and/or activity of the lesson and tailoring it to your students!

All of these lessons can be implemented without a school garden, though some do require planting areas, and many are most effective and fun with some kind of outdoor green space to explore.

Almost all of the Fall & Spring lessons include an option for indoors if going outside is not possible. The Winter lessons are written to be done entirely indoors.

Fall Lessons

Compost! (Grades 6 - 8)
Where Seeds Come From: Flower Dissection (grades 6 - 8)

Winter Lessons

Food Origins: Where Does Our Food Come From? (grades 6 - 8)

Spring Lessons

Crop Domestication & Planting Seeds (grades 6 - 8)
Ecosystems & Food Webs in the Garden (grades 3 - 7)
Observational Drawings & Mindfulness in the Garden (grades 1 - 8)
The Buzz About Bees & Pollination (grades 6 - 8)