Design a New School Garden

Many schools have gardens and often students get to work in them. Put students completely in charge by asking them to design the entire garden!

This project is most effective if you can find an actual site at school and you have funding from administrators or a parent association to complete the design.

Engage

Activate prior knowledge about gardens students may have experienced, such as a home vegetable garden or a butterfly garden. Then, discuss the purpose of gardens. For example, some provide food for people, others work to save water. Still others showcase native habitat, while others are designed to provide a calming space.

Let students know they will have an opportunity to design a garden for a space at school. Map out the location and visit with your class.

Create

Form small teams of students and ask them to focus on the type of garden they want to design (based on its purpose). For example, are they trying to:

• Landscape while saving water.
• Grow their own food or herbs.
• Provide a quiet space for contemplation and relaxation.
• Create a habitat native to the region in which they live.

Have each team complete an empathy map for a garden visitor to help focus their design choices.

Empathy Map

Provide time and resources to allow teams to research information about about the plants, soil, nutrients, care, and pests so they can prepare a successful design.

Once they have chosen plants, assign a blank project or grid so that they the team can organize the plants into the allotted space on a scale drawing.

Grid Template

Have each team create a presentation that present a general description of their garden, the scale design, and requirements for care.

Share

Have student teams present their designs to “critical friends” in your classroom. Discuss as a class the pieces of each design you like the best.

Combine work from each team or work as a class to enhance a specific teams design. Present the final design to your administrator or parent association to secure funding and get assistance to make the design a reality. Don't forget to host a garden party when it is complete!

Next Generation Science Standards

3-5-ETS1-Engineering Design

1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

5-LS2-1.

Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. Develop a model to describe phenomena.