We have a Guest Blogger!

A big welcome to Jessica Wang, a freelance writer from Bath who wants to tell us all ‘How to use our school garden as a Biology class’.

Jessica is currently working on a project called Plant finder, which you can see here: http://www.coblands.co.uk/knowledge-base/plant-finder.   This tool helps you to find the right plant for your type of soil and garden.

Here is her article:

Teaching Children about the Environment: How to Use Your School Garden for a Biology Class

Bio: Jessie Wang is a freelance writer and a mother of two. She loves to write about anything associated with the outdoors, especially when it comes to gardening.

Image by Northern Ireland Executive

 

Particularly with the younger ones, hands-on teaching methods can be the most effective in developing their minds. Pupils love to explore and learn by interacting with the world around them, so creating a safe learning environment outside for them to do this in can be a great idea if you have the room at school.

When it comes to teaching children about photosynthesis and plant-life, school gardens can come in very useful. Not only do they provide children a live specimen to look at, they allowthem to follow the reproduction of plants as it progresses through the various stages. Therefore in this post, we’ll be discussing how you can teach your class all about biology and plant reproduction in one fun filled lesson.

 

Introductions

If your class haven’t been taught about photosynthesispreviously, it’s important you give them a little introductory task or talk before taking them outside. With any lesson, children need to be informed of what they should be looking out for or analysing beforehand so that they’re given a focus. And with the more distractible minds, this is all the more crucial.

Provide your children with an explanatory worksheet or video clip introducing them to the topic. This will help them identify certain plant features and processes occurring when they’re outside and ensure they understand what you’re discussing later on in the lesson.

 

Keeping the Peace

Once your pupils have been introduced to the topic, ask them to quietly and calmly prepare to leave the classroom in an orderly fashion. Children can become a little over-enthusiastic at the prospect of leaving the classroom, so ensure that you have complete control before opening the door.

Having children running about the foliage on uneven ground won’t end well. Nor will the plants be much use to you if they’ve been trampled on by multiple pairs of little feet!

 

What’s This?

A great way to get children’s attention is to ask questions. If you spend the majority of the lesson talking at them, they will soon lose interest. Instead get them to explain the situation to you. Have the children congregate around your school garden and ask them to point at various parts of the plant that they’ve been introduced to.

This will reaffirm the knowledge in their minds and help children who are less certain learn through those speaking.

You could even involve them in the selection process and use a plant finder like this one from Coblands to demonstrate how certain plants are better suited to different conditions.

 

Using Your Surroundings

Upon venturing outside, you will (or should) notice that there are various insects to observe in your school garden. And more apparently, you will notice the current weather conditions. Both of these can make for great teaching tools when educating your pupils about photosynthesis.

By encouraging your pupils to observe the insects, you can introduce them to how insects aid the process of photosynthesis and how plant leaves are directed in positions where they can best capture the sun’s rays – and the rain!

 

Dissection

No outdoors lesson can be complete without giving kids thechance to touch and dissect a couple of plants. By allowing your pupils to do this (under your supervision) you can better show them the inner workings of the plants; providing them a way in which they can demonstrate their learning.

Of course, if the weather is poor – it may be better to do this inside. However, if it’s reasonable weather it could save you a lot of clearing up. So, after the children have dug out their selected plant, slice it in half and encourage them toinvestigate the plant themselves.

 

Reflection

In order to establish how much your children have learnt, provide them with a “fill in the blanks” worksheet featuring diagrams of plants similar to those seen outside. Ask the children to label what each part of the plant does and get them to draw and note how various insects (these can be based on the ones you saw earlier) play a role in the process.

These diagrams, if kept colourful and neat, will make for great wall displays and a useful teaching resource, reminding the children of what they learnt in that lesson.

 

The outdoors can be one of the greatest teaching tools you’ll ever have. And, just by changing your pupils’ learning environment once in a while, you can benefit their learning by enhancing their interest. Children would much rather observe and learn from the real thing than from a textbook.

So put your school garden to good use this year by teaching your pupils not only about biology but about their general surroundings; helping them to identify the flora and faunaaround them in an education that will benefit them in and out of the classroom.

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