Companion Resources

This web page offers practical information about gardening with children and provides engaging lesson plans and activities that integrate gardening themes into core curriculum. School gardens provide an opportunity to build understanding about the natural world through active investigation and inquiry. Gardens inspire students to use their senses, exercise their imagination, build communication skills, think critically, problem solve, and explore their questions, while providing a meaningful context for multidisciplinary exploration.

The Hatching Science Center offers practical information about the technical aspects of hatching chicks and provides relevant, hands-on activities for integrating embryology themes into core curriculum. Hatching chicks in the classroom can be an effective way to increase student engagement, investigate how organisms change and develop over time, and study embryology, life cycles, heredity, and animal needs.

From peanut, grape, and wheat seeds to sandwich, PB&J Hooray! is all about how peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are made. The story begins with the kitchen and works backward to the shopping, delivery, production, harvesting, farming, and planting processes! In fun, rhythmic language, readers discover how peanuts become peanut butter, grapes are made into jelly, and wheat turns into bread.

This website offers information on many aspects of water, along with pictures, data, maps, and an interactive center where you can give opinions and test your water knowledge.

Project WET publishes water resource education materials that are appropriate for many different age groups and cultures and offer comprehensive coverage of the broad topic of water. They also provide training workshops to educators at all levels, formal and non-formal, on diverse water topics.

Farmers work with nature. Soil nutrients, planting, weed and insect control, machinery work, crop records and harvest are things farmers can control and manage. Farmers cannot control the weather. Crops may need to be planted more than once in the spring. Most crops are ready for harvest in late summer and fall but may be wiped out by a single weather event. Play the weather harvest game to see if you will be able to bring in your crop. Order this game online from agclassroomstore.com.

MyPlate is the USDA's food guidance symbol that illustrates the five food groups using the familiar image of a place setting for a meal. A wide variety of resources are provided on the associated MyPlate website.

"Dad says we are going to grow vegetable soup." So begins Lois Ehlert’s bright, bold picture book about vegetable gardening for the very young. The necessary tools are pictured and labeled, as are the seeds (green bean, pea, corn, zucchini squash, and carrot). Then the real gardening happens... planting, weeding, harvesting, washing, chopping, and cooking! In the end? "It was the best soup ever." Ehlert’s simple, colorful cut-paper-style illustrations are child-friendly, as is the big black type. A recipe for vegetable soup tops it all off!

Teaching nutrition to children early and often is the key to developing healthy eating habits. The fourth edition of How to Teach Nutrition to Kids includes over 200 cross-curricular activities featuring the MyPlate food guide, children's books, gardening, recipes, food art, label reading, fitness and more.

In a society with so many choices and a bewildering array of options, it's important to learn about healthful eating and active living. Students need to discover the connection between their food and the farm, learn facts about food and nutrition, and explore ways to be more active. This 42" x 42" nutrition bulletin board emphasizes the importance of making healthy choices that will last a lifetime. Order this bulletin board online from agclassroomstore.com.

Beautiful illustrations and a simple story tell how corn is planted and processed to provide the ingredients for the tortilla factory. The story comes full circle as the corn tortillas nourish the workers that return to the field to plant another year's crop.

Discover what children around the world eat for their midday meals. Menus include one or two meals from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Kid-friendly recipes are also included.