For Students

Plants, are, amazing! You might not think that at first, but they are. Would you believe that they are intelligent, that they talk to each other, that on any given day they are communicating with you, too, in some surprising ways?

Most people would certainly never suspect that the way a plant’s life unfurls is suprisingly similar to a human life’s unfolding, or that sprouts’ roots could tell us anything about our brains, or that the things plants need to survive and thrive are not so different from what people need to flourish.

And when plants are finished teaching us about themselves, and about ourselves as well, there is a lot they can teach us about the world in general. Like how some living things grow in what is called a liner fashion, but other things grow in the most unexpected way of all, nonlinearly. In fact, most of the word works in a nonlinear fashion, though you might never suspect it if you listen only to the everyday man or woman on the street.

We could say more. But you get the idea: From here on out, we are going to let the plants do the talking and teaching. We will start our potted plants or, maybe, a group garden. As we do, we are going to stop, look, listen, and learn as much as we can about what they have to teacher us – science, math, history, justice, sociology, and any number of other subject areas.

For Teachers

The paragraphs above introduced some of the many educational possibilities that make themselves available the moment students plant a garden and are allowed to establish a more intimate relationship with the plants in their care.

The titles to the right of this page link (or will link) to numerous subjects and activities that student groups and classes can explore via their gardens. If you have ideas besides these, we hope you will share them in the comments section below. We will take the best of them and add share them with the wider community, of course including the credit information of the teacher suggesting the activity.

• Growing Zones
• What Plants and People Need to Grow (Part 1)
• Grids, Area, Perimeter, and Garden Layouts
• Journaling and Observation
• When to Plant and Why
• Is the Soil Alive?
• How is Soil Prepared For Planting?
• Are Plants Friends and Companions
• How do you Plant a Seed?
• How do you Plant a Potato?
• Roots for Brains?
• How Does Your Garden Grow (Linear and Nonlinear Growth)
• Triangles and Tree Heights

(This page is under construction. Links will be filled as time goes on. Please forgive us the delay.)