Art to Zoology. Teacher Workshop, Westport, CT, April 6, 2010

Brainstorm Possible Learning Activities Using the Garden, Food or Health as a Topic

Art, P.E./Health, Science, Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, World Languages, Music, Culinary Arts, Environment, Zoology

Paint a still life of colorful foods. Write poem, measure a plot. Graph blood sugar.

Paint a still life of colorful foods.Observe art works with gardens. Design an ad for a food (could be a spoof.)  Photograph or film the process of growing food in the garden, and people eating healthy food.  Make a collage comparing healthy and unhealthy foods.  Create cartoons on temptations of junk food.

P.E./Health

Games like Snatch the Flag to demonstrate how free radicals steal electrons and damage the body’s cells, and how anti-oxidants (vitamins) are needed to protect the cells. Everything you do related to nutrition!

Science  - Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Genetics, Horticulture

Diagram the parts of a cell and the nutrients cells needs to function.  Research the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals in organic produce.  Trace how human bodies are affected by additives, dyes, trans fats, salt and sugar in junk foods.  Which foods are easier and harder to pass through the digestive system.

Math   - Charts, statistics, square footage, fractions, measuring

Solve problems, make charts with figures about the glycemic index, statistics about the rise in health costs, number of people with diabetes two, weight gain in children, compare labels - percentages and calories; food cost comparisons.

Social Studies  - Economics.  Government.  History, Geography

Environmental Studies and Human Impact

Trace the agrarian roots of the U.S.A. and how we went from being a nation of farmers to agriculture controlled by a few big corporations.  How do methods of farming impact the environment?  Research the Standard American Diet (SAD) and the relationship with the food and oil industries. How do eating habits impact the costs of health care and the economy?

Language Arts  - Writing, Reading, Literature

Writing. Write stories about how you and your families eat – do you grow some of your food? Where do you buy the rest? What do you shop for?  Does your family cook and eat together?   How do different foods make you feel?

In a paragraph write a description of a garden using the five senses as the principle of organization for your details (see, smell, hear, taste, touch.)  10^th grade lesson, New Canaan H.S.

Keep a descriptive food journal.  Write a play about how obesity causes problems, discrimination, or illness, and how good diet can prevent it.

Reading: Report on a book about gardens, or by Wendell Berry, Barbara Kingsolver.

Literature: Poetry on nature by Mary Oliver.

World Languages: Describe the way gardens are laid out in different cultures (compare and contrast English and French gardens.)  The foods different countries grow. National traditional dishes. Report on foods eaten where people live the longest and how they live.

Music Rehearse music or songs related to food and health that could be played of sung during events for parents. Compose music related to growth, cycles, seasons.  Write a jingle for an ad.

Culinary Arts – Recipes for whole foods direct from the garden!

Zoology – If any teacher K-12 teaches this, contact me!

Note: The best learning is based on first hand investigation, going to the source, the roots!  Close observation is core to good writing, art and science. Students learn more when solving problems that are “real,” that involve different intelligences, styles and disciplines.  Their SAT scores go up when they’ve eaten breakfast, moved their bodies, and when they feel cared for as whole people. Through participating in a school garden, students learn to be responsible, to plan, to work in teams and to reap what they sow.  Everyone eats food!  It’s in the school day already – Lunch – a teachable moment!

The garden has abundant, limitless learning opportunities.  Please write us to share your plans as they “grow.” 

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . See Incredible Edible Garden video.  www.janetluongo.com