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Lesson Ideas
Below are lessons from GITG and WWL that are timely for fall while the outdoor temperatures are still comfortable and there is an abundant supply of natural materials and fresh produce.
Kindergarten:
GITG Unit 1, Lesson 1: Project Discovery. When set loose outside to find living and non-living things, children do not have to look very far this time of year. Trees and other plants have produced an abundance of seeds and caterpillars, butterflies, lady beetles and other insects can easily be found.
GITG Unit 1, Lesson 2: Gardeners and Farmers. Farming activities are so visible this time of year as the combines and corn pickers roar through the fields and wagons full of grain are collected and hauled to the elevators. Take a class field trip to a farm and conduct this lesson there!
GITG Unit 2, Lesson 2: Meet Johnny Appleseed. It is apple harvest season throughout the state and fresh apples and apple products are readily available.
GITG Unit 3, Lesson 1: When is it Ready to Eat? This is a perfect time to find produce at all stages of maturity. The garden season is winding down and there are many crops just being harvested or are hanging green on the plants, threatened by the first frost.
First Grade:
GITG Unit 2, Lesson 3: Be Loyal to the Soil. This is a great time of year to discuss wind and water erosion and the value of soil as farmers and gardeners work their fields and gardens and add soil amendments.
Second Grade:
GITG Unit 2, Lesson 3: Keeping Soil Alive. What becomes of all the leaves that fall from the trees each autumn? They are composted! This is the perfect season to teach children about composting and a great time to start a compost pile on your school grounds.
GITG Unit 3, Lesson 3: The Life of Garden Produce. The supply of fresh, Iowa-grown produce will soon end abruptly. This is the perfect time of year to discuss storing and preserving our bountiful harvest. You may even want to preserve something by canning or freezing something in your classroom.
Third Grade:
GITG Unit 2, Lesson 1: Traveling Seeds. You certainly don’t have to look very far to find seeds on the move – acorns and maple seeds cover the ground and milkweed fluff is blowing in the wind. Fall is a perfect time to slip an old pair of socks over your shoes and pant legs and walk through a weedy field or empty lot – you will be surprised at the number and variety of seeds that stick to the socks.
Where We Live: History of the Land (4 th Grade*):
Unit 2, Lesson 5: Land of the Tall Grasses. Native and cultivated grasses are stretching tall to the sky with seed spikes and plumes that blow in the wind. Use this time to imagine what it was like when Iowa was covered with prairie grasses.
Unit 2, Lesson 6: The Value of Trees. There is no better time than fall to study trees as the trees take on their fall splendor and apple and nut trees are bearing fruit. Use some of the resources listed on this website to teach tree identification and the value of trees in our lives.
Where We Live: Weaving Food Webs (5 th Grade*):
Unit 2, Lesson 5: We Depend on One Another. A large portion of the corn crop harvested this fall will go to feed livestock. This is a good time to make the connection of how our crops “feed the world”.
Where We Live: Living with the Land (6 th Grade)
Unit 1, Lesson 1, Living with the Land. When students read A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, examine the cartoons by Ding Darling, listen to and watch the Stewards of the Land video from the Iowa Beef Producers, or enjoy the For Land’s Sake poster, discuss how autumn affects the land and how people view the land.
Unit 1, Lesson 2: Maybe You’re a Poet. Follow the activities to create a poem about relating to nature during the fall.
Unit 2: Lessons 3 through 6. What happens during the fall regarding pest management, soil conservation, water quality, and animal health? Why should every person be concerned with these issues during the fall?
LESSONS AND ACTIVITY IDEAS:
Grades pre-K – K:
- Use colorful leaves and fall fruits, vegetables and nuts to teach children to identify colors while at the same time learn about good nutrition and healthy snacks! These natural objects are also great for teaching similarities and differences. Go on a hike around the school to collect natural items (leaves, twigs, acorns, berries, seed pods, etc) or have the children bring things from their backyards.
Grades 1 – 2:
Grades 3 – 4:
- Leaves offer such a great diversity in size, color, shape, and form that they make excellent natural materials for collages and other creative works of art! Gather fresh leaves from a variety of different plants and press them flat between pages in an old magazine. Place the magazine under a stack of heavy books and WAIT! The leaves should be dried, flat and ready to use after two to three weeks. They will, however, be brittle and rather fragile. Have the children “paint” a picture of an object using the leaves or pieces of the leaves. Glue the leaves to a heavy cardstock paper with clear school glue.
An excellent reference book for this activity is Look what I did with a Leaf by Morteza E. Sohi. ISBN 0-8027-7440-7. Cost: approximately $5.95. See the Book Review on this website for more information on how this book can integrate art, language arts, and communication into a fun educational activity. This book is sure to inspire your students and give them many good ideas on what can be done. While they are doing this activity they will discover similarities between leaf and animal coloration.
Grades 5 – 6:
This essay is from Forest and Shade Trees of Iowa, second edition, by Peter J. Van Der Linden and Donald R. Farrar, Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA., page 3. The information on this Extension website was published with permission of the authors and publisher.
- Before the leaves are completely off the trees, use the leaf shape, arrangement and fall color to teach tree identification and the use and understanding of keys.
An interactive key was developed to help identify the most common trees in Iowa. The key is based on vegetative characteristics such as leaves, fruits, and bark. It is not a complete key. It does not include all trees grown in Iowa. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/tree/
Definition of terms for tree identification: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/tree/terms/terms.html
- Use trees and as the subject for individual or group reports. Students can use the following websites, Extension publications and books in their school libraries to research their favorite tree or a tree native to Iowa.
For information on 680 trees, go to: http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/index.htm
ISU Extension publications: PM 1383 Identification of Conifer Trees in Iowa
PM 1384 Identification of Hardwood Trees in Iowa
IAN 304 Iowa's Plants Series - Iowa's Trees
Trees of Iowa – ISU Forestry Extension publication – description and range of the most common trees of the more than 75 species native to Iowa specific trees found in Iowa.
http://www.forestry.iastate.edu/ext/ttrees.html
- Where and when is fall leaf color the best in Iowa? Using maps and resources from Where We Live lessons, have the children locate Iowa’s hardwood forests. They can find out when the trees are in full color by going to the Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s website at: http://www.iowadnr.com/forestry/fallcolor.html
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