Standards and Benchmarks Examples From CLL Curricula

Local standards and benchmarks from a variety of subject matter areas were collected from the following Iowa school districts: Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, and Waterloo. Growing in the Garden and Where We Live lessons were developed around common themes from these documents and national standards and benchmarks. Teachers and curriculum experts from these communities and from Roland-Story, Webster City, Spencer, Cedar Falls, and Blue Grass reviewed the lessons.

Food, Land & People lessons were written by educators from across the United States and many were piloted in Iowa. The lessons follow national standards and benchmarks.



Growing in the Garden standards and benchmarks are written into the Content Objective at the beginning of each lesson. For example, "Understand that gardens consist of living and nonliving things" is the Content Objective for the first kindergarten lesson, Project Discovery. In many lists of standards and benchmarks, understanding living and nonliving things is a standard and identifying the basic differences between them is a benchmark for kindergarten.

Examples of basic standard and benchmark themes for Growing in the Garden:

Kindergarten covers similarities and differences, using senses, living and nonliving things, characteristics of seeds, identifying natural resources plants need to grow, recognizing the food guide pyramid

First grade covers planning and organizing, parts of plants, characteristics of soil, food groups and what they do for your body

Second grade covers insects and animals in relationship to plants and plant growth, metamorphosis, problem solving, identifying important nutrients, where food comes from

Third grade covers journaling, occupations, seed germination, photosynthesis, international connections, contributions of nutrients to our diet, and steps to food production, processing, distribution, marketing, and consumer


Where We Live standards and benchmarks are listed by subject matter area at the beginning of each lesson. There are several activities that go with each lesson. If the students didn’t complete all the activities, they may not have had the opportunity to work towards accomplishing the standards and benchmarks that are listed.

Examples of standards and benchmarks from Where We Live: Weaving Food Webs, My Hero lesson.

Health

• Describe how eating a variety of foods from the food guide pyramid provides a nutritional balance to help meet your body’s needs.
  
• Make healthy food choices.

Science

• Describe ways plants and animals depend on each other.
• Describe a food chain/food web.

Social Studies

• Examine and interpret the interaction of human beings and their environments, use of land, and ecosystems.
• Identify ways in which an individual’s life quality is affected by people, animals, and plants.
• Describe ways that perception, attitudes, values, beliefs, and actions affect personal identity.
• Apply knowledge of how individuals, groups, animals, plants and natural resources work to meet individual needs and promote the common good.
• Create recognition awards to reward and influence behaviors that meet individual needs and promote the common good.
• List personal connections to the community, state, nation, and world.

Language Arts

• Express ideas using main idea, characters, setting, problem, and solution. · Show clear and logical thinking.
• Gather information form a variety of sources.
• Speak clearly using appropriate volume, posture, grammar, and expression.
• Answer questions.
• Use visual aids in presentations.
• Inform audience accurately.

Refer to the titles of the lessons and activities for Where We Live: History of the Land; Where We Live: Weaving Food Webs; and Where We Live: Living with the Land to identify the themes that give a clue to the standards and benchmarks.