The Littlest Gardener An Interactive Children’s Book on the Role of Garden Insects in Food Growth

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The Littlest GardenerAn Interactive Childrens
Book on the Role of Garden Insects in Food Growth

• Community Based Learning Initiative
• Garden Project for Real Food for Thought and NJ
  DOE
• Alana R. Tornello
• ENV 307 Food Agriculture
• January 7, 2011

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An Alternative Lesson Plan

• Traditionally illustrated childrens book
• Plus three interactive worksheets
• Will meet multiple NJ DOE CPI standards for
• Science
• Language Arts
• Visual Arts
• For 1st to 3rd grade (ages 7-9)

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Motivation

• Riverside Elementary School childrens interest
  in bugs
• Termite playground
• Compost piles
• Butterfly activities
• Worm lesson
• Merge of environmental studies, visual arts,
  literature, childhood education/development
• Background in bug identification
• Relevance to food growth

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Use of Childrens Books in Education

• Science in early childhood books (Smardo, 2005)
• K-3 teachers spend avg. 17 mins on science a day
• Isolated group taught with books improved
  vocabulary, grasped science concepts, and asked
  questions
• Insect science curriculum (Annual Review of
  Entomology, 1997)
• Lists 30 successful, educational, often used
  insect books
• Trend in books coupled with scientific method
  field study
• Success of bug book genres
• The Hungry Little Caterpillar (Carle)
• Charlottes Web (White)
• Miss Spiders Tea Party (Kirk)

An understanding of insects is in a sense a
prerequisite to a broader understanding of life.
WJ Fischang
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The Book The Littlest Gardener

• A child who hates bugs meets an ant
• Ant introduces 3 groups of insects
• Pollinators (bees butterflies)
• Decomposers (worms termites)
• Protectors (ladybugs spiders)
• The life cycle is highlighted
• Learns how important bugs are for food growth
• Learns to respect animals and the environment

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Science Curriculum

• Standards (Science Practice Life Science)
• Handle and treat organisms humanely,
  responsibly, and ethically.
• Describe the ways in which organisms interact
  with each other and their habitats in order to
  meet basic needs.
• Worksheet
• Draw a diagram of the life cycle.
• How are decomposers and pollinators a part of
  food growth?
• Which insects are helpful to humans or food?
• Which ones are hurtful?

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Language Arts Curriculum

• Standards
• Ask and answer questions to help determine or
  clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a
  text.
• Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the
  topic or book they are writing about.
• Worksheet
• What is real in the story and what is fake?
• Vocabulary spelling words
• Write about which bug in your book is your
  favorite and why? How does this bug help or hurt
  the food that grows in the garden?

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Visual Arts Curriculum

• Standards
• Use symbols to create personal works of art
  based on selected age-appropriate themes, using
  oral stories as a basis for pictorial
  representation.
• Create works of art that are based on
  observations of the physical world.
• Worksheet
• Can you identify this bug?
• Draw what is missing on this bug.
• Draw your perfect garden and what bugs would live
  there.

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Extended Use

• Teachers of many subjects can use book in
  collaboration
• Hope to spread to other schools beyond Riverside
• Does not necessarily need a garden
• With garden, hands-on activities could be created
• Could potentially lead to a series of garden
  adventures
• More lesson plans created for this book (other
  curriculums)
• Model replicated if successful

Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is
as valuable to the child as it is to the
caterpillar.  Bradley Millar
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References
Carle, Eric. The Very Busy Spider. New York
Philomel Books, 1984.   Gibbons, Gale. The Honey
Makers. New York Harper Collins,
1997.   Hovanec, Erin. I Wonder What It's Like to
Be an Ant. New York Powerkids Press,
2000.   Matthews, Robert W., Lynda R. Flage, and
Janice R. Matthews. Insects as Teach Tools in
Primary and Secondary Education. Annual Review
of Entomology. Department of Entomology, The
University of Georgia Athens, GA. 1996. Vol. 42
269-289.   Pranis, Eve. Insect Appeal Getting
to Food by Studying Bugs. KidGardening.Org. Web.
lthttp//www.kidsgardening.com/Dig/DigDetail.taf?ID
1119TypeArtgt   Smardo, Frances A. Using
Children's Literature to Clarify Science Concepts
in Early Childhood Programs. The Reading
Teacher. International Reading Association 2005.
Vol. 36, No. 3. 267-273.   State of New Jersey
Department of Education. New Jersey Core
Curriculum Content Standards. Web. lt
http//www.njcccs.org/search.aspxgt   Teachers
Pests Lessons Plans. Terminix Insect Education.
Web. lthttp//www.terminix.com/Information/Teachers
gt   University Games. Do I Bug You A Who am
I? Book. University Games 2007.   University of
Washington Botanic Gardens. Garden Insect
Identification, Web. lthttp//depts.washington.edu
/hortlib/resources/hort_web_sites/plant_id.phpgt