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Finding, Gathering, Saving Seeds

Elementary, Middle

Description

Students take part in a year long investigation of saving and packaging seeds from a variety of garden and wild plants. Students will:

  • harvest dried seeds from wild and garden plants.
  • investigate growing flowers and plants to predict where seeds will be produced.
  • investigate the history of heirloom flowers and plants.
  • package the seeds that they collect for sale or gifts.
  • try to create a new plant species through cross pollination.

General Assessment

What skills does this resource explicitly teach?

This resource explicitly teaches:

  • the difference between annuals and perennials.
  • the difference between hybrid and open-pollinated plants.
  • how to harvest and store seeds.
  • how to identify when seeds are ready to harvest.
  • how cross pollination occurs.
  • how students can manually help to pollinate plants.
  • how seeds are transferred in nature.

Strengths

  • This package is up to date.
  • The activities presented in this resource are interesting and will engage students with all different learning styles and abilities.
  • Activities are locally focused.
  • Students are able to experiment and choose some elements of their own programming.
  • Activities encourage a personal affinity with the Earth through participating in a variety of outdoor activities.
  • There are an abundance of extra resources provided for teachers.
  • The resource is easy to follow with different links to related sites.
  • The resource is available online.
  • Students begin to develop action experiences relating to saving and gathering seeds.
  • Appreciation for the past, present, and future are presented within this resource.

Weaknesses

  • Specific assessment methods are not provided for students and teachers.

Relevant Curriculum Units

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Themes Addressed

Food & Agriculture (1)

  • Local Food

Land Use & Natural Resources (1)

  • Planting Native Species

Sustainability Education Principles

Principle Rating Explanation
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives Good
  • Students are presented with an overview of why some species' seeds do not exist anymore and some of the reasons for saving seeds.
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
  • Satisfactory: absence of bias towards any one point of view
  • Good: students consider different points of view regarding issues, problems discussed
  • Very good: based on the consideration of different views, students form opinions and  take an informed position
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions Satisfactory
  • Students address some of the ecological issues surrounding seed production.
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions:

Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.

  • Satisfactory: resource supports the examination of  these dimensions
  • Good:  resource explicitly examines the interplay of these dimensions
  • Very Good:  a systems-thinking approach is encouraged to examine these three dimensions
Respects Complexity Satisfactory
  • Students do not fully explore the problems and solutions associated with saving ones own seeds or cross pollination of species.
Respects Complexity:

The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected.

Acting on Learning Satisfactory
  • Students harvest and save seeds from local plants, but the details of the action experience is not fully developed within this resource.
Acting on Learning:

Learning moves from understanding  issues  to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community,  or for the planet

  • Satisfactory: action opportunities are included as extensions 
  • Good: action opportunities are core components of the resource
  • Very Good: action opportunities for students are well supported and intended to result in observable, positive change
Values Education Satisfactory
  • Students are not given adequate opportunity to explicitly clarify their values relating to seed saving and gathering.
  • By participating in these hands on experiences, students will likely express their own values relating to this topic.
Values Education:

Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values.

Empathy & Respect for Humans Good
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.).
Personal Affinity with Earth Good
Personal Affinity with Earth:

Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.  

  • Satisfactory: connection is made to the natural world
  • Good: fosters appreciation/concern for the natural world
  • Very Good: fosters stewardship though practical and respectful experiences out-of-doors 
Locally-Focused Learning Good
Locally-Focused Learning:

Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community. 

  • Satisfactory: learning is made relevant to the lives of the learners
  • Good: learning is made relevant and has a local focus
  • Very Good: learning is made relevant, local and takes place ‘outside’ , in the community 
Past, Present & Future Good
  • Students discuss heirloom seeds and the evolution of different types of plants.
  • Students discuss the impact of cross pollinating some species of plants.
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future.

Pedagogical Approaches

Principle Rating Explanation
Open-Ended Instruction Good
  • Students are able to explore local plants and wildflowers, and even experiment with planting different types of seeds together to seed of cross pollination will occur.
Open-Ended Instruction :

Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer.

Integrated Learning Satisfactory
  • Although not fully developed within the activiities there are multiple opportunities for interdisciplinary learning within this resource.
Integrated Learning:

Learning brings together content and skills  from more than one  subject area

  • Satisfactory: content from a number of different  subject areas is readily identifiable
  • Good:  resource is appropriate for use in more than one subject area
  • Very Good:  the lines between subjects are blurred 
Inquiry Learning Good
Inquiry Learning:

Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.   

  • Satisfactory: Students are provided with questions/problems to solve and some direction on how to arrive at solutions.
  • Good: students, assisted by the teacher clarify the question(s) to ask and the process to follow to arrive at solutions.  Sometimes referred to as Guided Inquiry
  • Very Good:  students generate the questions and assume much of the responsibility for how to solve them.  . Sometimes referred to as self-directed learning.

 

Differentiated Instruction Good
Differentiated Instruction:

Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.

  • Satisfactory:  includes a variety of instructional approaches
  • Good: addresses  the needs of visual, auditory &  kinesthetic learners
  • Very Good: also includes strategies for learners with difficulties
Experiential Learning Good
Experiential Learning:

Authentic learning experiences are provided

  • Satisfactory: learning takes place through ‘hands-on’ experience or simulation
  • Good: learning involves direct experience in a ‘real world context’
  • Very good: learning involves ‘real world experiences’ taking place’ beyond the school walls.
Cooperative Learning Satisfactory
  • Students work in groups, but are not explicitly taught cooperative learning skills.
Cooperative Learning:

Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.

  • Satisfactory:  students work in groups
  • Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught and practiced
  • Very Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught, practiced and assessed
Assessment & Evaluation Satisfactory
  • There are multiple opportunities for reflection and discussion provided by students, but specific assessment methods provided for educators are limited.
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc.
Peer Teaching Satisfactory
  • Incidental teaching arises through students working in groups, but there are not specific opportunities described for students to share their knowledge with an audience that would benefit from hearing the information that they have to share.
Peer Teaching:

Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.

  • Satisfactory: incidental teaching that arises from cooperative learning, presentations, etc.
  • Good or Very Good: an opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students/community members. The audience is somehow reliant on the students' teaching (students are not simply ‘presenting')
Case Studies Satisfactory
  • There are mention of specific kinds of species of plants which have been eradicated due to cross pollination, but there are not specific case studies provided about specific plants or seeds.
Case Studies:

Relevant case studies are included.  Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore  concepts in an authentic context.

Locus of Control Satisfactory
  • Many of the activities within this resource are largely teacher directed, but students do have some opportunities to experiment on their own and to choose certain elements of their programming.
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue.

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