Economics, Maine History & Garden Outline- 7 North
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September |
October |
November |
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Boot Camp -
Introduces students to
the garden project and their teacher. -
Students rotate thru 14
stations learning vegetable, plant and tool ID, Weighing & making
change, public relations, science safety Trace Your Breakfast -
Exploring pathways of
food systems from farm to table, including processing and global
connections -
Mapping National
commodities -
Identifying food systems
& the availability of space left to
grow foods Vegetable Judge Off -
Student taste, identify
and judge a variety of vegetables form the garden. -
Inquiring question: Are
vegetables grown in the garden better than store bought vegetables? Global Chase -
Student research
vegetable history including vegetable origin and the impact on world
history -
Review research methods
and writing skills Checkbook Management -
Each student receives a
checkbook and are taught money management skills * Intro to Report Writing * Business
Letter Writing |
Pizza Project - Students
are introduced to the process of harvesting and making their own pizza.
- Students are introduced
to the concepts of developing a business blueprint plan. - Students finished
projects will include a history report on 3 pizza ingredients & a
business plan for opening up their own pizzeria (business plans will be
developed by student teams. - Students develop
collaboration skills, research skills, problem solving skills,
leadership skills and public speaking skills *Micro & Macro
Economics: WhatÕs Does It Mean? * Intro to Basic Economic
Terms & Concepts * Micro / Macro Economics *Introduction
to basic economic concepts *Host school visits. Students design and lead mini-workshops. Topics include: Compost, planting, harvesting, measurement and tools, creating good soil, pest management, garden art and seed saving, |
Money History -Students learn history
off currency globally and nationally -Students create &
design currency for Country Report -Final currency will be
made on our very own garden vegetable paper Harvest Supper Join
students, faculty and family members as we celebrate our garden
harvest. Plan for spring TBA* -
Job Interviews Students interview to
determine qualification & placement in Garden Company divisions Student teams present
complete business plans to Bangor Savings Bank. |
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Garden & SPECIAL
EVENTS |
Garden |
Garden |
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*Harvest for families,
kitchen, farm stand and soup kitchen. *Pizza project - grind wheat - sauces Harvest vegetables for
market stand, Cafeteria and soup kitchen. End of the month preparation
are made for planting in the greenhouse for winter harvest and
experiments Trip to MOFGAÕs
Common Ground Fair in Unity. Students interview venders and participate
one educational workshop Garden Apprenticeship-
students try different jobs to determine which garden company they will
become a member. Students choose between: Compost Division, Seed Division or Garden Division * Common Ground Fair- Students interview
vendors, present and attend one workshop, enter vegetables in
Exhibition Hall. |
Harvest -Paper making -Making Sauce & Salsa
in the kitchen -Greenhouse -Map area of garden
plants for crop rotation -Harvest, clean wheat for
pizza project. Plus harvest and make pizza sauce ingredients for pizza
project -Learn to put the garden
to bed: harvest vegetables, clear plant material, seed cover crops,
compost -Make paper using garden
ingredients for My -Country projectÕs currency -Seed saving methods -Start incubating eggs
for chicken economic lesson |
Putting the garden to bed * Garden research projects * Garden Jobs &
Research Responsibilities (IEP)
Structuring a business Division -
Students develop garden
jobs responsibilities & research projects -
Learn greenhouse
management and planting skills -
On going testing of soil
and plant quality and methods for amendments -
Develop marketing
relationship with Belfast Coop -
Intro to germination
trails |
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December |
January |
February |
March |
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*Geography
(7 continents) * Stocks
& Savings -terms -
buying & selling stocks *Create Students Teaching
Teams * Current events *Reading Comprehension
Strategies * Money & Banking -Making Millions in the
Stock Market -Introduction to stock
market history & agricultural commodities -Students are given money
to invest in the stock market using -Stock Quest an interactive stock
program for students Project will be ongoing
for entire year. Student earning the largest return on investment are
rewarded with a $25.00 savings bond Team Teaching -Students develop lessons
in mentoring teams to teach other students. |
* Currency for self
designed countries -Maine Native Americans Introduced to Maine
Native -American culture and agriculture techniques -Research project on the
Wabanakis *Editorial Cartoons *Inventions &
Entrepreneurs -Research inventions
& entrepreneurs in Maine and New England *Discover famous products
made in the Belfast area *Students will tell their
story using story board Learning history through
the origin and story of seeds. Final stock/ mutual fund
purchases are made. 10,000 in 10 sectors. |
*Seed marketing,
Economics & package design *Black History Month -Students
will investigate prominent people who made an impact on our country *Chicken
Economics Students
will learn another form of s economics starting their own egg business * Belfast Changing History -
Economics -interviews -
Businesses / agriculture -
Watershed -
Finding Katahdin Chpt 9 -Shipbuilding to
chickens: Exploring Belfast Regional History -Who are people in our
watershed and their impact on the land and changing economics -Work closely with the
Belfast Historical Association and Penobscot Marine Museum -Build a working timeline
-Designing a Belfast mural -Learn reporter technique
to interview a Maine Resident greater than 60 years old *Myths of Maine Why
do people flock to Maine? How did Maine become known as
ÒVacationlandÓ? -Students
uncover the myths surrounding Maine. |
Global Trade
-History -
Competition -
Actual local shipping logs -
Check Searsport Museum for trade game -
Report pick a country and investigate trade *
Industrial Revolution -
Finding Katahdin Chpt
8 ÒThe Industrial RevolutionÓ -
Curriculum China Trade -Explore how
MaineÕs economy has changed over time. -How is Belfast meeting
the changing economy? Are people leaving Maine? -What influences are
changing Maine and the NationsÕ agriculture Global Trade -Who are the Nations
Maine trade with? -Explore our relationship
with China and competition My Country Report -Begin developing a trade
relationship with another country |
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Garden -Harvest vegetables for
school, soup kitchen and Belfast Coop -On going research -Getting to know the seed
catalog Ðchoosing & ordering seeds -
repacking & germination |
Garden What
is an editorial cartoon? Students create
an editorial Cartoon to submit to the Bangor Paper Mapping & designing
garden and them gardens Garden layout Ordering Seeds Greenhouse |
Garden Seed division to Johnny's
Selected Seed Germination Testing Student plan, design and
market seed packets Field trip for seed
company to Johnny Selected Seeds Start Germination testing Ongoing garden research,
planting, harvesting and eating |
Garden -Preparing
the garden for spring planting -Prune fruit trees -Design Watershed trail
maps -Bean-hole-bean supper |
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April |
May |
June
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Readings from Finding
Katahdin Chpt 7 * Country projects -
Redesign -
Review requirements - Develop Trading
Relationships My Country Report
Continued Continue
& finish developing trade relationship The Gold Rush (changing landscape, people, resources) How did the gold rush
change our nation and Maine Read diaries of local
people who moved during the gold rush to California |
Maine History Report Trip to Fort Western Historical Belfast Tour Maine history garden Designing a Maine History
Garden Maine History report. TBA Touring Down Town Belfast Introducing Bean History
to the 6th Graders Bean teams will teach 6th
grader about Maine bean history and Bean anatomy Final project is planting
Maine beans for next years bean-hole-bean supper (June) |
Final Garden Research
presentations Review yearlong goals
& business plan Careers in Agriculture Explore all the careers in agriculture and
compare them to jobs done in the garden company Final Garden Research
Presentation TBA |
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Garden |
Garden |
Garden |
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Garden mapping & Crop
Rotation Soil prep work |
Class field trip to Old
Fort Western Plan & Plant garden 6th grade bean
project Maine History |
Garden Mapping Planting
garden 6th graders
plant bean history garden Garden mapping &
labeling Planting & Mulching Saying
Ògood-byeÓ Summer garden program |
Why is sustainability important for Maine? Sustainability means producing and satisfying our needs locally. Instead of buying our school lettuce from California, we grow it ourselves. We no longer buy all of our seeds from large companies from far away, the students are learning how to grow, save and market their own seed in partnership with local seed companies and the Maine Cooperative Extention. Students are saving money spent on soil amendments by gathering and compost seaweed from our coast, collecting leave mulch from the municipallity, and have a student-run school compost program that returns our cafeteria food waste to enrich our soil.
Project Purpose
Our program uses the theme of school gardening,
composting and seed-saving to introduce a curricular framework
and projects that integrate sustainability throughout the middle school
curriculum. Young people learn the
practical skills to manage an ecological garden and composting program,
how compost builds living soil, how to save seeds from open pollinated
food crops, and practical business skills to market their organic
vegetables. Young people discover how gardening can be a compelling
way to make a real difference in their homes, schools and communities.
Expected Results
Foodwaste Diversion - The school composting program
is anticipated to divert much of the school cafeteria foodwaste from
the dumpster to the school garden.
Enhanced Soil Fertility and Disease-Suppression
Four years ago the garden plot was compacted
school playground turf with low organic matter and almost no
earthworms.
Today it is tilled and producing food, however due to a stressed soil
biology, there was a high incidence of early blight in tomatoes
and poor tilth. The school purchased compost as an outside input at
wholesale cost. We have saved money by creating our own compost
and earthworm castings. Further organic matter has been gotten
through batering (our labor and vegtables) with local farms.
As the organic matter in the soil is increased as a
result of the foodwaste, the increased complexity of beneficial soil
organisms are anticipated to enhance the soils natural biocontrol
against pathogens. The finished compost will be measured for:
germination rate of wheat, effect on beneficial soil biota, and
seedling and crop vigor.
On-Site Organic Food Production and Improved Student Nutrition
Typical school lunches offer wilty white lettuce
shipped some 3000 miles from California, heavily cooked spiced meats
and vegetables and surplus dairy products. Few school lunches are
supplied fresh from local farmers. Fewer are supplied in any proportion
by the work of the students own hands. When we began, many of the
students in our class professed to not like to eat vegetables. Today
those students run to the garden and in moments are munching fresh
vegetables with vivid delight.
Curricular Integration
The primary obstacle to integrating gardening into
the educational curriculum is the concern that gardening lacks academic
value. Historically, elementary school curricula are concerned with the
education of the whole child. However in middle and high school
curricula are often more structured and performance-based than primary
schools. A highly-structured curriculum means less flexibility in
lesson plans and difficulty in justifying practical gardening projects.
Providing teacher support to integrate gardening with the middle school
Maine Learning Results is our objective.
Long-Term Impact
Young People Empowered to Grow their own Food and
likely to develop Livelihoods that foster Local Food Systems.
School gardens introduce a systemic solution to local food security and
organic waste problems, and create a compelling opportunity for young
people to solve real problems on a scale of
meaning in their expanding world. Young people can feel overwhelmed
by the vast complexity of the multi-national food system.
This site was created and is maintained by Mr. T.