Life Lab Science Program
and
The Center for Agroecology and
Sustainable Food Systems
Field Trip Training
Manual
INTRODUCTION ......................................................... 2
MAIN AREAS
OF THE
FARM ................................................ 4
ACTIVITIES .......................................................... 6
AN APPLE
AS THE
WORLD ................................................. 8
SING IT!............................................................ 9
TEACHING TIPS "THE THREE FS" .......................................... 10
TIPS
FOR
EFFECTIVE GROUP MANAGEMENT ..................................... 12
TIPS
FOR
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
HONORING STAGES
QUESTIONS
AND
DEVELOPMENT
ANSWERS
COMMON PRACTICES
TEACHING
OF
ABOUT
OF
ABOUT
OF
IN
INFORMATION ........................... 13
TEACHING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ............ 14
ORGANIC FARMING ............................... 15
ORGANIC FARMERS ..................................... 17
ORGANIC
FOR
KIDS ........................................ 18
THE SIX PLANT PARTS .................................................. 19
COMPOST ............................................................ 20
WORM COMPOSTING ..................................................... 31
CHICKENS ........................................................... 35
HONEYBEES .......................................................... 39
REVIEW QUESTIONS .................................................... 30
LIFE LAB
MAIN LINE
459-2001 -- AMY & JOHN'S
LINE
459-4035
WHAT
IS
LIFE LAB SCIENCE PROGRAM?
Life Lab Science Program is a nonprofit organization located on the
UCSC Farm. Life Lab started over 25 years ago, advocating school
gardens for learning. In the mid-1990s, Life Lab moved onto the
Farm. Although not part of UCSC, Life Lab is “affiliated”, meaning
we lease the land and office and in return agreed to develop a
children’s garden, The Garden Classroom. Life Lab has written
garden-based curriculum, provides extensive teacher training
throughout the region and the country, and holds teacher, community
and children’s programs in the Garden Classroom. Life Lab has many
ongoing projects, including the Monterey Bay Science Project
(working with teachers in the greater Monterey Bay area to help
students develop language skills using science in the garden); and
the Waste-Free Schools (Teachers and students in the area recycling,
composting and vermicomposting at their schools with the support of
Life Lab and Ecology Action).
The construction of The Garden Classroom in 2000 was funded solely
by grants (David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the Goldman Fund,
the County of Santa Cruz and numerous others) and in-kind donations
of labor (Joni Janecki, Landscape Architect, PondMagic, Sharon
Erspamer of Design Science signs, and many others).
WHAT
IS
CASFS?
The Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) is a
part of the Social Sciences Division at UCSC. CASFS’s mission is to
provide research and education on issues related to sustainable
agriculture. CASFS accomplishes its mission through organic farm
systems research (helping farmers farm in a more environmentally
friendly manner), social issues research (community food security,
farm workers rights, social-economic factors of farming), a six month
apprenticeship on ecological horticulture, and public outreach events
including workshops and tours. Undergraduate classes and internships
are also held on the CASFS farm.
One of the most common questions you'll get from parents on your
field trips is, "How do you sell the produce from the farm?" The
farm sells its produce in two main ways: produce from the "Down
Garden" is sold at a cart at the base of campus (on Tuesdays &
Fridays May-Oct.), and produce from the Field is sold in arrangement
called CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). CSA is a marketing
method where consumers buy a “farm share” in the spring, and then
every week receive a box of fresh produce from the farm (until late
fall). This type of marketing is advantageous for all involved. The
farmer has a set market and receives money at the beginning of the
season. This takes a lot of the “risk” of out of farming and lets the
farmer concentrate on things other than marketing. The farmer will
also have to grow a diversity of food, which makes for a healthy farm
system. The CSA members receive locally grown seasonal food and are
connected with the people who grow the food. If the farm doesn’t have
any major problems during the growing season, the members usually get
2
way more than they paid for. The farm is also starting to market its
produce directly to the dining halls in a Farm-to-University program.
The UCSC Farm and Garden has been certified organic for over 20
years.
WHY
DO WE HAVE A FIELD TRIP PROGRAM?
Local schools bring students to visit the UCSC Farm and Life Lab
Garden Classroom to explore plants, organic farming and science. By
having schools visit we can connect children to the basic elements
that support them, Sun, Soil, Water and Air, and show them that
everything they eat and everything they wear comes from the earth. We
can begin to instill a care-taking ethic among our visitors. By
showing kids that bugs and worms make soil and that farmers grow all
the food that they eat we hope to create an appreciation for food
systems. By using the garden as a living laboratory we can teach
science through hands-on exploration.
RESPONSIBILITY
OF
FIELD TRIP GUIDES
As a field trip guide you will be responsible for teaching 6-10 kids
on a 3-hour exploration of the UCSC Farm and the Life Lab Garden
Classroom. Field trips are scheduled from 10:00-1:15. You should
arrive at 9:00 to set up for the day, get the farm update, check in
with the other guides, and participate in morning mini-trainings. If
you cannot make a day, please call 459-4035 and let us know as soon
as you know that you can’t come, so we can find a replacement. If the
morning is rainy, please come anyway, because if the field trip is
cancelled we have other projects to work on instead.
We depend on you to be here each day you are scheduled and to be here
on time. We would love to be a great job reference for you someday,
so keep in mind what you would like us to be able to say about you.
Employers love to hear that a potential employee is punctual and
dependable.
WHAT
1.
2.
3.
4.
DOES
TRAINING
CONSIST OF?
Read this training packet.
Participate in training sessions.
Watch a program with kids.
Co-lead or lead your own field trip!
EMERGENCY INFORMATION
In case of emergency there are phones in the Farm Center and Life Lab
office. First aid kits can be found in the Garden Classroom tool shed
and in the Life Lab office bathroom. Mini first aid kits are in your
field trip backpacks. In most cases the greatest emergency we
encounter is a scraped knee. Usually there is a parent or teacher
nearby to help out and you can continue to keep your group focused as
not to disturb the injured one.
If there happens to be a major emergency such as broken bones,
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severe allergic reactions or any other life-threatening emergency
call 911 immediately and then notify a CASFS or Life Lab Staff. If
you call 911 you will be connected to the campus emergency system
and let them know that you are at the UCSC Farm.
Water fountains are located in front of the laboratory, next to the
Gatehouse, in the Down Garden and in the Garden Classroom. A restroom
is located on the south side of the Gatehouse, and an outhouse is
located at the far side of the apple orchard.
FIELD TRIP OUTLINE
Spring
10:00 Welcome and Introduction led by a Life Lab staff person, break class into small groups
10:20 Science Exploration rotations in the Garden Classroom (30 min/rotation)
12:00 Lunch
12:20 Farm Exploration in small groups
12:55 Wrap-up led by Life Lab staff person
Fall
10:00 Welcome and Introduction led by a Life Lab staff person, break class into small groups
10:20 Farm Exploration
11:40 Lunch
12:00 Garden Classroom rotations (20 min/rotation)
1:10 Wrap-up led by Life Lab staff person
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Main Areas of the Farm
GREENHOUSE/PROPAGATION AREA
This is where we start all of the farm's plants, from seed bought
from catalogues or saved from the previous year. Once the seeds are
planted they sprout (germinate) in the greenhouse. The greenhouse
can be thought of as a nursery where we keep the “baby” plants. Once
the plants are a bit older (“kids”) they are moved to the hoop house
and begin to get used to less protection from the elements. When the
plants are moved out on to the outside tables they “harden” off
(acclimatize to the outside environment) and are waiting to be
planted in the fields.
“DOWN” GARDEN
This 1-acre garden grows food to be sold at our market cart on
Tuesdays and Fridays. All the work in this garden is done by hand!
The beds are double dug and we are careful not to walk on them.
This garden is very diverse; take the time to explain and show this
concept. There are many different types of plants growing here and
every bed end has a different type of plant. The different bed ends
act to attract beneficial insects and others can act as a trap for
pests (we’d rather have bad bugs living in the bed ends or borders
than the crops we are growing to eat and sell). A general law of
nature is that diversity is good. You can make an analogy to
forests. They are quite diverse and therefore quite healthy. Do we
have to worry about pests destroying the forest? In our garden we
are trying to copy the diversity found in nature.
COMPOST
The Down Garden compost piles are in a long row under the trees
dividing the Down Garden and the Field. They are made of greens from
the garden (fresh plant matter, food scraps), browns (dried plant
matter, straw), and manure from a local stable. The addition of
manure, the large pile size, and the layering of ingredients results
in hot piles that compost quickly. There is a compost thermometer on
the back of the farm tool shed, so you can check out the hot piles
with your group. You may find temperatures up to 160 degrees F! In
this row you'll also see haphazard piles of greens or browns-- these
are waiting to be layered and made into a compost pile.
At the top of this compost row you'll find the farm's worm bins and
the "worm rocket," which is used to separate worm compost (castings)
from the worms.
The Field's compost is in a long “wind row” pile under a tarp, near
the ocean end of the field. This is larger-scale composting, created
from wine grape pressings and horse manure and bedding, mixed and
piled with the help of tractor implements.
5
FIELDS
In the fields we grow food on a larger farm scale and use tractors
and large-scale irrigation practices. The food produced in the
fields is sold through our CSA program. Like in the garden, we
practice diversity and make compost. In the fields, like in the
garden, we rely on natural predators and healthy soil to keep our
plants healthy. Natural predators include: good bugs, snakes, hawks,
birds, owls, spiders, cats and others. We have provided habitat for
natural predators in many ways. We grow rows of flowers that will
attract beneficial insects, have permanent (perennial) borders that
provide habitat for beneficial birds and bugs, and have even built
owl boxes with the hopes of having these nocturnal raptors helping us
out.
OWL BOXES
Owl boxes are located in the Garden Classroom, over the kiwis in the
field, on the CSA barn, and in the wind break (row of trees). A
family of nesting owls can eat up to 5-7 rodents per night. Sometimes
you can find owl pellets, the “leftovers” from their meals. The owl
regurgitates the non-digestible fur, bones, teeth, and claws. Refer
to your owl pellet key and have the kids dissect owl pellets and
determine what bones they are looking at. If there is a nesting owl
family it is best not to go under the box and scare the owls. We want
them to come back next year! You can try to see the owl in the box
from a distance
ORCHARDS
Around the fields are the orchards. We have pear, kiwi, plum and
apple orchards. Refer to the Farm map to find out which orchard is
which. The orchards are a good place to watch bees pollinating
blossoms in spring, and a popular place for snacking in the fall.
BEES
The farm's beehives are located on the far side, near the CSA Barn.
You can point them out to your group from the road if they are
interested; you can approach a little closer on the uphill side and
the bees will not be bothered if you stay about 20 feet away, but
never approach on the downhill side of the hives (this is the bees'
flight path). Find out if anyone is allergic to bees and make sure
that they stay clear. If the bees start to fly near your group you
should calmly walk on.
CSA BARN
AND
GARDEN
The CSA Barn is where our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)
members pick up their weekly “shares” of food (for an explanation of
CSAs, see What is CASFS? on p. 2).
The garden next to the barn is a garden for CSA members. When they
come to the farm to pick up their box of produce they can cut a
6
bouquet and take some fresh herbs. It is also a place your group can
pick a few flowers. Please only pick flowers if you see at least 10
others of the same kind; we don't want to remove the most unique
flowers from this garden.
CSA PACKING SHED (AKA THE "BUS STOP")
The covered packing shed between the Down Garden and the Field is
nicknamed the "bus stop". This is where produce is brought from the
Field to be packed up in boxes for the CSA and sometimes for the UCSC
dining halls.
THE GARDEN CLASSROOM
The Garden Classroom was designed for especially for kids, with lots
of kid input! It is also used as a teacher-training center. There are
many features in this garden which are fun to explore, like the root
view box, worm bins, observational bee hive, pond, chickens, animal
foot prints, pizza bed, educational compost bins, tunnel, and much
more. The food in this garden is grown for kids to eat, so feel free
to harvest food in the Garden Classroom for your group to munch.
7
Activities
GARDEN BADGES
Pick a piece of comfrey (“thank you, plant!”) and break it into one
piece per student. You can also call comfrey the "velcro plant"
because the leaves stick to clothing. Have the children repeat a
garden pledge before attaching the leaf to their clothing. Here's an
example of a pledge: "I promise to respect all living things, try new
things today, and have an all-around great day."
HUMAN CAMERA
Have children work in pairs. One will be the “camera” and the other
will be the “photographer”. The “photographer” leads the “camera”
(who has their eyes closed) to the view point of something
interesting. The “photographer” opens the shutter (eyes) of the
“camera” by gently tapping the “camera’s” shoulder, leaving the
"shutter" open for 3-5 seconds and then tapping again to close it and
going to take other pictures. After three pictures, the “camera” can
try to guess where they took the pictures or talk about their
favorite ones.
GO TRACTOR GO!
Go Tractor Go is the same as “Red Light Green Light”. When you are
in the farm fields ask them what machine we use to farm with. Then
tell them that they will pretend to be a tractor. Practice putting
your tractor in slow gear, then fast gear, and put on the brakes!
Practice reverse and don’t forget to make the “beep, beep, beep”
warning noise that big vehicles make when backing up. You can even
have them have their tractors bend over, pick up grass, and throw it
in the air while spinning in circles. The tractor game is great one
to wear down active kids, get from place to place fast, have fun,
and run away from parents and teachers.
HOLDING WORMS
The Farm's worm bins and the Garden Classroom's big bin are great
for worm interactions. Have the kids gather around the bin and
identify food items. Have the kids turn their hand into a worm and
“munch, munch, munch” up the imaginary food, "wiggle, wiggle,
wiggle," and “poop, poop, poop” out the worm castings. Dig up some
worms and have kids hold worms. Have kids keep a bit of castings
between their hand and the worm so that their 98.6 degree skin
doesn’t “burn” the worm.
8
HARVESTING VEGETABLES
During fall field trips you will harvest food in the field for your
group to taste. Please don’t pick food in the Down Garden without
first getting permission from someone who is working there. In the
Garden Classroom you are always free to snack on food with the kids.
Rhubarb is a favorite.
PLANT PLACES / PEOPLE PLACES (FINGER TIP TEST)
A good way to keep kids from stepping on the beds is to show them the
difference between what the path feels like compared to the bed.
Have them pretend their finger is a root and have them try to “plant”
it in the path that they are standing on. Discuss why this soil is
hard. Then have them plant their “root” in the garden bed. What a
difference! Ask them what would happen to the soil if we stepped on
the bed (compaction = less air and water to roots).
"THANK YOU," PLANT
OR
FARMER
Whenever you pick something remember to thank the plant or the farmer
who grew the food.
NAME
A
PLANT
When a kid asks, “What is this plant called?” you can answer by
telling its Latin name and the kid will most likely forget it in
about one minute. Or you could ask the kid what they would name it.
Name it by first investigating the smell, texture, size, look, etc.
They will probably never forget it. My favorite kid naming plant is
Lamb’s Ear. Some of the names that kids’ have come up with are:
“puppy’s belly” and “my baby brother’s head plant”.
COMPOST: EXPLAINING DECOMPOSITION
TO
KIDS
Have kids look at a newly built compost pile. Would they like to eat
it for lunch? If we don't eat it, who does? Bugs and microorganisms
do! We like to call these compost critters nature's “FBI” (fungus,
bacteria, and invertebrates). The FBIs munch up all the food and
then guess what they do? POOP! And guess what their poop helps make?
Soil!
How can we tell the FBI is working? They heat up the pile! When you
work hard, do you get hot? So do they. Find a compost thermometer
and have kids read the temperature before you put it in the pile
(this is the air temperature). Then have a child push it into the
pile and watch the temperature rise! This works best with newly made
compost piles.
Have kids look at an older pile (most piles should have a date on
them, and they take about 6 months to decompose). Does it look more
9
like soil? It used to look like the fresh piles. The stuff in the
pile has been eaten by the FBIs (decomposers). Can you see anything
that the bugs didn't eat? Can they eat rocks? Nope, they can only
eat things that were once alive.
We sift the finished piles to get our final product. Take a handful
of the sifted compost. Does it smell bad? No, it smells like dirt.
Now you can feed a plant with it. Or, can you figure out how to turn
yourself into a carrot? Or a rabbit? (Add one of your hairs to the
pile, it will soon turn into soil, which will soon be helping to grow
carrots, which the rabbit will eat.) Your primary goal is to teach
them that compost isn't yucky, it’s a great way to recycle leftovers
and grow healthy plants.
Blind Walk/Trust Walk
This is a fun activity to do at the kiwi trellis. Have kids get in a
line with their hands on the shoulders in front of them, and close
their eyes. Take the hands of the front child, and lead the line
slowly forward. Warn the kids about bumps, holes, etc.-- even a
small bump feels like a mountain when you have your eyes closed!
Lead them under a nice part of the kiwi trellis, and say "keep your
eyes closed, but tilt your head up-- okay, open your eyes!" It's a
memorable experience to open your eyes to a vine of fresh green
leaves or a bunch of kiwis hanging above your head!
10
An Apple as the World
Show the children an apple and ask them to use their imagination to
think of what the apple could represent. If the children cannot
figure out that the apple represents the Earth, rotate it by its
axis. (Hint: you can also use an orange or tangerine for this
activity).
Cut the apple into quarters. Three quarters of the Earth's surface
is water, and only one quarter is land. Cut the piece representing
land in half. Only one half of the land, or one-eighth the total
Earth's surface, is habitable. The rest of the land is the deserts,
mountains, frozen ice caps, and other places people cannot live.
Take the piece that represents the habitable land, and cut it into
four sections. Only one quarter of the Earth's habitable land, or
one thirty-second, is where ALL of the Earth's food comes from. As
you are asking the children what would happen if this part of the
world were damaged or destroyed, eat the piece of apple.
Take a small shaving off one of the slices that represents the water
of the world. Less than one percent of Earth's water is fresh and
drinkable. Most of this water is tied up in the atmosphere (clouds)
and underground. As you ask the children what would happen if the
water was polluted or wasted, eat the shaving. This strategy can be
a lead-in to an open-ended discussion about taking care of our
resources.




11
Sing It!
Dirt Made My Lunch
Steve Van Zandt
Six Plant Parts
Steve Van Zandt
Dirt made my lunch, dirt made
my lunch.
Thank you dirt, thanks a bunch
For my salad, my sandwich, my
milk and my munch.
Thanks dirt, you made my lunch.
Roots, stems, leaves, flowers,
fruits and seeds 4X
(SPANISH: Raiz, tallo, oja,
flor, fruta y semilla)
That's six parts, six parts,
Six plant parts that plants and
people need.
Dirt is a word we often use
When we talk about the earth
beneath our shoes.
It's a place where plants can
sink their toes
And in a little while a garden
grows.
A stubby green beard grows upon
the land.
Out of the soil the grass will
stand,
But under the hoof it must bow
For makin' milk by way of a
cow.
Connected, Connected
SteveVan Zandt
Take Me Out to the Bee Hive
Take me out to the bee hive,
Take me out to the farm,
Show me their wax and their
honey please-I can't wait till we see the
bees!
'Cause they work, work work for
the whole hive, and if they go
eat from the flowers,
There'll be one, two, three
fruits we'll see on that old
apple tree!
Little Gross Things
Sibby Coxhead
Sun, Soil, Water, and Air
SteveVan Zandt
Bugs, poop and little gross
things
Dance together and the whole
world sings.
Munchin' on dead things,
munchin' on manure
Poopin' out soil that's A-one
pure!
Sun, soil, water, and air (Sun,
soil, water, and air)
Sun, soil, water, and air (Sun,
soil, water, and air)
Everything we eat (Everything
we eat)
Everything we wear (Everything
we wear)
Cleanin' up the earth, cleanin'
up the air.
Let's show those little gross
things we care.
Can't give 'em kisses, can't
give 'em hugs,
So let's all yell, "Thank you
Bugs!"
Connected, connected,
everything's connected,
Connected, connected, to
everything else.
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Everything comes from
(Everything comes from)
Sun, soil, water, and air (Sun,
soil, water, and air)
Sun, soil, water, and air (Sun,
soil, water, and air)
(add motions to represent the
sun, soil, water, and air)
Inch By Inch (The Garden Song)
David Mallett
Chorus:
Inch by inch, row by row, gonna
make this garden grow.
All I need is a rake and a hoe
and a piece of fertile ground.
Inch by inch, row by row,
someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below
till the rain comes tumblin'
down.
13
Teaching Tips
"The Three F Focus, Flexibility, & Fun!
s"__
FOCUS: HOW
TO GET KIDS TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING
* LEARN AND USE NAMES - Don't you like it better when someone calls
you by name instead of "hey you?"
* CHANGE YOUR MODE OF PRESENTATION - Whisper, use an accent, etc.
* SEE THEM EYE TO EYE - Literally get down at their level and look
them in the eyes. With younger kids play "where are your eyes?",
challenging them to look at you as quickly as they can.
* USE GRABBERS - Help make them want to listen. Make a seed
container into a "magic box," hide something behind your back, tell a
joke - these kinds of things grab kids' attention.
* ASK QUESTIONS - Questions get others involved.
that they already be paying attention.
Statements require
* GET CLOSE - Close physical proximity makes a difference.
* USE SILENCE - Announce "I'm waiting for everyone's attention" one
time and then wait for it.
* USE A GAME - "Super Circle," quiet sign, group name, etc.
* DISCUSS WHAT'S HAPPENING - Talk with the kids about how they are
feeling and behaving and tell them how you are doing. An honest
exchange of thoughts and feelings often makes everyone feel better
and get along.
* SEPARATE CHILDREN FROM ADULTS - Keeping all the kids separate from
accompanying adults will keep their attention on you rather than on
parents or teachers.
FLEXIBILITY: REMEMBER,
EVERY GROUP IS DIFFERENT
* VALUE DIVERSITY - Different kids have different needs, talents, and
abilities.
* "READ" YOUR KIDS - How much energy do they have?
know? Are they "getting" what you're giving them?
How much do they
* PACE YOUR DAY - Alternate active and quiet activities, and tailor
them to your group's energy level.
* DEVELOP A BAG OF TRICKS - Keep learning new activities and ways of
explaining things. Carry a list of activities with you in case you
draw a blank.
* FOLLOW THEIR LEAD - What do they want to do and learn about?
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* LET THEM HAVE "FREE" MOMENTS - You don't always have to be talking
or doing an activity. Give the kids a break and let them talk about
whatever they want.
* GIVE THE KIDS CHOICES - Offer them real alternatives (where
appropriate) and honor their decisions.
* EXPERIMENT! - Try new things.
It's OK to make mistakes.
* USE TEACHABLE MOMENTS - For example, if you are trying to explain
the concept of composting and the students are focused on one of our
cats or a hawk flying by, use the refocused energy and go with it.
Ask them “What purpose does that cat (or hawk) serve on our farm?”,
or “What could happen to these predators if chemicals were used on
our farm?” Try to recognize where the students are focused and use
this to teach something.
FUN:
THAT'S
WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!
* REMEMBER - We're here to introduce children to farms and the
natural world and to help them become comfortable in this setting.
You can't teach them everything in a morning.
* LAUGH AT YOURSELF - A sense of humor can cure all ills.
* BE A KID, BE SILLY
* PLAY GAMES - They are fun and can teach things too. Make up your
own games.
* ROLE PLAY - Imitate animals, plants, anything.
* EXPLORE
* SING
15
Tips for Effective Group Management
EXPECTATIONS
* Set the tone you want your group to have. Let them know how to be
"successful." Tell them what behaviors you expect of them so that
when you need that behavior you can remind them. Demonstrate the
behaviors you want them to display. Then reward them for getting it
right!
* If you are scattered and unfocused the kids will be, too. The more
"together" you are, the more together they'll be.
* Let them know what to expect. Give them an idea of what you are
going to do when. If you tell them that they will see the worms at
the end of the tour, they won't ask you about it all morning.
REDIRECTION: TELL
THEM WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO.
THEY KNOW WHAT BEHAVIORS YOU EXPECT OR WHY.
DON'T
ASSUME THAT
*Try to avoid saying "Don't do this, don't do that." Give the kids
ideas of what they should do. "Please walk" rather than "Don't run."
* Ask hyperactive kids to help you with something. Channel their
energy into something positive.
* Use "I" statements. "I'd like it if..." “I like the way that..."
"I don't like it when..."
* Have the kids consider the consequences of inappropriate behavior.
"What would happen if everyone picked a pepper from this plant?"
What might happen if you climb on this old fence?"
* Challenge kids to demonstrate an alternate behavior. "What else could
we do to...?" "How else can we...?"
CHOICE MAKING
* Offer your group choices and honor their decisions. Be careful to
give them real choices and ones that you are willing to abide by.
ANTICIPATION
* Try
ahead
busy,
carry
to prevent problems before they happen. Stay a mental step
of your group. Identify your "high energy" kids and keep them
maybe by giving them specific responsibilities or tasks to
out.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
* Catch a kid doing something good and tell them. Others might
follow.
* A behavior that gets reinforced (rewarded) is much more likely to
happen again!
* Be genuine. Smile and thank the child for coming back to the group,
sharing a tool, etc.
16
INVOLVEMENT
* If everyone is involved in whatever you are doing, there won't be
anyone left to "act up." Use activities that get them doing things,
not just listening and watching.
* Make a point to involve those individual kids who aren't already
involved. What do you think Melissa? Billy, would you...?
AVOID STEREOTYPING
* Don't expect that only boys want to get dirty or that girls will
be afraid of spiders. Be aware of the tone of voice and the ways
that you convey approval to children of different sexes /cultures.
Tips for Effective Communication of Information
DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN AN AWARENESS OF YOUR GROUP.
* Listen to them and watch them.
What seems to "click" with them?
* Use "active listening" by being sure you understand what they are
really asking and saying. "How many flowers are there?" can refer to
either the number of kinds of flowers there are or the total number
of blooms.
* Be aware of body language.
to be focused on?
Are they focused on what you want them
TALK ON THEIR LEVEL.
* Talk to them with respect - they are people.
* Feel out their level of knowledge by asking them questions. Listen
to the kinds of answers they give and questions they ask. If they
tell you that rabbits lay eggs or that lettuce is a root, you know
you need to backtrack.
* Convey information in terms the kids understand and in ways that
have relevance to their lives. Draw analogies between their homes
and animal homes, for example. Use your imagination!!!
HELP THEM TO "FIGURE IT OUT" THEMSELVES.
* Allow them to discover things rather than telling them things.
* Answer their questions with a question. "Why do you think it's
that way?" Promote speculation as to how and why things are the way
the are. Admit it when you don't know something yourself.
* Know whether you are asking open-ended or closed-ended questions.
Closed-ended questions require a definite right or wrong answer;
open-ended questions have multiple answers and can generate
discussion. Open-ended questions also allow kids to wonder and
express their own ideas. Example of closed-ended questions: "What
kind of plant is this?"
Example of open-ended: "How can we help
the plants on the farm survive?" “What do you think…”.
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* Ask sequential questions that lead them to a discovery or
realization.
* Encourage your kids to ask questions of their own.
USE A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES AND METHODS OF PRESENTATION.
* Different children learn through different means. Some learn best
by seeing, some by listening, and some by doing. A combination of
activities that utilize all three of these modes will help ensure
that the children in your group will get the most out of their
experience here.
REINFORCE LEARNING BY TALKING ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
*After you do an activity, ask your group how they liked it, what
their favorite part was, what they know now that they didn't know
before, etc. Processing our experiences into language helps
reinforce the experiences.
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Honoring Stages of Development in Teaching Environmental Education
THE RESEARCH OF DAVID SOBEL
As reported in Jenny Anderson’s talk in Education 212A
Based on Sobel’s analyzing hundreds of maps that children in the US,
Caribbean, and England have drawn of their neighborhoods.
1. Empathy ~ 4-7 years old (K-2nd) - Maps have children’s homes in
the center.
Between the ages of four and seven is developmentally when kids
are making emotional connections to things. This is the foundation on
which they will build abstract thought and action later. At this age
they are learning primarily through their senses and bonding to the
natural world through play and their imaginations. Worms, ants,
common birds, pets, are important. They need not know about issues,
problems, pollution, etc. They need to develop empathy.
Stories, songs, moving like animals, celebrating seasons,
fostering a sense of wonder, bonding with animals.
2. Exploration ~ 8-11 years old (2nd - 4th) - Maps expand
geographically. Home is not in the center. Becomes part of the larger
map–the neighborhood, and beyond. Explorable landscape becomes
important. Parks, streambeds, vacant lots, the blocks between home
and school.
This too is a bonding period. Making forts, exploring yards and
parks, gardening, doing simple restoration projects, finding out
where a stream goes, creating small imaginary worlds of living off
the land, hunting and gathering, etc.
3. Social Action ~ 12 years old -and beyond (5th - ) - Maps now
include social gathering places.
The third stage is social action and it doesn’t start until kids
are 12– As children start to discover the “self” of adolescence and
feel their connectedness to society, they naturally incline toward
wanting to save the world. Now they are ready to learn and do
something about the issues.”
Managing school recycling programs, river clean-up, passing town
ordinances, testifying at hearings, planning and going on school
expeditions are all appropriate.
LESSONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATORS
 Avoid premature abstractions. Kids can’t deal with problems beyond
their understanding or control.
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 No tragedies before 4th grade.
 No easy dichotomies–i.e. something is good, something else is bad.
Emphasize the complexities.
Taken from Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature
Education, David Sobel. Orion Society, 1996.
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Questions and Answers about Organic Farming
WHAT
IS ORGANIC?
Organic refers to the way agricultural products—food and fiber—are
grown and processed. Organic food production is based on a system of
farming that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without the use
of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers. Organic foods are
minimally processed without artificial ingredients, preservatives, or
irradiation to maintain the integrity of the food.
"Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system
that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil
biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs
and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance
ecological harmony."
WHAT
DOES
"CERTIFIED ORGANIC"
MEAN?
"Certified Organic" means the item has been grown according to USDA
Organic standards that are verified by independent state or private
organizations. The certification process includes inspections of farm
fields and processing facilities, detailed record keeping, and
periodic testing of soil and water to ensure that growers and
handlers are meeting the standards which have been set.
CAN
ANY TYPE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT BECOME CERTIFIED ORGANIC?
Yes, any agricultural product that meets USDA certification
requirements may be considered organic. Organic foods are available
in an impressive variety. These foods, in order to be certified
organic, have all been grown and processed according to organic
standards and must maintain a high level of quality. Organic fiber
products, too, have moved beyond T-shirts, and include bed and bath
linens, tablecloths, napkins, cosmetic puffs, feminine hygiene
products, cloth diapers, and men’s, women’s and children’s clothing
in a wide variety of styles.
ARE
ALL ORGANIC PRODUCTS COMPLETELY FREE OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES?
Certified organic products have been grown and handled according to
strict standards without toxic and persistent chemical inputs.
However, organic crops are inadvertently exposed to agricultural
chemicals that are now pervasive in rain and ground water due to
their overuse during the past fifty years in North America, and due
to drift via wind and rain.
DO
ORGANIC FARMERS EVER USE PESTICIDES?
Prevention is the organic farmer’s primary strategy for disease,
weed, and insect control. By building healthy soils, organic farmers
find that healthy plants are better able to resist disease and
insects. Organic producers often select species that are well adapted
21
for the climate and therefore resist disease and pests. When pest
populations get out of balance, growers try various options like
insect predators, mating disruption, traps, and barriers. If these
fail, permission may be granted by the certifier to apply botanical
or other non-persistent pest controls under restricted conditions.
Botanicals are derived from plants and are broken down quickly by
oxygen and sunlight.
WHY
DOES ORGANIC FOOD SOMETIMES COST MORE?
Prices for organic foods reflect many of the same costs as
conventional items in terms of growing, harvesting, transportation
and storage. Organically produced foods must meet stricter
regulations governing all of these steps, so the process is often
more labor- and management-intensive, and farming tends to be on a
smaller scale. There is mounting evidence that if all the indirect
costs of conventional food production—cleanup of polluted water,
replacement of eroded soils, costs of health care for farmers and
their workers—were factored into the price of food, organic foods
would cost the same or, more likely, be cheaper.
WHAT
ARE SOME DOWNFALLS OF USING CHEMICAL PESTICIDES?
Pesticides are like a quick fix to the pest problem. With the use of
pesticides there may initially be a high crop yield, but through
increased exposure pests are more likely to develop resistance to
those materials. The pests actually evolve to be more resistant!
This can lead to increased chemical use and the need for other
chemicals. Ironically, pesticides don’t seem to be improving
agricultural yields; before their use farmers lost about 33% of their
crops to pests. Today farmers lose the same 33%.
Many chemicals that conventional farmers apply do not only kill the
intended pests, but everything they come in contact with. This
includes beneficial (predators, decomposers, pollinators) bugs that
prey upon pests and help maintain healthy soil and plants.
All
plant eaters have at least one natural predator; that’s nature’s way
of keeping nature in check. When pesticides are applied to eliminate
a pest (bad bug) the natural predators (good bug) population (if not
killed by the poison) will fall due to lack of food. With millions
of pounds of chemicals being applied annually on our planet it is no
wonder that chemical farming is sometimes associated with the
following problems: human poisoning; increased cancer rates, hormonal
imbalances, gene mutations, birth defects; ground/well water
contamination; lake/river/reef contamination; and toxin accumulation
in wildlife food chains.
ISN’T
ORGANIC FOOD JUST A FAD?
No! U. S. sales of organic food totaled $5.4 billion in 1998, about
$6.5 billion in 1999, and reached $10 billion in 2003. Sales grow
about 20% each year!
22
Internationally, organic sales continue to grow as well. In Germany,
almost all baby food has gone organic, and in Italy all school
lunches were required to be organic by 2005.
23
Common Practices of Organic Farmers
SOIL BUILDING-- COMPOST
AND
COVER CROPS
Organic farmers are soil builders, because they know to grow a
healthy plant you have to grow healthy soil! Have you ever wondered
how a forest or meadow grows and thrives with no added fertilizer or
pest protection? The answer is that natural ecosystems cycle
nutrients. A plant or animal dies and is decomposed and its nutrients
return to the soil to feed new plants. Organic farming attempts to
mimic natural cycles, but of course farmers have to remove plants
during harvest, breaking the nutrient cycle. In an attempt to make
up for this removal of nutrients, and keep things in balance, organic
farmers add organic materials such as compost, or incorporate cover
crops into their soils. Healthy soil makes strong healthy plants!
CROP DIVERSITY
Diversity of species is an important part of ecosystem health. Have
you ever seen a natural area with only one type of plant or animal in
it? Probably not! Nature usually has a diversity of species that
support and interact with one another to create a healthy ecosystem.
To make a healthy farm we create diversity, by planting many
different crops and leaving undisturbed habitat for wildlife. We
even plant certain crops just to provide habitat for beneficial
insects (our perennial border is an example of this). Beneficial
insects help the farmer by eating insect pests, pollinating flowers,
and improving soil structure and fertility (decomposing).
INSECT CONTROL
Organic farmers control insect pests in a variety of ways. They
provide habitat for "good" bugs that eat the "bad" bugs, plant a
diversity of crops to confuse the pests, rotate crops, strategically
interplant crops, trap pests, choose pest-resistant plant varieties,
place pheromone-scented disprupters (to prevent mating of pest
insects), cover up crops with reusable cloth barriers, and sometimes
use approved natural substances such as Bacillus thuringensis
bacteria (which is toxic when ingested by specific pests but harmless
to other living creatures).
WEED CONTROL
One of the most challenging parts of organic farming is controlling
weeds without herbicides. Farmers use mechanical cultivation (weeding
with a tractor), rotation of crops, "planting to moisture" (planting
a seed deeply, at the moisture level in the soil, and not watering
the surface to prevent weed seeds from sprouting and give the crop
seed a head start), flame weeding to kill baby weeds before the crop
has germinated, and as a last resort, hand weeding.
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PREDATORS
ON THE
FARM
Insects are not the only beneficial predators on the farm. Organic
farmers also encourage the presence of farm cats, snakes, owls, and
predatory birds such as hawks, to help decrease the rodent population
of the farm. Even with all this help, farmers need to set traps for
rodents as well.
CROP ROTATION
Organic farmers rarely plant the same crop in the same field year
after year. Rotating crops from year to year helps control pests and
plant disease, manage weeds, and balance the nutrients that plants
need.
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Teaching about Organic for Kids
Please use good judgement when talking about conventional versus
organic food. We are not here to preach that one is better than the
other; we are here to explain how an organic farm system works. We
don’t want kids going home and refusing to eat their veggies or
accusing their parents of poisoning them.
GOOD
SOIL MAKES HEALTHY PLANTS
Compost is what feeds our plants. It makes them healthy and more
resistant to pests. You can use an analogy of a child getting a good
night’s sleep and a good breakfast and how that makes them feel.
It’s the same with plants. If they get good soil, with plenty of
compost in it, they will be stronger and healthier, less vulnerable
to pest attack or disease.
GOOD
BUGS AND BAD BUGS
Explain that some bugs are good, some are bad and some are both.
All “bad” bugs (pests) have a “predator”. Explain that we have lots
of flowers in our garden to attract good bugs (“predators”). Organic
farmers like to have good bugs around and sometimes even buy them to
release on their farms.
Mini list of common bugs:
Good bugs
lady bugs, ground
beetles,
wasps, big eyed bug,
lacewings
Bad Bugs
snails and slugs,
spotted cucumber
beetle (looks like a
yellow lady bug)
OUR
Neutral Bugs
Sow bugs, earwigs,
spittle bugs,
Jerusalem cricket
GARDEN IS LIKE A FOREST.
Explain why the forest doesn’t get destroyed by bad bugs and why
there are healthy plants (there are plenty of good bugs and plenty
of organic matter decomposing in the soil). The forest performs a
natural cycle of recycling nutrients from fallen leaves, scat and
dead animals that keeps the soil healthy. The organic farmer
replicates this process by composting and adding the compost to the
farm soil (this concept could be tough to understand for the younger
ones).
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27
The Six Plant Parts
ROOTS
The root, the part underground, anchors the plant and absorbs water
and nutrients from the soil. Simple sugars, made in the plant’s
leaves, are stored in the form of starches in the roots, to be used
later for plant growth or for animals to eat. Some plants that store
a particularly large amount of starch in their roots have become
important in our diet, such as carrots, beets, radishes, and turnips.
STEMS
The stem supports the plant and contains most of its circulatory
system. Vessels in the stem transport sugar and starches made in the
leaves as well as water and minerals absorbed through the roots--to
other parts of the plant where the nutrients are needed. Some stems
we eat are asparagus, broccoli, sour grass, and fennel.
LEAVES
The leaf is a flattened or extended part of the stem. Leaves are the
main food-producing part of the plant. They produce food through a
process called photosynthesis, using carbon dioxide, sunlight, and
water. The chlorophyll in leaves collects the sun's energy (light).
The pores (stomata) of leaves absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the
air. This carbon dioxide plus water from the roots is combined,
using the sun's energy, to make simple sugars and starches: CO2 + H2O
+ Light ---> CH2O (a simple sugar.) We eat leaves such as lettuce,
spinach, chard, basil, cabbage, and mint.
FLOWERS
The flower is the reproductive part of a plant. It gives rise to
seeds from which new plants develop. Just like humans, flower must
be fertilized so that the male and female genes can be brought
together. But, some flowers have both sexes in the same flower and
others need insects, animals, wind, or water to fertilize them.
Flowers that we eat are cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and
artichokes. Some ornamental flowers such as borage, nasturtiums and
calendula are also edible.
FRUITS
Fruits grow from fertilized flowers. It is the outer covering that
surrounds and protects the seeds. Fruits we eat are apples, plums,
zucchini, cucumber, tomato, peppers, green beans, pumpkins, and pea
pods. Some fruits we don't eat like the husk of the corn or the
shell of a walnut, but they are considered fruits too since they grow
from the ovary and protect the seeds.
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SEEDS
All seeds come from the ovary of a flower that has been fertilized.
After fertilization the seed contains the embryo of a new plant, and
its own food supply stored in the surrounding tissues. When a seed
sprouts, it produces an above ground shoot with a stem and leaves,
and roots that sink under ground. Some seeds we eat include peas,
corn nuts, sunflower seeds, beans and wheat.
WHAT'S
A VEGETABLE THEN?
Vegetable is a culinary term. In cooking, a vegetable is savory and
a fruit is sweet. But we're not cooking in the garden. We're doing
botany, where a fruit is the flesh protecting the seeds of a plant.
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Compost
WHY
COMPOST?
There are two main reasons to compost. By composting our leftover
food waste, plant waste, and weeds, we can reduce the amount of
waste being sent to our landfills. At the same time, we are
creating an amazing, slow-released, nutrient-rich food source for our
plants, increasing water retention of the soil, improving the
structure of the soil and making soil microorganisms happy. By
producing our own compost we do not have to purchase any fertilizers
to feed our garden. Composting is one way organic farmers and
gardeners get organic matter and nutrients into the soil.
HOW
DOES COMPOSTING WORK?
A compost pile is built by a process of carefully layering or mixing
of equal amounts of greens (leftover food, pulled up plants, and
fresh weeds) and browns (straw, dried plant matter). To create a
hotter (faster-decomposing) pile, some farmers add manure. By mixing
these three elements (“MSG” = manure, straw, and greens) we create an
optimal situation for the decomposers to “munch” on as well as the
best balance of nutrients for our plants. A compost pile should be
at least 3' x 3' x 3' to heat up and compost well, and should be
built in a cube shape (not a pyramid), to allow the most materials to
be stacked and create enough bulk to heat up.
Decomposition in a compost pile begins with fungus and bacteria
breaking down the organic material. The energy of these
microorganisms can heat a pile to 160 degrees. Just as humans produce
heat when they work hard, so do the decomposers. This heat helps
kill any diseases or weed seeds in the pile. Then when the pile
begins to cool down, bugs (mites, beetles, sow bugs, earthworms,
millipedes, earwigs, etc.) continue to break down the pile.
The "down" garden is a good place to find steaming hot piles and
check their temperature with a compost thermometer. In the Garden
Classroom we have slower & cooler piles, because we don't add manure
and we don't turn our piles very often.
WHAT
DON'T WE PUT IN OUR COMPOST PILES?
The main things not to put into a compost pile are dairy products and
meat. Both of these items will decompose but they make the compost
pile smelly. The smell attracts wild animals to the pile. We also
avoid adding oily or greasy food and large amounts of citrus.
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Worm Composting
Another composting method, which works differently than the pile method, is
worm composting (vermicomposting). Vermicomposting is a simple, efficient
composting system that appeals to many people, especially those who mainly
have food wastes to compost. Maintenance is simple: bury food scraps in the
bedding, add new bedding occasionally, and harvest the digested results,
known as castings. Finished worm castings can be harvested in four months,
and these crumbly, brown castings have a higher nutrient content than many
other composts.
HOW
DOES IT WORK?
Redworms, also known as “red wrigglers,” thrive in areas with high
organic matter content. They will naturally colonize a manure or compost
pile, surface feeding in the top 18 inches of material. Red-worms are not
the same as “earthworms” and “night-crawlers” which prefer to construct
semi-permanent burrows in undisturbed soils. Redworms can be bought from a
worm supplier or "borrowed" from a friend's worm bin. They reproduce
rapidly in the right conditions.
Redworms do their best work in a dark, damp (but not soggy)
environment with temperatures averaging between 55° and 77° F. They need a
dark bin with plenty of holes drilled in the sides for air, holes in the
bottom for drainage, and a tightly-fitting lid to keep out pests and rain.
There are many styles of commercial worm bins available, though many people
start out with a plastic storage tub or build their own bin. Bedding
materials such as leaves, peat moss, and shredded newspaper, provide worms
with a damp, aerated place to live, as well as a food source. Bulky and
high in carbon, the bedding materials provide a matrix in which to bury the
wet, high-nitrogen food scraps. Composting food scraps without bedding
results in a slimy, smelly mess. Together, the bedding and the food scraps
are a balanced compost composition and a balanced diet for the worms. In a
few months the worms will eat their way through both the food scraps and
the bedding.
After about four months, the worms will have chewed their way through
most of the food scraps and the bedding material, leaving behind a box-full
of nutrient-rich castings. The easiest method for harvesting the castings
is called the “Divide and Migrate” method. Simply push all the material to
one side of the box (side A). Add moist, fresh bedding to the remaining
space (side B). Bury food only in the new bedding in side B. Over the next
six weeks to two months, the worms will work their way through the
remaining material in side A, and will migrate to the new food and bedding
in side B. Once the castings are removed from side A, fresh bedding can be
added and food burial can be shifted to that side only. This method will
keep you in a new supply of worm castings about every four months and will
keep your worms in fresh food and bedding.
The harvested castings will look dark and crumbly and should smell
like good soil. High in nitrogen and phosphorus and a great source of
organic matter, castings are wonderful additions to potting mixes for
seeds, transplants, or house plants. Castings can also be used like compost
in vegetable and flower beds, as a cover soil for seed beds, and as a topdressing for perennials.
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WHAT
CAN WORMS EAT?
Redworms can eat their way through any food waste except for hard
bones. Fruit and vegetable scraps, grains and breads, coffee grounds and
tea bags are all wonderful worm food. Worms will also eat meat, dairy
products, and oily foods, but if pests and odors are a problem, then avoid
putting these attractive items in the worm box. Worms have favorite foods
and foods they will avoid. They will flock to the underside of a melon
rind, and may avoid a citrus peel or onion for weeks until bacteria have
broken down its caustic substances.
The easiest system for feeding the worms is to bury food scraps in
holes dug into the bedding. Use a hand fork to open a hole or a small
trench in the bedding, dump in the food scraps, and then cover them with a
few inches of bedding. Covering the food with bedding and worm castings
will help keep flies and odors away. Rotate food burial sites to distribute
the food scraps evenly throughout the box.
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Intestine The intestine or digestive tract is a canal that moves the food
along. Strong juices in the digestive tract break down the food bits into
even smaller pieces. Food that is not absorbed into the bloodstream is
passed out through the worm’s anus. The waste material is called a casting.
Clitellum The clitellum is a light colored band on the worm’s body. The
clitellum has a role in fertilization. The clitellum makes mucus when the
two worms join to exchange sperm.
Hearts Worms have five hearts. The hearts pump blood throughout the worm’s
body. The blood carries the digested food particles to where they are
needed.
Gizzard Worms do not have teeth. They grind their food into tiny pieces in
their gizzard, with the help of particles of sand and dirt that collect
there.
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Brain A worm’s brain is primitive, but has kept worms alive for hundreds of
millions of years.
Mouth A worm has a small pad of flesh that sticks out above its mouth. When
the worm is hungry, the pad stretches out searching for food. When the worm
finds something to eat, the pad pulls the food into the mouth and closes
over the mouth.
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Chickens
WHY
DO WE HAVE CHICKENS
?
Chickens are our garden recyclers! They eat our kitchen & garden
scraps and turn them into two things we want-- eggs, to feed us, and
manure, to feed our compost pile.
(Plus, a secret reason-- chickens
are an easy way to get kids to connect to the garden!).
WHAT
ARE THEY CALLED
?
Male chickens are known as roosters, females are hens, and babies are
chicks. Most of our chickens are bantams (miniature chickens).
WHAT
DO THEY
EAT
?
Chickens eat pellets and scratch (a mixture of grains such as wheat,
corn, and oats). We also give them kitchen & garden scraps. Chickens
are often fed oyster shells or cows milk for calcium, which is used
in the production of eggshells, feathers, and bones. Chickens
supplement their diet on their own, munching on greens and small
insects.
Chickens don’t have teeth, so they can’t chew; they use their beak to
decrease the size of their food. Also, they swallow small pieces of
gravel, which go into the gizzard and aid in breaking down the food.
The gizzard is a very muscular organ about half the size of a walnut
which, with the help of the gravel, grinds food for digestion. It
also contains the same digestive enzymes which are found in the
saliva of a mammal’s mouth.
If we were to follow food through a bird’s system, it would move from
the mouth through the gullet and into the crop. The crop stores food
temporarily for softening by enzymes. The food moves into the gizzard
to be further broken down. The food then flows through the small
intestine and into the large intestine. Absorption of nutrients takes
place here. The digestive outlet is called a cloaca. The cloaca is a
vent containing outlets for urinary and genital systems also.
FEATHERS
The feathers on a bird overlap like the shingles on a roof. They
offer protection from the elements and are believed to have evolved
from the scales of reptiles. With both ducks and chickens the males
are the highly colored birds, putting on a good visual display for
attracting a mate. Female fowl are usually drab-colored in order to
hide from predators while sitting on the nest.
Once a year chickens molt - that is when a bird loses its feathers
and grows new ones. Usually the new feathers are hidden by the old
feathers until they are fully developed, but sometimes you’ll see a
bird that loses its feathers before it gets new ones. Feather loss
may also occur from the rooster mounting the hen to mate, or from
fights.
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WHY
DO THEY
SOMETIMES CHASE EACH OTHER AROUND
?
Chickens have a pecking order. The most aggressive chickens get what
they want, whether it’s the best food, perch or nest. The next most
aggressive chickens submit to the most aggressive but dominate the
less aggressive. You may see chickens who have had their feathers
pecked off due to this aggressive behavior.
CAN
HENS LAY
EGGS WITHOUT A ROOSTER
?
Yes, hens lay eggs without a rooster, but for a baby chick to be born
from the egg it must be fertilized by a rooster. If a hen keeps a
fertilized egg warm by sitting on it for 21 days, a chick hatches.
The chick develops from the egg yolk by consuming the yolk as food
and the white as water. Oxygen comes in through the eggshell.
Regardless of a roosters presence, if a hen is getting lots of
daylight, (optimally 16 hours per day), she will lay up to one egg
daily. On average a hen can lay 250 eggs per year. Commercial egg
houses keep the lights on all year round to force the hens to lay in
order to provide us with eggs in winter. We allow ours to stop
laying in winter to give them a rest.
WHY
ARE EGGS DIFFERENT COLORS?
The color of a hen's egg depends on her breed. All eggs are
originally white when they begin to grow inside the chicken. They
gain their color from glands on the walls of the oviduct. It is as if
there are many paint brushes and the canvas moves. The color and
intensity of the color depends on the rate at which the egg moves and
the type of dye given off by the bird. Some birds will reject eggs
once they are laid if they don't have the correct pattern.
WHERE
DO THEY
SLEEP?
Chickens sleep on perches sitting up. Look through the window in
their house to see the bar that they sleep on. When their feet relax
in sleep, they lock into a grasping position, which is how they sleep
without falling off. This is natural for them since their ancestors
slept on tree branches to avoid predators. It is believed that the
wild ancestor of chickens is the Red Jungle Fowl, which still lives
in small numbers in India.
GOOD CHICKEN QUESTIONS TO ASK KIDS
Why do we have chickens in the garden? * What other animals lay eggs?
Could you sleep sitting up, like a chicken does? * Are these eggs
bigger or littler than the eggs you have at home? * What do we do
with these eggs? * What do you do with eggs at home?
CHICKEN ACTIVITIES
Whenever visiting the chickens with your group, it is crucial to set
the tone at the beginning, before approaching the coop.
• Pick up rocks from the ground and tell kids you’ve found chicken’s
teeth. When they realize they are just rocks have them figure out why
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rocks are a chicken’s teeth. Pick up a chicken and have kids feed the
gizzard with a few tiny rocks.
• Talk about chicken digestion, and let kids feel her crop.
• Lift a hen’s tail feathers and look for vent where the egg comes
out of. Point out her comb and waddles, and let kids touch them. Show
the kids her tiny ear holes, which are hidden behind a flap of
feathers. Why would they be covered? (for protection). Let kids
touch her scaly legs and feet.
• Feel the chickens back feathers. Why are these feathers softer than
her flying feathers?
• Look at different types of chicken food.
• Compare different kinds of chickens.
• Listen to their calls. Chickens make different noises to
communicate different things. Try to guess what they are saying.
• If you have kids hold a chicken, first model how to hold her and
explain that when you set a chicken down, you have to hold on until
she is all the way to the ground (to avoid an awkward fall and
possible injury).
• Check under a sitting hen. Feel a warm egg.
• Sometimes you can see the hens taking a dust bath. They dig a hole
and fluff up the soil with their wings. The dry soil helps to “wash”
out any bugs that they may have picked up.
• If a child drops an egg, assure them it's okay and turn it into an
opportunity to look at the inside of an egg. Notice the yolk is dark
yellow or orange, much darker than commercial eggs. This is due to
our hens eating fresh vegetables, fruits and insects.
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Chicken Anatomy
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Honeybees
The honey bee, Apis mellifera L., is an organism is essential to the
welfare of humankind. Not only does it provide humans with honey-- a
delightful food with many delicate flavors-- but, more importantly, the
honey bee ensures the fertility of many plant species humans depend upon
for direct and indirect food supply.
Humans could survive without honey for the table; on the other hand,
our diet would be pretty drab without the fruit and vegetables that require
pollination for productivity and without the milk and meat from livestock
that prosper so well on the legumes. These basic forage crops important in
livestock production also must be pollinated by bees.
BEES AND PLANT POLLINATION
The honeybee was not native to the Western Hemisphere (North and
South America, Australia, and New Zealand); they were brought to these
areas by the very earliest settlers. How were the plants pollinated in
these areas before the introduction of the honeybee? There are hundreds of
kinds of native bees that also pollinate plants, in some cases even more
efficiently than the honeybee. However, when humans increased crop
acreages, many nesting sites of the native solitary and semicolonial bees
were eliminated. The cultivation of specific crops in large acreages was as
favorable to crop pests as it was detrimental to the native wild bees. The
need for chemical control of these pests further upset the natural balance
between the flowers that require pollination and the pollinators that were
available to do the job. Honey bees in millions, or even billions, can be
supplied more easily than a few thousand of the native bees.
All bees, including the honeybee, have branched hairs covering their
bodies. This is one of the important characteristics that distinguishes
bees from other insects. These branched hairs become dusted with pollen
grains as they visit flowers. Since a bee may visit 100 to 400 blossoms
during each trip to the field, cross-pollination is effected by
distribution of pollen grains from the anthers of one flower to the stigma
of another. Many plants with perfect flowers, that is bearing both anthers
and stigma, are self-sterile to their own pollen; in others the male and
female flowers are produced on different plants; and in others the male and
female blossoms are separate on the same plant. All three situations make
bees essential to the production of seed and fruit. Even self-fertile
plants are usually more productive when cross-pollinated.
THE COLONY
Bees are extraordinarily social animals. The honeybee colony consists
of one queen, many thousand worker bees (females), and, at certain seasons,
from a few to several thousand drone bees (males). Its structure is a
series of parallel honeycombs made up of six-sided cells on both sides for
the rearing of young bees (brood rearing) and for the storage of food
(pollen and honey). Individual queens, workers, or drones cannot survive
alone. Collectively, the bees of a colony cannot survive without combs for
brood, honey, and pollen.
THE QUEEN
The queen is a large, slender individual whose sole function is to
lay eggs. In this she is most remarkable, since she may produce up to 1,500
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eggs per day, 250,000 per year, and, under some circumstances, more than a
million during her lifetime. The eggs laid in a single day may weigh more
than her own body weight. She lays two kinds of eggs-- those that she
fertilizes and places in small hexagonal cells that develop into worker
bees, and those that she does not fertilize, which she places in the larger
hexagonal cells. These develop into drone bees. The queen develops from a
fertilized egg the same as the worker bees. For 5 days the queen larva is
fed a food secreted by the worker bees known as royal jelly. This high
quantity of royal jelly is the determining factor that turns a normal egg
into a queen (normal worker bees only receive 2 1/2 days of royal jelly).
Five to 8 days after the queen emerges, she leaves the colony to mate with
a number of drones. From these matings she is able to store 5 to 8 million
sperm cells in a tiny organ called the spermatheca. She releases several
sperm from the spermatheca each time she lays an egg destined to produce a
worker or queen bee. When she places an egg in the drone cell, she does not
release sperm to fertilize the egg. Once the mated queen commences egglaying she never leaves the hive, except when the colony swarms. The queen
is constantly attended and fed by the worker bees in the colony. She may
live 1, 2, and sometimes as many as 7 years.
THE DRONES
The drones are the largest bees in the colony, heavy bodied, and more
or less rectangular in body shape. They develop in 24 days from an
unfertilized egg and thus have a grandfather but no father. Their only job
in life is to mate with a queen from another hive. They become sexually
mature about 12 days after emergence and die instantly upon mating. The
matings take place in flight, often several miles from the colony and high
in the air. The queen flies as fast and high as she can to ensure that she
only mates with the strongest and fastest drones. Only a small percentage
of the drones fulfill their basic function. At the close of the honey
harvest, the drones remaining in the colony are driven off the combs until
they become weakened from starvation. They are then carried out of the hive
by the worker bees to perish. A few drones may develop late in the season
and overwinter with the colony. The drones are mainly reared and tolerated
by the colony during spring and summer.
THE WORKER BEES
The worker bees are sexually underdeveloped females smaller than the
queen but capable of laying small numbers of eggs under some conditions.
Worker bees that lay eggs are called laying workers. Their eggs, usually
placed in worker cells, develop into undersized but functional drones.
Worker bee larvae hatch from eggs in 3 days, are fed royal jelly for 2 1/2
days, and then their diet is changed to include pollen and honey for 2 1/2
days. They are sealed in their cells for 12 days, during which period they
spin a cocoon and transform from the larvae to the pupae, emerging as adult
bees 20 days after the eggs were laid. Each larva receives approximately
10,000 visits from the nurse bees during development.
The difference in the cell and food environment causes the worker
bees to require 5 days longer to develop the queen, yet their life
expectancy is only 5 weeks during the summer and a few months during the
winter. Any worker larva under 24 to 48 hours old can be developed into a
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queen under the proper colony conditions that cause the nurse bees to
construct a queen cell and feed royal jelly lavishly to the developing
larva. The rearing of queens for market is a highly specialized field of
beekeeping.
The worker bees differ markedly from the queen in many respects other
than function, length of life, and behavior. Structurally they have a
longer tongue for gathering nectar, modified mandibles (jaws) especially
designed for comb building, special glands for secreting royal jelly,
enzymes for the conversion of nectar into honey, and glands that function
in communication; highly specialized leg structures for gathering and
carrying pollen, four pairs of wax glands on the underside of their abdomen
for the secretion of wax, and a straight barbed sting for the defense of
the colony. The queen's sting is curved and smooth and is used only to
destroy rival queens.
The worker bees exhibit a well-defined division of labor based
primarily upon their physiological age but modified to some degree by the
needs of the colony. The physio-age of bees is similar to their actual age
during the active season when the colony is raising brood and storing food.
During dearth periods, especially in winter, a 60-day old bee may be
younger physiologically than a 20-day old bee in summer.
In a general way, bees under 3 days old clean and polish the cells
for the queen to lay in and for food storage; those 3 to 7 days old feed
the older larvae; those 7 to 14 days old secrete royal jelly for feeding
the queen, younger worker larvae, and queen larvae of any age, and they
secrete wax for comb building; those 14 to 21 days old forage primarily for
pollen; and those over 21 days old forage for nectar. All the bees in the
colony probably contribute to the process of changing nectar into honey and
in the air conditioning of the colony to maintain a suitable temperature
and humidity. The hive is maintained immaculately clean at all times, and
the guard bees with their stingers for armor protect the hives against all
intruders. Other labor activities include gathering water and propolis, and
defense of the colony. There is considerable overlapping of the age groups
engaged in the various duties. When the age groups are not in normal
balance, bees of any age can do the work necessary but not so efficiently.
Honey bees, like other insects, are cold-blooded and have a body
temperature close to that of their environment. However, the honey-bee
colony functioning as a single organism can maintain uniform hive
temperatures under northern winter conditions identical with those in
summer or in the tropics.. By clustering together, they generate and
conserve heat, or they lower the temperature by evaporating moisture and
establishing air currents through the colony to maintain a uniform
temperature of 93' F. within the cluster, even though the outside
temperature is at -50' F. or 120' F. Under low temperatures, the cluster
temperature ranges from 45' F. on the surface to as high as 93' F. within
when brood is being reared.
The most conspicuous characteristic dominant in honey bees is their
great industry. Honey bees do not procrastinate by doing tomorrow what they
can do now. They may fly 50,000 miles and visit 5,000,000 blossoms to
gather enough nectar to produce one pound of honey, which is stored not for
themselves but for the survival of the colony. The bees that gather this
food do not live long enough to enjoy it. One bee, of course, cannot fly
such a distance, yet the bees of a colony may store 5, 10, or even 20
pounds of honey in a day. They must gather 200 to 300 pounds of honey and
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50 pounds of pollen (10 gallons) to meet the colony's needs each year. The
beekeeper also expects to harvest a surplus of 100 or more pounds of honey
for his efforts. The bees have to be industrious to gather so much food,
rear so many young, build comb, air condition the hive, and perform all the
other duties particular to the colony.
HOW HONEY BEES COMMUNICATE
A society as efficiently organized as the honeybee colony certainly
would be expected to have a means of communication. Professor Karl von
Frisch, after some 40 years of observation and research, was able to
interpret the language of bees. His experiments clearly showed that the
bees have an accurate language based upon characteristic dances, odor, and
taste perception. When a foraging bee locates a source of pollen or nectar,
she can communicate this information to other bees in the colony accurately
as to direction, distance from the hive, and the kind of plants supplying
it.
The language dance performed within a colony is oriented on the combs
in relation to the sun. The angle between the sun, food source, and hive
determines the direction of the dance orientation. A dance straight up on
the comb's vertical axis means towards the sun; to the right, so many
degrees to the right of the sun; and to the left, so many degrees to the
left of the sun. A rapid dance means a short distance; a slower dance means
increased distance. The bees do not actually have to see the sun to be
capable of
transmitting or interpreting this food source information, since they can
perceive and interpret direction from the polarized light they receive from
the sky. The plant producing the food is identified by the odor association
of the food gathered by the dancing bee.
Assume that a scout bee finds food in an apple orchard one mile to
the east in the direction of the sun at 8:00 o'clock in the morning. The
dancing forager will move over several cells straight up the vertical axis
of the comb, vibrating her abdomen from left to right at a frequency
appropriate to the distance. She then turns first right then left to
reverse herself and repeats the straight-line run of the wagtail dance,
pausing occasionally to give food to surrounding bees. She usually repeats
the dance a number of times in one location and then moves on to another
and performs the identical dance again. The bees of food-gathering age
leave the hive in search of food from the same source in the direction and
distance indicated by a dancing bee. These bee recruits will not stop to
visit plums, pears, dandelions, or some other kind of blossom after
receiving the odor association of food from apple blossoms. If food is
available from this same orchard at noontime, the dancing foragers will
make the straight-line run of their wagtail dance 90' to the left of the
vertical axis of the comb. If food is still available in the evening, the
dance will orient along the vertical axis but in a downward direction.
Dances similar to those giving direction for food are performed by
scout bees who locate a domicile (new home) to be occupied by a swarm that
has issued from a colony. There are many other dances performed by bees
that obviously extend the area of communication beyond food gathering and
locating a domicile.
BEES DO STING
Many people know only that bees make honey and sting. Practically all
bees, hornets, and wasps are stinging insects. Only the females have
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stingers and only the worker honeybee has a barbed stinger. These barbed
stingers are left in you if you are stung. A sting from a bumblebee,
hornet, or wasp is often more severe than that from a honeybee. If you are
attacked by these insects, they are likely to sting several times in rapid
succession as their sting is not barbed. If stung by a honey bee, scrape
the stinger free from the wound as quickly as possible. This will reduce
the amount of venom and the consequent irritation. Because the poison sac
of the honey bees' stinger is attached to it, any attempt to grasp the
stinger to pull it out will only squeeze more poison into the wound.
WHAT
DO WE WANT TO TEACH ABOUT BEES?
The #1 thing we try to convey about honeybees is their importance to
our food supply. Pollination is crucial to agriculture; scientists say
thank a bee for every third thing you eat.
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Review & Discussion Questions
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1. What should you do if you wake up and it’s raining on your field
trip day?
2. What should you do if you cannot make a field trip date?
3. What would you do if a kid falls and scrapes his/her knee during a
field trip?
4. What would you do if a kid is stung by a bee and tells you that
she/he is highly allergic to bees?
5. What is done with the food grown on our farm? Where do we market
it?
6. Name four places in the Garden Classroom you could take a group of
kids to "pass" 5 or 10 minutes.
7. What are natures FBI's and what do they do?
8. Name two types of composting demonstrated on our farm. What is
different about them?
9. What are the two main benefits of composting?
10. What is a teachable moment? Give an example of a teachable
moment you might come across on the farm and what you would do at
that moment.
11. Name four or more things you can do to focus your group before
explaining a concept.
12. Why is it important to start your day by learning your kid's
names and "setting the tone of the day"?
13. How could parents or teachers help your group? How could they
hinder your group?
14.
What are "the three Fs"?
15.
What does it mean to teach with questions?
16. What does it mean to be a certified organic farm, such as the
CASFS Farm?
17.
What are some downfalls of conventional farming?
18.
Why is organic food sometimes more expensive?
19.
Why do we have chickens in the Garden Classroom?
20.
How should you set down a chicken?
21.
Name the six plant parts.
22.
Name 3 products or services we get from honeybees.
23.
What are the three types of bees found in a colony? Explain
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their roles.
24. Name three or more strategies for dealing with a child who is
running away from the group and doing things she shouldn't do.
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