VISITING THE EARL BURNS MIILER JAPANESE
GARDEN
Lesson Ideas for Kindergarten
In order to reinforce your students' learning
experiences at the Garden, we have created several lessons that
you might consider completing before your visit. By connecting the
Garden field trip to your curriculum, you can use the excitement
and interest of the students' experiences to make concepts more
relevant and provide strong support for your classroom instruction.
These activities are closely aligned with the Science Content Standards
for California Public Schools, as noted below.
Life Sciences
Different types of plants and animals inhabit the earth. As a
basis for understanding this concept:
- Students know how to observe and describe similarities and differences
in the appearance and behavior of plants and animals (e.g., seed-bearing
plants, birds, fish, insects).
- Students know stories sometimes give plants and animals attributes
they do not really have.
- Students know how to identify major structures of common plants
and animals (e.g., stems, leaves, roots, arms, wings, legs).
Investigation and Experimentation
Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and
conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding
this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands,
students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.
Students will:
- Observe common objects by using the five senses.
- Describe the properties of common objects.
- Describe the relative position of objects by using one reference
(e.g., above or below).
- Compare and sort common objects by one physical attribute (e.g.,
color, shape, texture, size, weight).
- Communicate observations orally and through drawings.
Level K, Unit 8: By the Sea
When planning your field trip, we recommend
that you think carefully about what you will do before, during and
after your visit. Ask yourself:
- What can I do to prepare students for the experience before
we go?
- What will we do while we are there? What do I want students
to discover?
- What can I do after the visit to reinforce student learning?
The activities described here provide ideas
for each of these parts. |
