Social Studies

 The Social Studies standards have not been revised for Common Core.  The learning concepts remain the same and suggest that teachers add non-fiction reading and writing to the curriculum. The garden is an excellent project-based learning site for integrating multiple subjects around grade level social studies. It provides a setting for:

    • Theme based gardens to support the curriculum (e.g., Kumeyaay Garden, Mission Garden, California Produce, Three Sisters Garden, Colonial Garden, Victory Garden, Mesopotamia Garden, Medieval Garden).
    • Plants from different continents, countries, or from other Mediterranean climates.
    • Teaching curriculum related lessons in the garden that emphasize the historical use of plants, planting and harvesting techniques, and food preparation.

Kindergarten Focus: Learning and Working Now and Long Ago

Students in kindergarten are introduced to basic spatial, temporal, and causal relationships, emphasizing the geographic and historical connections between the world today and the world long ago. Stories of ordinary and extraordinary people help describe the range and continuity of human experience and introduce the concepts of courage, self-control, justice, heroism, leadership, deliberation, and individual responsibility. Historical empathy for how people lived and worked long ago reinforces the concepts of civic behavior: interacting respectfully with each other, following rules, and respecting the rights of others. The school garden supports kindergarten students as they:

    • Learn to work together, to share, and to follow rules.
    • Learn how people lived in the past and how they grew their own food to sustain their families.
    • Learn about workers associated with farming and gardening in history.
    • Relate their garden tasks to garden jobs at the school in class discussions or by writing with the teacher.
    • Write about sharing in the garden.
    • Compare/contrast the locations of people, places, and environments to the San Diego Mediterranean environment.  Students make these comparisons verbally, by class charting with their teacher, or in writing (alone, with partners, or with the teacher).

Grade One Focus:  A Child’s Place in Time and Space

Students in grade one continue a more detailed treatment of the broad concepts of rights and responsibilities in the contemporary world. The classroom serves as a microcosm of society in which decisions are made with respect for individual responsibility, for other people, and for the rules by which we all must live: fair play, good sportsmanship, and respect for the rights and opinions of others. Students examine the geographic and economic aspects of life in their own neighborhoods and compare them to those of people long ago. Students explore the varied backgrounds of American citizens and learn about the symbols, icons, and songs that reflect our common heritage. The school garden supports first grade students as they:

    • Compare/contrast the location, weather and physical environment in San Diego with other parts of the United States and worldwide.  Relate how these differences and similarities affect growing things.
    • Explore cause and effect as they relate growing conditions to crop success. Students can compare/contrast growing conditions and discover how location affects how well plants grow. 
    • Learn what grows easily, and what does not.
    • Explore scale drawing. Students can measure the size of the garden for a scale drawing and construct a map of the class garden.  
    • Identify the water source and decide what other features the garden map might include. 
    • Discuss what should be planted in the fall and in the spring. 
    • Identify work spaces and how many students can work in the area at a time.

Students in grade two explore the lives of actual people (e.g., community people such as farmers and grocers) who make a difference in their everyday lives and learn the stories of extraordinary people from history (e.g., Thomas Jefferson, Luther Burbank, George Washington Carver, Cesar Chavez, Kate Sessions) whose achievements have touched them, directly or indirectly. The study of contemporary people who supply goods and services aids students in understanding the complex interdependence in our free-market system. The school garden supports second grade students as they:

    • Learn how their ancestors lived long ago and explore similarities and differences with life today.  They can chart these as a class.
    • Write about similarities/differences in rural and urban society long ago and today.
    • Demonstrate map skills.  Students can find the five Mediterranean climates around the world — about 32 degrees north and south of the equator, along coast lines, affected by ocean currents, and close to sea level. (Southern California; Santiago, Chili; Adelaide, Australia; and the Cape of South Africa.)
    • Learn how natural environments and gardening differ in Mediterranean areas and in other locations around the world.

Grade Three:  Continuity and Change

Students in third grade learn more about our connections to the past and the ways local, regional and national government, and traditions have developed, and left their marks on current society – providing common memories. Emphasis is on the physical and cultural landscape of California, including the study of American Indians, the subsequent arrival of immigrants, and the impact they have had in forming the character of our contemporary society. The school garden supports third grade students as they:

    • Research and identify the uses of the plants grown by the Kumeyaay, sharing what they learn orally or in a shared written publication or video presentation.
    • Make a chart of the part of plants eaten by the Kumeyaay.
    • Plant a native garden and eat the nutritious foods.
    • Read The House on Maple Street by Bonnie Pryor which describes children digging in the backyard and discovering artifacts. The story describes the history of what happened in the garden area – including the planting of maple trees. They might research how people may have lived long ago on the land where the students now reside.  Where did they go?  Why?  Students can discuss the topic with a partner then write about it.
    • Review what students know about the Kumeyaay people (or native Americans of the student’s area).  Chart the responses as a class. Emphasize the products that came from plants and that they could grow in their garden.
    • Read The Good Green Ball That Grew From a Seed or a similar story. Discuss the story and ask why the Kumeyaay did not know about watermelon.  Have students write their own story about the first time they tasted an unfamiliar food. Have students grow watermelon or similar food, and write about their reaction to the food they grew.
    • Look for and label (common and scientific names) the native plants they may discover in their neighborhood.
    • Research foods from areas from which their families and ancestors immigrated and plant them in the garden.

Grade Four: California- A Changing State

Students learn the story of their home state, unique in American history in terms of its vast and varied geography, its many waves of immigration beginning with pre-Columbian societies, its continuous diversity, economic energy, and rapid growth. The school garden supports fourth grade students as they:

    • Study the characteristics of California, and identify the physical environment of California (e.g., water, land formations, vegetation, climate).
    • Contrast the different areas of California; deserts, coastlines, mountains and valleys and write about these differences.
    • Discover why California is called the “bread basket of the world”. Learn how the state’s water system, food sources, and growing foods affect their lifestyles, the rural areas of California and its “bread basket”.
    • Describe how the area where the student lives (rural/urban, climate, water, etc.) affect the student’s gardening. 
    • Describe the differences in native gardens and food gardens.
    • Write about their garden experiences – from preparing the soil to eating the food produced.
    • Research and plant a California native habitat, a California Mission garden, a Mexican Hacienda garden, or a California Agriculture garden.
    • Learn about their native habitat and ecology.

Grade Five: United States History and Geography – Making a New Nation

Students in grade five study the development of the nation up to 1850, with an emphasis on the people who were already here, when and from where others arrived, and why they came. The school garden supports fifth grade students as they:

    • Describe how food sources and growing foods affect the lifestyles of early settlers.
    • Describe the cooperation and conflicts among the English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Native Americans with the focus on plant life and foods of these peoples. 
    • Explore colonial herbs and how they affected the life (food and medicine) of early Americans (1492-1812).  Have students learn and write about their favorite colonial herbs.  Are these herbs still in existence today?  Why/why not?
    • Grow some colonial herbs or vegetables and write about their experiences in the garden.
    • Discuss, describe and write about the continued migration of Mexican settlers into Mexican (then US) territories of the West and Southwest and how agriculture affected this migration. 
    • Plant vegetable beds containing foods from different areas of the U.S. (e.g., chili peppers from the Southwest, okra and greens from the South, corn and wheat from the Midwest, blueberries from the Northwest and Northeast, citrus trees from Florida and California).