Elementary School Programs

 

A Living Laboratory to Enhance
Classroom Learning

All our programs follow the seasons of the Farm. We design our schedule so we can truly teach from our surroundings and to encourage an understanding of natural and ecological cycles of the earth and an organic farm. Our programs are designed to enhance classroom learning by providing an ecological context and hands-on experiences connected to curriculum standards. Whether a class is studying rocks or bugs or plants, they are all connected to each other and the well being of earth.

Program Dates, Times, and Fees
All programs are offered Monday - Thursday during the school year. Programs are scheduled beginning at 9:00 a.m. The Farm can accomodate up to 2 classes per time slot. Fee is $6/student, with a minimum charge of $60. No charge for teachers nor chaperones. A fee of $60 will be charged for cancellations not made prior to two weeks in advance.
School classes are invited to bring a healthy snack or lunch and use our picnic tables.

 

2010/2011 School Program Schedule

 

Click on program name below to jump to curriculum connections and program format description:

 

Close to the Ground: Eating for Your Health Grades K-5
September, October, November

Soil & Plants: Characteristics of a Living System Grades 3-5
September, October, November, May, June

Trees & Leaves Grades 2-4
September, October, November

Forest Biomes Grades 3-5
September, October, November

Rocks to Soil: How Geology Helps Feed Us Grades 3-5
September, October, May, June

Bugs on the Farm: So You Thought You Could Live Without Them! Grades 3-5
September, October, May, June

Maple Sugaring Grades 1-6
March 8-12 & March 15-19, 2011

Plant & Animal Interdependence: Alive Together!
Grades K-4
September, April

Egg to Chicken: Bird Characteristics Grades K-3
WEEKDAYS April 19-30, 2011

Sheep & Wool: A History of Animals and Fiber Grades K-3
May 2-5, 2011

 

Close to the Ground: Eating for Your Health Grades K-5
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE Nutritional Frameworks:
- Identify the key nutrients in food that support healthy body systems and recognize that the amount of food needed changes as the body grows
- Use the USDA Food Guide Pyramid and its three major concepts of balance, variety, and moderation to plan healthy meals and snacks
- Identify the connection between food served in the home and regional food production
Program Format:
- An indoor experience including reading a book and identifying a variety of foods needed for a healthy daily energy. Students will learn about the new food pyramid and identify foods on the Farm related to the pyramid categories.
- An outdoor experience in the gardens harvesting and tasting food on the farm. Students will discuss and participate in activities to learn the meaning of terms related to food choices that are common but perhaps misunderstood, such as processed food and whole food. Students will learn how foods grow with sun, air, water, & soil and become fuel for their bodies.

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Soil & Plants: Characteristics of a Living System Grades 3-5
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE:  3-5 Science - Biology:
- Identify structures in plants (leaves, roots, flowers, stem, bark, wood) that are responsible for food production, support, water transportation, reproduction, growth, and protection
- Recognize plant behaviors response to light, gravity, seasonal changes etc.
- Describe how energy derived from the sun is used by plants to produce sugars (photosynthesis) and is transferred within a food chain from producers to consumers to decomposers.
Program Format:
- An outdoor experience, on the NCOF Nature Trail at the farm, includes exploring the characteristics of coniferous and deciduous forests. Students learn about the natural cycles of a healthy forest, from soil to sunlight.
- An indoor education section focusing on the characteristics of a plant. Beginning with a vegetable plant in our gardens, students cooperate to identify plant parts and system functions. The class covers the processes plants use to eat and drink, seasonal changes, and how their botanical systems function. Students also learn the basics of plant identification.

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Trees & Leaves Grades 2-4
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE Grades 3-5 Science Standards – Life Science/Biology:
#1) Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics they share
#2) Identify structures in plants (leaves, roots, flowers, stem, bark, wood) that are responsible for food production, support, water transportation, reproduction, growth, and protection
#3) Recognize that plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death.
#5) Differentiate between observed characteristics of plants and animals that are fully inherited and characteristics that are affected by the climate or environment.
#7) Give examples of how changes in the environment (drought, cold) have caused some plants and animals to die or move to new locations.
#9) Recognize plant behaviors response to light, gravity, seasonal changes etc.
#10) Give examples of how organisms can cause changes in their environment to ensure survival.  Explain how some of these changes may affect the ecosystem.
#11) Describe how energy derived from the sun is used by plants to produce sugars (photosynthesis) and is transferred within a food chain from producers (plants) to consumers to decomposers.
Program Format:
- An indoor experience our Education Center focusing the botanical structure and functions of the various plant parts. We’ll uproot some potted saplings, just like in Harry Potter! We’ll spend time labeling, describing, and understanding function. Our faculty will also lead discussion by probing questions to have students understand inter-relationships within the plant. We ask that teachers and parent/chaperones assist students in attending to the demonstrations and trying out the activities.
- An outdoor experience on the Natick Community Organic Farm Nature Trail. The focus of Section II is forest as a biome. The students will explore trees and leaves as individual pieces of a larger whole. Our faculty will lead discussions on forest regeneration, food supplies for people and animals, seasonal changes in the forest, forest as habitat for flora and fauna and old growth trees. Students will also work at leaf identification, using ID cards and posters. (We always point out poisonous plants so they can be avoided!)

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Forest Biomes Grades 3-5
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE Grades 3-5 Science Standards – Life Science/Biology:
#1) Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics they share
#3) Recognize that plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death.
#9) Recognize plant behaviors response to light, gravity, seasonal changes etc.
#10) Give examples of how organisms can cause changes in their environment to ensure survival.  Explain how some of these changes may affect the ecosystem.
#11) Describe how energy derived from the sun is used by plants to produce sugars (photosynthesis) and is transferred within a food chain from producers (plants) to consumers to decomposers.
Program Format:
- Students explore the woodlands on the Farm as a place for discovery and inquiry. The program allows students to be the primary investigators in their learning experiences. Activities will be presented in order to encourage studnets to appreciate and learn about the woodland biome.

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Rocks to Soil: How Geology Helps Feed Us Grades 3-5
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE K-2 Earth Science:
- Recognize that water, rocks, soil, and living organisms are found on the earth’s surface.
MASS DOE 3-5 Earth Science:
- Give a simple explanation of what a mineral is and some examples, e.g., quartz, mica.
-Identify the physical properties of minerals (hardness, color, luster, cleavage, and streak), and explain how minerals can be tested for these different physical properties.
Program Description:
- A series of four activities allowing students to understand the connection between geology and our ability to live. The program explores minerals, soil formation, erosion, and food supply.
- Students will find the ways in which soil is formed (the weathering of rock by water and wind and from the decomposition of plant and animal remains). We'll explore the farm's compost pile, make potting soil for the greenhouses, explore the components of healthy soil, and explore how the natural forces of earth supply create the soil we need to grow our food.

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Bugs on the Farm: So You Thought You Could Live Without Them! Grades 3-5
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE K-2 Earth Science:
- Recognize that water, rocks, soil, and living organisms are found on the earth’s surface.
MASS DOE 3-5 Earth Science:
- Give a simple explanation of what a mineral is and some examples, e.g., quartz, mica.
-Identify the physical properties of minerals (hardness, color, luster, cleavage, and streak), and explain how minerals can be tested for these different physical properties.
Program Description:
- A series of four activities allowing students to understand the connection between geology and our ability to live. The program explores minerals, soil formation, erosion, and food supply.
- Students will find the ways in which soil is formed (the weathering of rock by water and wind and from the decomposition of plant and animal remains). We'll explore the farm's compost pile, make potting soil for the greenhouses, explore the components of healthy soil, and explore how the natural forces of earth supply create the soil we need to grow our food.

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Maple Sugaring Grades 1-6
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE:  K-2 Science:
-Recognize changes in appearances that plants go through as seasons change. 
MASS DOE:  3-5 Physical Science:
- Compare and contrast solids, liquids, and gases based on the basic properties of each of these states of matter. - Describe how water can be changes from one state to another by adding or taking away heat.
MASS DOE:  3-5 Science - Biology:
- Identify structures in plants (leaves, roots, flowers, stem, bark, wood) that are responsible for food production, support, water transportation, reproduction, growth, and protection
- Recognize plant behaviors response to light, gravity, seasonal changes etc.
- Describe how energy derived from the sun is used by plants to produce sugars (photosynthesis) and is transferred within a food chain from producers to consumers to decomposers.
MASS DOE: 6 Physical Science: States of  Matter
Program Format:
- An outdoor experience visiting a tapped maple tree and the NCOF Sugar Shack focuses on seasonal changes, characteristics of a Sugar Maple tree, and the processing of sap to maple syrup. Students also learn about Native American and Colonial syruping practices. Students explore evaporation, condensation, temperature, and density in the sugar shack.
- An indoor education section focusing on how and why sugar maples produce sap and the equipment used to tap trees and produce syrup.

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Plant & Animal Interdependence: Alive Together! Grades K-4
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE: K-2 Life Science/Biology:
- Recognize that animals and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and need food, air, and water.
- Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles vary for different living things.
- Recognize changes in appearance that animals and plants go through as the seasons change.
- Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its basic needs (plants require air, water, nutrients, and light; animals require food, water, air, and shelter.)
MASS DOE K-2 Earth/Space Science:
 - Recognize that the sun supplies heat and light to the earth and is necessary for life.
Program Format:
- An outdoor experience of meeting many animals at the farm and learning about their characteristics and interdependence with plants. Students will learn about the essential ecological cycle that enables living things to coexist on Earth through the lens of the cycles on an organic farm. Meeting our young animals face to face in the barn creates memories of how plants and animals are beneficial and, in fact, essential to survival.
- An indoor session in our Education Center has students discussing and comparing food webs in the wild and on a farm. Learning goals include understanding the concepts of food chains and energy cycles, exploring the human “place” in a food web, and the vital role worms and other decomposers in creating healthy soil for plant growth. Students will work in small groups to build a food web.

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Egg to Chicken: Bird Characteristics Grades K-3
This program is offered at the Farm or in Classrooms.
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE: K-2 Life Science/Biology:
- Recognize that animals and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and need food, air, and water.
- Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles vary for different living things.
- Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its basic needs.
Program Format:
- An outdoor experience in which students compare a baby chick to an adult chicken. Students will learn about the many characteristics of chickens and how these physical traits  are suited to survival. Discussion includes the native origin of chickens and how birds are different from mammals and the differences and similarity between farmed and wild birds.
 - An indoor education section in which students learn about the life cycle of a chicken, from egg laying to hatching to adulthood. Students will participate in building an illustrated web of a chicken’s life cycle.  Discussion includes how a chicken lives on a farm and contributes to the productivity of the farm, both as a source of products and as an excellent contributor to compost for soil.

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Sheep & Wool: A History of Animals and Fiber Grades K-3
Curriculum Connections:
MASS DOE:  K-2 Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Life Cycles, Living Things and Their Environment
MASS DOE:  K-2 Social Studies: Families and Communities, Now and Long Ago, Community-related topics in history and economics.
Program Format:
- An outdoor experience of sheep shearing & information about sheep characteristics, their needs as living creatures, and adaptations sheep developed over time to live in their natural habitats.
- An indoor education section focusing on the main product for which sheep are raised, wool. We demonstrate the steps necessary to process wool from a  fleece to fabric. Students participate in small group activities such as carding, weaving, and  spinning.

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