OBJECTIVE

Students will be able to design a pizza garden based on plants spacing needs

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What do plants need to grow?

How do I grow a garden?

How do plants grow and change over time?

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Grid paper
• Clipboards
• Pencils

PROCEDURE

Introduction:
There are so many ways we can grow food in a garden, and one of the most fun and exciting things to do is to design garden beds that contain plants needed to create one particular meal. Today, we are going to create a pizza garden!
Ask students, what are the ingredients in pizza that we can grow in the garden? (Guide students through thinking about what can grow in the garden vs. what cannot, ie pepperoni, cheese). Make a list: basil, tomatoes, peppers, etc.
Ask students to think about what each plant needs. Do they all grow to be the same size? How can we design a garden bed that meets all of our plants needs?

Activity:
Explain that each plant needs its own space needs.
The basil plant stays pretty small, so two plants may fit in one grid box.
The tomato plant grows to be very large, and needs a stake, so it will take up two grid boxes.
The pepper plant will also grow to be big, and will take up 1 grid box.
In pairs, hand out grid paper and clipboards. Invite students to design their own pizza garden based on the space needs of each plant.

Wrap up/ Assessment:
Students will have completed the pizza garden grid. They also must show (through
tallies or numbers) how many of each plant they will need for the pizza garden.

FOLLOW UP & EXTENSIONS

• Make a garden bed and make it into a grid for students to plant their pizza garden! It is fun to have a round garden bed and put the different ingredients in different slices.