Science – Page 22 – Island Grown Schools

Curriculum Toolkit
Over the years, we have honed in on priority curricular units for every grade level, preschool through 12th grade, that build on each other and provide a meaningful food education for the students we work with.
This Toolkit is the compilation of these units, along with their related teaching standards and sequence. We are constantly adding to this site, so please check in again soon for updates.

We designed this curriculum framework to help our students grasp the following key concepts by the time they graduate from High School:

Feel confident in making healthy food choices

Appreciate the farming profession

Know that everyone can grow food

Understand the connection between healthy soil, healthy plants and healthy people

Recognize a regenerative, local food system is inclusive and promotes a healthy ecosystem.

Butter Making

OBJECTIVE Students will learn how to make butter ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Where does food come from? Where does butter come from? What is butter? How can we feed ourselves? What happens on a farm in winter? MATERIALS NEEDED An old-fashioned butter churn or picture of onePer group:• Whipping or heavy cream at room temperature, approximately one […]

Grade levels 3-5, Prek-2

Core curriculum subjects English Language, Science

Island Grown Schools topics Farms

Bug Scavenger Hunt

OBJECTIVE Students will figure out where to search for bugs, and will observe some of the bugs that live in the garden. If you do this lesson towards the end of a series on bugs (in our toolkit, we lump worm painting, worm stories, pollinators in the garden, and building a worm bin into a […]

Grade levels Prek-2

Core curriculum subjects Science

Island Grown Schools topics Gardens

Bird feeders

OBJECTIVE Students will be able to identify different types of seeds used in bird feed. Students will understand the different uses of these seeds and why they are important. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Why are seeds important? Who uses seeds to survive? MATERIALS NEEDED Birdseed (allergy alert)PineconesPeanut butter/sunbutter (allergy alert) Twine/stringPlastic spoons or wooden stirrers for spreading […]

Grade levels Prek-2

Core curriculum subjects Science

Island Grown Schools topics Seeds

Apple Unit

OBJECTIVE Students will understand where apples come from, know some different apple varieties, and know how to make food with apples. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How do apples grow? What can we make with apples? MATERIALS NEEDED Activity One: One set of apple sequence cards stapled in order for each child, one set of apple sequence cards […]

Grade levels Prek-2

Core curriculum subjects Arts, Science

Island Grown Schools topics Farms, Healthy Eating

Animals in Winter Lesson

OBJECTIVE Students will be able to describe the seasonal changes on a farm, from summer to fall to winter Students will be able to identify the changes in animals from fall to winter ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS What happens on a farm in winter? What do animals on a farm do in winter? What do animals on […]

Grade levels Prek-2

Core curriculum subjects Science

Island Grown Schools topics Farms

The Potato – A brief history of an incredible tuber

MA CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS 6.T5.b,c OBJECTIVE Understand the history of potato cultivation. Understand the significance of the potato as a food source as well as for biocultural heritage. Understand the potato as a product of thousands of years of cultivation by indigenous peoples. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS What is the significance of the potato to human history? How […]

Grade levels 6-8

Core curriculum subjects Science

Island Grown Schools topics Food systems

Curriculum Toolkit

Butter Making

Bug Scavenger Hunt

Bird feeders

Apple Unit

Animals in Winter Lesson

The Potato – A brief history of an incredible tuber