Herb Unit

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OBJECTIVE

Students will be able to plant herbs

Students will be able to describe the taste/smell of different herbs

Students will be able to describe different uses for herbs

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What are herbs?

How are herbs used?

What foods do I eat?

PROCEDURE

Week One- Planting Herbs

Materials:

Introduction: Begin by asking students what they know about herbs. Do they know the names of any herbs? Explain that herbs are plants used to season food, or to make things like tea. They can also be used for their smell.

Activity:

  1. Use popsicle sticks to indicate where plants can go to make sure they don’t get planted too close together.
  2. Plant a seedling as an example
  3. Give each student a plant and a trowel, and let them plant their own herb in the garden.
  4. Afterwards, water all the herbs with watering cans

Wrap Up/Assessment: Ask students what food or projects we could make with the herbs we’ve planted. (chives- potatoes, basil- pizza and pesto, mint/chamomile- tea, dill- pickles)

Week Two- Food Associations

Materials:

Introduction: Put the jar of pickles, mints, and lemon on the table and explain that we’re going to try herbs that taste like each of these foods.

Activity:

  1. Give each child a leaf of an herb, focusing on one at a time.
  2. Ask them which food item they think it tastes like. They can smell the tin of mints, lemon, and pickles, but they don’t need to taste them.
  3. Work together to match the herb to its corresponding food item.

Wrap Up/Assessment: Talk about other popular food items they might have had that have herbs in them (pizza, pesto, chicken, pasta) Discuss what the connections are between taste and smell. Ask students which herbs they like the smell of, and if they also like to eat the food associated with it. Could smelling a food be a good indicator of what it will taste like? If you like the smell of a food, does that mean you’ll like the taste as well?

Week Three- Herb Art

Materials:

Activity:

  1. Pass around sprigs of herbs and review what each one is called.
  2. Demonstrate how to gently roll paint onto each herb and make a print on a piece of paper. Alternatively, you can have students make herb rubbings with crayons.

Wrap Up/Assessment: Discuss the different shapes and pattern each type of herb makes.

Week Four: Harvesting Herbs

Materials:

Introduction: Demonstrate how to harvest herbs- cut the stem at the bottom, leaving some leaves behind. Tell students they can each pick a certain number of stems (whatever seems appropriate based on the size of the plants).
Activity:

  1. Have each student harvest some herbs and place them in their container
  2. Back at the circle, help the students sort their herbs onto trays

Wrap Up/Assessment:

Discuss what the herbs will look like next week after sitting in the sun.

Week Five: Sun Tea

Materials:

Introduction: Ask the kids if they know how to make tea. Tell them that you put a tea bag in a cup, and pour water over it. What’s in the tea bag? Herbs! The taste of the herbs goes into the water and turns it a darker color.

Activity:

  1. Give each child a store-bought tea bag and let them rip it open and see what’s inside.
    Explain that we’re going to make our own tea bags with herbs from the garden.
  2. Pass around each bowl of herbs for the kids to smell. Remind them what each one is
    called, and ask which is their favorite.
  3. Give each child an empty tea bag, and show them how to put small pinches of whatever herbs they like into it.
  4. When they’re done, help them seal the bag, and add it to the pitcher.
  5. Let each child add a squeeze of honey to the pitcher.
  6. Fill the pitcher with cold water

Wrap Up/Assessment: Place tea outside in the sun where kids can observe it from the classroom or playground. It should steep for 5-6 hours. Leave printouts of the recipe and paper cups so parents can taste the tea with their kids at the end of the day

EXTENSIONS/VARIATIONS: