OBJECTIVE

Students will understand that all plants need different amounts of space to grow and thrive. Students will use their math skills to design a garden bed that can fit different plant varieties while meeting all of their needs.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What do plants need to survive? How do plants thrive? How can we design a garden most efficiently?

MATERIALS NEEDED

-Grid paper
– Clipboards
– Pencils
– Garden bed with grid layout
– Pizza garden plants (basil, tomato, pepper, and maybe wheat!)

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. (You may have already done this with a salad bar bed.) 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? (Show seedlings.) If they only look this big now, will they stay this big or will they grow to be much bigger? How can we design a garden bed that meets all of their needs?

Activity:
Show students the garden bed and the grid. Explain that each plant has 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

Plant the pizza garden!