Next Generation Science in the Garden
K-2 NGSS-Aligned Units
Each grade-level unit includes 8 lessons, which build on one another. These units are designed to engage students in NGSS Science and Engineering Practices in order to investigate and discover key ideas from grade-level NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas and Crosscutting Concepts. Click here for the Unit Overviews. Each unit includes a Welcome to the Garden lesson; 6 science lessons that build upon one another; and a final, formative assessment lesson. Each lesson also includes a 3D learning objective with alignment to the 3 dimensions of NGSS; suggested extensions; relevant connections to Common Core Math and English Language arts; and related handouts to use with students.
Choose the Perfect Lesson Package!
INDIVIDUAL USE
$20 Per Unit
or
$50 for all 3 units
• License For Single User
• NGSS-Aligned
• 8 Lessons Per Unit
PROGRAM USE
$120 Per Unit
or
$300 for all 3 units
• Up To 30 Users
• NGSS-Aligned
• 8 Lessons Per Unit
DISTRICT USE
Contact
kelsey@lifelab.org
for custom package quote
• More Than 30 Users
• NGSS-Aligned
• 8 Lessons Per Unit
Free Sample lessons
Kindergarten
Caring for Our Pet Plants: What Plants Need
1st grade
From Shoots to Roots: The Purpose of Plant Parts
2nd grade
Mighty Migrations: How Seeds & Pollen Travel
Developed by Teachers
These units were written by trained classroom teachers with high level expertise in NGSS and garden-based education.
Piloted by Garden Educators
Each unit was piloted by in 12 public schools over 2 years, and revised to reflect the feedback from school garden educators.
Positive Response
The curriculum and Life Lab’s teaching model have received very positive responses from all the pilot schools, with 98% to 100% of teachers reporting that the NGSS in the Garden program improved their students’ enthusiasm for learning, connection to the natural world, scientific knowledge, social and emotional skills, and attitudes towards fresh fruits and vegetables.
NGSS-Aligned
These units are designed to engage students in Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Science and Engineering Practices in order to investigate and discover key ideas from grade-level NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas and Crosscutting Concepts.
TRIED AND TRUE
12
SCHOOLS
Each unit was piloted in 12 public schools, and revised to reflect the feedback from educators.
8000+
STUDENTS
The total number of students that participated in this curriculum exceeded 8,250.
100%
POSITIVE RESPONSE
The curriculum and Life Lab’s teaching model have received very positive responses from all the pilot schools.
“I highly recommend Life Lab’s K-2 units to anyone interested in garden-based learning with young children. Not only are the lessons detailed, hands-on, interactive, and aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, they also include community-building strategies, literacy and math connections, and arts integration. Bravo, Life Lab!”
- Scott Morrison (he/him/his), Associate Professor of Education, Elon University, North Carolina
“The Life Lab NGSS lessons exemplify everything we want in a science curriculum — not just really fun for our students, but also top-notch for teaching science using the best methodologies of the Next Generation Science Standards. As a scientist myself, I love how every lesson starts with an engagement that immediately draws every student in and gets them thinking about the big picture while they are working on the details throughout the lesson.”
- Dr. Tamara Helfer, Director of Sequoia Science Education and the Mount Diablo Unified Garden Education Program
“Over the past 5 years, Life Lab has been an incredible partner as our District developed outdoor NGSS Lab Spaces for our students and teachers. The lessons and support they provided deepened our focus on science and health standards while cultivating students' love of phenomena-based experiences and nature.”
-Jennifer Sachs, Chief of Educational Services, Mt. Diablo Unified School District
“Life Lab’s new K-2 NGSS aligned school garden curriculum units are grab-and-go approachable yet instructionally sound—a great tool for K-2 classroom teachers and garden educators alike. This is state of the art garden-based science curriculum from one of the oldest and most respected school garden learning programs in the country.”
- Moses Thompson, Community and School Garden Program Associate Director and University of Arizona/Tucson Unified School District Liaison and Sallie Marston, Professor and Director, Community and School Garden Program, University of Arizona
“The garden curriculum units that Life Lab have developed are not only creative, but they are engaging and purposeful. As a professor of teacher education I appreciate how the lessons utilize the 5Es instructional model, as well as how they weave several subjects into each of the lessons.”
- dr. debra leigh walls rosenstein, "dr. deb", Associate Professor, Tift College of Education, Mercer University
“Life Lab’s K-2 NGSS aligned units are a wonderful resource for our PVUSD teachers. Now, not only are the Life Lab enrichment activities fun and engaging for our students, they are completely in step with the Next Generation Science Standards.”