skip to Main Content

Kindergarten & 1st Grade

School garden-science lessons on this page have been specially tailored for our youngest gardeners.

May 3rd - Types of Plants

What You’ll Need

  • Herbs (try basil, parsley, thyme, or oregano)
  • Milk carton
  • Cookie sheet or tray
  • Scissors
  • Soil
  • Pencil and paper
  • Paint or colored paper and glue (optional for decorating)

Direction

1. Clean an empty milk carton and let it dry.
2. Lay the carton on its side and cut off one side.
3. Flip the carton over and use the scissors to poke a few holes in the other side. Place a tray underneath the carton (the side with the holes should be touching the tray).
4. If you’d like to, decorate the carton! Color or glue colored paper to the sides of the carton.
5. Fill up the carton with soil, almost to the top. Poke four holes halfway through the soil.
6. Place your herbs in the holes of the soil. Make sure to label each one with the correct name.
7. Fill the rest of the hole with soil so the herbs stay in place. Lightly water the soil. (The tray may get a little wet here, and that’s okay!)
8. Place the tray with your herbs in a warm, sunny spot and watch them grow over time. Feel the soil each day. If it feels dry, it’s time to water your seeds.
9. Fill out the plant journal PDF. Were your estimations correct?
April 26th - The Water Cycle

In the Magic School Bus Wet All Over, Ms Frizzle takes the class through the water cycle. You can check on this episode (season 2, episode 6) from the Alameda Free Library or watch it on Netflix if you have a Netflix account.

February 22nd - Spiders

Yarn and Stick Orb Spider Web

What you’ll need

  • Sticks
  • yarn, wool, string or ribbon
  • Scissors

1. Go outside and collect some sticks . The bigger the sticks the bigger the spider web will become. You need at least three (3).

2. Criss-cross your sticks to make the spokes of the spider web.

3. Place the yarn under the sticks and move the yarn diagonally between the gaps of two sticks and tie it.   Move the yarn diagonally through a different gap between two sticks and tie it again. Do this until all the diagonals have been tied.

Make a stick spider web

4. It’s now time to twist yarn around the sticks to make the spiral. Grab a long bit of yarn. Tie it in the middle of the spokes and make sure it’s secure.

5. Next, it’s time to twist the yarn around each stick. It doesn’t matter which way you twist it, just as long as the yarn goes around the stick and is pulled tight before moving onto the next stick.

February 1st - Eucalyptus Trees

Pinole Point Trail to Giant Station Trail, Point Pinole Regional Shoreline
Length: 4.13-mile loop, Intensity: easy
This trail brings you right into the park’s most vibrant eucalyptus woods, offering an aromatic experience you won’t forget. San Pablo Bay is typically breezy, making Point Pinole a perfect recreational site on a hot day.

Bull Valley Trail Loop, Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline
Length: 4.8-mile loop, Intensity: moderate
From the blue waters of Carquinez Strait to the north, to the rolling hills in the south, this park offers magnificent views. The trail traverses open grasslands and small eucalyptus groves that provide welcome shade on a sunny day and, at the midway point, takes you through the historic town of Port Costa.

Kennedy Grove Recreational Site
Planted in 1910, the Kennedy Grove eucalyptus trees offer a fragrant, calm setting for relaxing and enjoying nature. The centrally located turf meadow provides additional play space for picnickers with enough room to toss a Frisbee.

 


Pinole Point

December 14th - Worms!
Materials
  • Glass Vase
  • Dirt 
  • Plants
  • Worms
  • Dead leaves
  • Sand
  • Paper Towel
  • Rubber Band 
  • Water
Procedure
The first thing you will need for an earthworm terrarium is a vase or anything that is best for its surroundings. An earthworm needs moist dirt and some dead leaves so it can feed on the minerals from the leaf and soil. A plant is important to have because if the plant is growing it shows that the worm is releasing its waste to fertilize the plants roots, thereby introducing a mutualistic relationship. First, we get a vase and fill it with the dirt, sand, and worms. Now you pour the sand and dirt in layers. Worms usually come out at night and feed on dead leaves, therefore we put a couple of dead leaves and tiny twigs into the vase. We then cover the vase with our paper towel and wrap it with a rubber band. The terrarium should be in a dark space for the worms.

 

November 2 - Parts of a tree

Leaf rubbings are a great way of remembering the leaves you see around you! Put these leaf rubbings in your nature journal or hang your art on the wall!

You’ll need:
o Paper or your nature journal
o Crayons
o A hard surface
o Fresh leaves

October 26 - Living or Not?

October 19 - Camouflage - Hiding right in front of you

Think of ways to camouflage yourself.

How would you dress to stay hidden in your bedroom or living room?

How would you dress to be camouflaged outside?

What colors would you wear to stay hidden in different places?

Draw a picture of yourself camouflaged.

Back To Top