Peter Rabbit’s Garden

In this model eliciting activity students use data about the temperature and water requirements of plants to figure out when the plants should be planted. They also use data such as space requirements and time until harvest to make judgments about which plants would best suit the needs of students planning a garden in Florida.Subject(s): Mathematics, English Language Arts, ScienceGrade Level(s): 3-5 LAFS.3.RI.1.1 :Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.LAFS.4.RI.1.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.LAFS.5.RI.1.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.MAFS.3.MD.3.5 :Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area measurement.

a. A square with side length 1 unit, called “a unit square,” is said to have “one square unit” of area, and can be used to measure area.

b. A plane figure which can be covered without gaps or overlaps by n unit squares is said to have an area of n square units.

MAFS.3.MD.3.6 :Measure areas by counting unit squares (square cm, square m, square in, square ft, and improvised units).MAFS.4.MD.1.3: Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in real world and mathematical problems. For example, find the width of a rectangular room given the area of the flooring and the length, by viewing the area formula as a multiplication equation with an unknown factor.MAFS.5.MD.1.1: Convert among different-sized standard measurement units (i.e., km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec) within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.SC.3.L.17.1 :Describe how animals and plants respond to changing seasons.SC.4.L.17.1 Compare the seasonal changes in Florida plants and animals to those in other regions of the country.SC.5.L.17.1 Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycles variations, animal behaviors and physical characteristics.

LESSON CONTENT

Formative Assessment

Ask students if they have ever planted fruits or vegetables. Allow discussion.

Have you ever eaten a plant that grew in the dirt? (If they do not conclude that yes they do eat plants- including bread, pasta, rice, etc. - explain to them which foods we eat are plant parts).Can all plants grow all year or do they only grow at certain times of the year? Is that true for all locations, or does it differ?

Feedback to Students

Teacher will pass out a copy of the client letter from Peter Rabbit and data set to students and discuss lesson goals and objectives before beginning lesson.

Explain to students that they will be participating in an MEA lesson and activities using real-world problem solving strategies and collaboration skills to find and present information and data to a client.

Give students the assessment rubric and make sure they understand it before they begin.

See rubric Mea Rubric

Show and discuss the presentation rubric (This can be given to students after they have a solution and are ready to create a presentation.)

Provide continuous feedback to students while they are engaged in their group activities. Ask questions to elicit students' thinking as they are working on the problem or reflect on what they worked on after they finish.

Example questions:

1. Why do you think that?

2. How do you know if you have an answer to the problem?

3. Would your solution work in a different situation?

4. What are the most important things to consider in your procedure?

5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?

6. Do you agree or disagree with your classmates ideas? Why or why not?

Students will receive feedback on a continuous basis and follow up questioning to ensure that students understand how to apply their knowledge and ask questions within their groups.

Summative Assessment

Use the MEA Rubric to assess student solutions.

Use Presentation Rubric from bie.org to assess presentation.

See Comprehension Questions.

Learning Objectives

o Students will describe how plants respond to changing seasons.

o Students will recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area measurement.

o Students will measure areas by counting unit squares.

o Students will ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Prior Knowledge

Students must be able to read a data table.

Students must be able to order numbers less than 100.

Instructional Suggestions

Overview: Students will be given a scenario in which the rabbit family wants to plant a garden twice in one year, with one crop each time. They need to choose plants that will grow and be harvested in time to plant and harvest another crop. Plants must be chosen based on their growing seasons and other factors including how many plants are needed, required space, and water needs. Students will learn that certain plants can only grow at certain times of the year. This lesson plan also includes a lesson on finding area. The rest of the lesson can be done without the lesson on area, but knowing more about the data can help students decide on how to solve the problem. Students will submit a letter to the client explaining their procedure for choosing which crops to plant. The procedure they develop for choosing what to plant should be reusable with other sets of data.

Part 1 (Days 1 and 2)1. Discuss what students know about growing food and seasonal plants. (see Formative

Assessment)2. Introduce the MEA, have students read the first letter, and look over data table.3. Explain to students that they will be participating in a Model Eliciting Activity using real-

world problem solving strategies and collaboration skills to find and present information and data to a client.

4. Use the readiness questions as discussion starters.5. Give students the assessment rubric and make sure they understand it before they

begin.6. Show and discuss the presentation rubric. (This can be given to students after they have

a solution and are ready to create a presentation.)7. After students have completed the reading and questions and understand the task, they

can begin to work in teams of approximately 3-4.8. Model using the Garden Planting Graphic Organizer to find out when to plant and

harvest plants. In groups students will use the graphic organizers to decide when plants should be planted and harvested. (Note: not all groups will arrive at the same answers)

9. (Optional math standards connection) Complete lessons on finding the area and the number of plants needed. This information builds background that will add to the MEA, however, if your students are not ready to learn about area yet, the rest of the lesson can be completed without it.

i. View Two minute video on how to find the area of a rectangle using grid paper.http://learnzillion.com/lessons/1157-use-grid-paper-to-find-the-area

ii. Use the Find the Area worksheet.rtf activity and square tiles or cubes to find the area of the garden. (The units depicted on this worksheet appear as rectangles, rather than squares. Be sure to point this out to your students, to attend to precision of the concept of area and square units).

iii. Guide students through the How Many Plants Do We Need to Buy.rtf worksheet. Once they understand what to do allow them to work in groups to complete it.

10. (optional science connection) Show students the pictures of seed packets (attached) and the zone map. Discuss why seeds would be started in each of the zones at different times of the year.

11. Have students shade the Average Monthly Temperatures charts for each plant to show the growing seasons. These can be compared to help decide on crops to rotate.

12. Give students Mea Rubric.rtf and discuss how to respond to Green Thumb School in a letter. Students use the data and the information they collected to come up with a system for ranking which plants should be planted at the beginning of the school year, and which should be planted at the middle of the school year.

13. In teams, students work on the problem and respond to the client with a letter outlining their solution.

14. As students are working, the teacher circulates to each team to ask the Guiding/Reflective Questions and address any issues that may arise. Teachers can provide guidance using the reflective questions to help students determine the important factors and start thinking about how they can present their solution.

15. After all of the teams have completed their letters to the client, the teams will present their results to the rest of the class. Give teams the presentation rubric and have them prepare their presentation. Give each team one minute to present.

Supplemental Reading:  Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, movie trailer for Peter Rabbit movie

Guiding/reflective Questions

Use questions to elicit students' thinking as they are working on the problem or reflect on what they worked on after they finish.Examples for your use:

1. Why do you think that?

2. How do you know if you have an answer to the problem?

3. Would your solution work if you had a different list of plants?

4. What are the most important things to consider in your procedure?

5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?

6. Do you agree or disagree with your classmates' ideas? Why or why not?

Reading Passage/ Letter 1

See attached

Readiness Questions

After students read the first letter from the client, these questions assess their understanding of what the problem is about and makes sure they understand what to do before beginning to work.

Examples for your use:

1. Who is the client?

2. What does the client want?

3. What is the client asking your team to do?

4. What things do you need to include in your solution?

5. Do you think there is more than one correct answer to what the client is asking? Why or why not?

6. Goods are things you can hold or touch. Services are things you do. Is the client providing goods or services? Are you providing goods or services?

Data Set 1  Comprehension/readiness questions

1. Why do certain plants only grow during certain times of the year?

2. Why do you think certain plants only grow in the winter months?

3. Why do some plants only grow during the hotter months?

4. If the students at Green Thumb School stayed in school all summer long, would that change your decision making process? If so how? If not, why not?

5. Do you think farmers know about growing seasons?

6. Why is knowing when plants will and will not grow food important?

Reflection question 2

1. How did adding water needs to your data change your procedure?

2. How did you use the information from the graph of average precipitation in Florida?

3. Did everyone agree on the procedure? If not, why?

4. What other solutions did you consider?

Accommodations:

Group students in ways that will allow them to assist each other.

Extensions:

SC.4.L.17.1 Compare the seasonal changes in Florida plants and animals to those in other regions of the country. Have students examine the planting directions on the back of seed packets. Discuss the reasons why seeds are planted in different months in different zones.

Have students find out which plants grow in their area and what time of year they grow. For free gardening information and lesson plans go to Florida Agriculture in the Classroom. You can download or order a hardcopy of their FREE book "Gardening for Grades".

Team Name_________________________________________________

MEA Rubric

1

Below Expected Level

2

Needs Improvement

3

Well Done

4

Exceeds expectations.

Meets Client’s Needs

The product is on the wrong track. This approach will not work.

The product is a good start toward meeting the client’s needs, but more work is needed to respond to all of the issues.

The product is nearly ready for the client to use. It still needs a few small modifications, additions, or refinements.

No changes are necessary to meet the client’s immediate needs.

OR The solution goes above and beyond meeting the immediate needs of the client. (5 points)

Reusable The procedure is not re-usable because multiple pieces are

missing or need clarification

The procedure might be re-usable, but it is unclear whether the

procedure is re-usable because a few pieces are missing or need

clarification.

The procedure is clearly reusable and can easily be used by the client with new sets of data.

The procedure is clearly reusable and can easily be used with new sets of data.

Very clear, well thought out, and precise.

Explanation of Reasoning

It is not clear how you made your decisions to put the steps in this order, or procedure is unfinished or unclear.

The steps in the procedure are on the right track, but need some clarification as to why you chose those steps in that order.

Contains acceptable

reasons for the order of and steps in the procedure.

It is very clear and understandable why you chose these steps in this order.

Procedure The steps in the procedure are not

Steps in the procedure need

Steps in the procedure are

Steps in the procedure are

clear. some clarification. clear and easy for the client to follow.

exceptionally clear, well thought out, and easy for the client to follow.

Collaboration

(Teamwork)

Had to be reminded to share ideas, ask questions, let everyone be heard, be polite, and work together.

Usually expressed and shared ideas, asked questions, made sure everyone was heard, polite and kind to each other, worked together to complete tasks on time.

Expressed and shared ideas, asked questions, made sure everyone was heard, polite and kind to each other, worked together to complete tasks on time.

Clearly expressed and shared ideas, asked questions, made sure everyone was heard, polite and kind to each other, worked together to complete tasks on time. Did not need any reminders.

Use of Feedback Team did not use feedback from the Project Manager (teacher) to improve their product.

Team sometimes used feedback from the Project Manager (teacher) to improve their product.

Team used feedback from the Project Manager (teacher) to improve their product.

Team used feedback from the Project Manager (teacher) to improve their product and went above and beyond what was asked of them.

Team Name __________________________________________________ Date ___________________Peter Rabbit’s Garden

How Many Plants Do We Need to Buy?

1. Use the grid paper to figure out how many of each type of plant can be planted in the garden. Trace a 4 x 8 square rectangle. Each rectangle will represent one square foot. Record how many of each plant we will need to buy to fill one garden bed.

2. Multiply the number of plants in one garden bed by 8 to find how many plants we will need to plant all eight garden beds. Show your work on a separate sheet of paper. 12 inches = 1 foot 12 ÷ 2 = 6inches 16 inches = 1 ½ feet

Type of Plant Number of plants needed for one 4 by 8 foot garden bed

Multiply by 8Number of plants needed for 8 garden beds.

BeansBlueberriesCabbageSweet CorncucumbersLettucepeanutsPeppersPotatoesSquashStrawberriesWatermelon

Reading Passage/Letter 1

Dear Human Friends,

My sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, and I have a new garden of our own. We want to plant two different crops this year. That means we need one crop to finish growing and be harvested before we can plant the second crop. We can only plant one type of plant at a time.

Plants only grow during certain seasons because of the different amounts of sunlight and heat available during different seasons.

There are so many things to consider when planting a garden. We are stuck and cannot make up our minds!

Seedlings need to be started indoors a month before we plant them.

If plants can be planted closer together we can have more plants, but that means they will cost us more money.

We need your help! We are sending you a data table along with this letter. The data table shows the types of seeds we have available to plant this year. The types of seeds available each year changes, so we need instructions from you on how to use different sets of data to choose which crops to plant each year.

We have four garden beds. Each measures 4 feet x 8 feet.

Please keep in mind that the seeds available may change, so what we need is a system for figuring out which plants to choose.

Thank you so much for your help!

Peter Rabbit

Fruit or Vegetable

Plant whenAverage

temperatures are no higher

than

Plant whenAverage temperatures are no lower than

Type of planting

Time until Harvest

Space

1 Beans 83 49 seeds 8 weeks 6 inches apart2 Blueberries 79 49 seedlings 3 months 2 and ½ feet

apart3 Cabbage 90 49 seedlings 3 months 12 inches apart4 Sweet Corn 78 52 seedlings 8-12 weeks 18 inches apart5 cucumbers 78 49 seeds 6 weeks 12 inches apart6 Lettuce 92 49 seeds 6 weeks 6 inches apart7 peanuts 88 60 seeds 10 weeks 12 inches apart8 Peppers 78 49 seedlings 12 weeks 12 inches apart9 Potatoes 74 49 Seed

potatoes12 weeks 24 inches apart

10 Squash 78 49 seedlings 8 weeks 12 inches apart11 Strawberries 85 59 seedlings 16 weeks 18 inches apart12 Watermelon 78 49 seedlings 13 weeks 18 inches apart

* Temperatures are shown in Fahrenheit

Average Monthly Temperatures August through May

Temperature

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March

April May June July

Avg.High

92 90 85 79 73 71 74 78 83 88 91 92

AvgLow

74 73 66 59 52 49 52 56 60 66 72 74

What is the Area of Our Garden?(We need to know this to figure out how many plants to order)

This raised bed garden has eight raised beds that plants can be planted in. Each raised bed has a side that is 4 feet long and a side that is 8 feet long. To find out how many plants we need to buy we need to know the area of a raised bed.

One way to find the area is by using squares. Each square will represent 1 square foot of ground inside a raised bed.

Make 4 rows of 8 squares. Your model should look like this:

1. Count the number of squares. This is the area of the raised bed. Area = __________Another way to find the area is to multiply.

2. We have 8 rows with 4 squares in each row. That is 8 rows 4 times, or 8 x 4.8 X 4= _______

3. Find the area of 8 raised beds. Multiply the area of one raised bed by 8. This is easier than making and counting eight models!

Area of 1 raised bed X 8 = the area of 8 raised beds

_______________ X 8 = _________________

Letter Template 1

Dear Peter Rabbit,

Our team, ____________________________________________,

decided that you should plant _____________________________ in

the month of __________________ and then plant

________________________ in the month of

____________________________.

We have determined the following procedure deciding which crop to

plant: (List the steps to follow to decide when and which plants from

the data table)

Reading Passage/Letter 2

Dear Human Friends,

Thank you so much for your letter! You are so helpful!

We are hoping you can help us again. It turns out that water is more expensive than plants. Our water bill has been very high lately. We want to use less water if possible.

We have sent you a new data table. This one includes the amount of water that each type of plant needs.

Low = Plant only needs to be watered once a week. Moderate = Plant needs to be watered 2-3 times a week. High = Plant needs to be watered daily and kept moist.

We are also sending a graph showing the average daily rainfall in Florida. If the plants are growing when it rains a lot they will not need to watered as often.

Can you see if this changes your system for choosing plants and let us know what you recommend?

Thank you so much for your help!

Sincerely,

Peter Rabbit

Fruit or Vegetable

Plant whenAverage

temperatures are no

higher than

Plant whenAverage temperatures are no lower than

Type of planting

Time until Harvest

Space Water needs

1 Beans 83 60 seeds 8 weeks 6 inches apart

Low

2 Blueberries 79 49 seedlings 3 months 2 and ½ feet apart

High

3 Cabbage 90 49 seedlings 3 months 12 inches apart

Moderate

4 Sweet Corn 78 52 seedlings 8-12 weeks 18 inches apart

Moderate

5 cucumbers 78 49 seeds 6 weeks 12 inches apart

Moderate

6 Lettuce 92 49 seeds 6 weeks 6 inches apart

low

7 peanuts 88 60 seeds 10 weeks 12 inches apart

High

8 Peppers 78 49 seedlings 12 weeks 12 inches apart

High

9 Potatoes 74 49 Seed potatoes

12 weeks 24 inches apart

High

10 Squash 78 49 seedlings 8 weeks 12 inches apart

Moderate

11 Strawberries 85 59 seedlings 16 weeks 18 inches apart

Moderate

12 Watermelon 78 49 seedlings 13 weeks 18 inches apart

High

*Temperatures are shown in degrees Fahrenheit.

Letter Template 2

Peter Rabbit,

After reviewing the water needs of the plants and average monthly

rainfall added to the data, our team,

__________________________________, decided that you should

plant _____________________________ in the month of

__________________ and then plant ________________________ in

the month of __________________________. We decided this

because __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Our procedure for ranking (did / did not) change.

(If procedure changed, explain how and why. If procedure did not

change, explain why not.)

Plant ______________________Average Monthly Temperatures August through May

Temperature

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March

April May June July

Avg.High

92 90 85 79 73 71 74 78 83 88 91 92

AvgLow

74 73 66 59 52 49 52 56 60 66 72 74

Plant ______________________Average Monthly Temperatures August through May

Temperature

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March

April May June July

Avg.High

92 90 85 79 73 71 74 78 83 88 91 92

AvgLow

74 73 66 59 52 49 52 56 60 66 72 74

Plant ______________________Average Monthly Temperatures August through May

Temperatur Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Marc April May June July

e hAvg.High

92 90 85 79 73 71 74 78 83 88 91 92

AvgLow

74 73 66 59 52 49 52 56 60 66 72 74

Plant ______________________Average Monthly Temperatures August through May

Temperature

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March

April May June July

Avg.High

92 90 85 79 73 71 74 78 83 88 91 92

AvgLow

74 73 66 59 52 49 52 56 60 66 72 74

Plant ______________________Average Monthly Temperatures August through May

Temperature

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March

April May June July

Avg.High

92 90 85 79 73 71 74 78 83 88 91 92

AvgLow

74 73 66 59 52 49 52 56 60 66 72 74