We are so thrilled to have Whitney and Jess from Life Lab out in Georgia to lead their Growing Classroom workshop. During the workshop, participants experienced lessons as children would – working with their small groups to make meaning out of the world around them.
In this lesson, the groups looked for items around the garden that matched antonyms that they were assigned (such as heavy and light). When they had their two collections, other groups guessed what their antonyms were. 
Participants also experienced a taste test as children would – trying four different varieites of radishes and applying descriptive adjectives to each.
We did a lesson on how seeds travel where small groups investigated a variety of seeds to determine how they travel. As an extension, students could look around the garden for seeds that are set to travel or even build their own “seeds” out of everyday items with specific travel mechanisms. 
In another activity, participants dug through the dirt to determine what soil is made up of. 
I also took a moment to check out the cafeteria. It’s important for us to remember as teachers that a lot of what we are passively teaching our students about food comes from their experiences in the lunchroom. That provides a good starting point for any lessons around nutrition. 
Growing Classroom Workshop: Columbus, GA
Tending Our Common Ground 
