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The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Designing a School Garden

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Designing a School Garden

A 4th grade STEM lesson

Hailey Murphy

December 10th, 2023

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Notes for teachers

This lesson is part of a grade-wide project in which students are helping to design and create a school garden.

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When completed, the garden will be used for future lessons related to plant life cycles and adaptations.

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This lesson should be done after standard 4.MD.A has been taught

List of Materials

  • Measuring tape
  • Pencils
  • Paper
  • Computer with internet access
  • Tinkercad website

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Standards

Arizona Math Standard 4.MD.A - Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit

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Standards

Arizona Engineering Standard 5.0 - Apply technology and tools to engineering solutions

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Objectives:

Today we will be using Tinkercad’s 3D Design tool to plan and design a scaled model of planter boxes in our school garden.

Today we will use technology to design a possible layout for our school garden.

Today we will convert larger units of measurement to smaller units of measurement to provide a scaled model of a layout for our school garden.

Today we will share and explain our reasoning for the chosen layout of our school garden.

Today we will choose an effective and functional layout for our school garden.

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Agenda (60 minutes)

Gather data for actual size of garden (5 minutes)

Discuss limitations and requirements for garden (10 minutes)

Design scaled model on Tinkercad (25 minutes)

Share models and explain reasoning for layout (20 minutes)

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Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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You are being put in charge of creating and maintaining a school garden!

Your first step is to plan and design the layout of the garden and the planter boxes in a way that is efficient and functional.

Use Tinkercad to plan and design a scaled model of a garden with planter boxes. Be sure to consider the watering, sunlight, and other caretaking needs when designing your layout!

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Hands-on Activity Instructions

  • First, go outside and measure the area that will be dedicated to the garden as a whole class.
  • Once measurements have been taken, return to the classroom and review the limitations and requirements for the garden (i.e. the physical materials being used to build, etc)
  • Remind students that they are designing a scaled model, so they will need to convert measurements from larger units to smaller units.
  • Students will work with a partner to discuss, plan, and design their ideal layout for the garden, taking into consideration things like existing trees/structures, pathways, shade/sun exposure, etc.
  • Students will label the scaled measurements of the objects in their 3D model
  • Once students have finished their design, they will present it to their classmates and defend their reasoning for their choices.
    • Examples of this may sound like, “We chose to put a planter on this side of the tree, so that the tree can provide shade for plants that only need partial sun” or “We made a walkway around the perimeter of the planter to make watering plants easier.
  • Once everyone has shared, choose aspects from various models or choose one model that is most effectively laid out to be the “official” layout for the garden.

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Assessment

Formative Assessment Checklist:

  • Student converted their measurements from a larger unit of measurement to a reasonable smaller unit of measurement (i.e. from feet or meters to inches or centimeters)
  • Student converted their measurements accurately
  • Student appropriately utilized technology (Tinkercad 3D Modeling tool) to design their garden
  • Student can explain their reasoning for the layout and design choices of their model.

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Differentiation

Students can be paired with a peer who can support them.

Teacher can provide a partially-completed 3D model and students can add more.

Teacher can provide a “bank” of objects for students to select from rather than searching through the entire library of options.

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Support videos are available on Youtube to introduce students less familiar with Tinkercad.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

Students can be encouraged to consider the materials being used (i.e. how the color of the planters may affect the temperature of the soil, etc) and can plan for these factors in their 3D model.

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This concept can be applied to other projects such as playground equipment, outdoor workspaces, and more.