Grasses, Grasses Everywhere – Session 1

Session 1

Print version of "Grasses, Grasses Everywhere": PDF • Word

Conduct this session in the classroom.

Divide the class into groups of 2–3 students. Provide each group with a ruler, protractor, scissors, and a sheet of poster paper. Instruct students to cut a 1-foot-square opening in the poster paper sheet, leaving at least a 3-inch border around the square.
Conduct a discussion of grasses, and record students' comments and predictions on the board. (You will add to this list later.) Center the discussion around the following questions:
- What does grass need in order to survive?
- What does the grass give back to the environment?
After adequate discussion, distribute to each group of students a Schoolyard Grass Worksheet PDF • Word, and move to the schoolyard.

Continue in the schoolyard.

Direct each group to place their square cutout on a section of grass in the schoolyard. Allow students about 15 minutes to observe their grass samples. Instruct each group to illustrate their sample in the box at the top of the worksheet and to complete the chart at the bottom of the worksheet.
As students finish their worksheets, ask the students to share their observations.

Continue in the classroom.

Return to the classroom, and review the list of comments and predictions. Allow students to make amendments to the list.
Ask students to find common items in the list and to name some categories into which the items might be grouped. Have students group the items and defend their choices.
Display the transparency of the Underwater Grasses Graphic Organizer PDF • Word. Compare the categories listed on the graphic organizer to those created by the students. As a class, fill in the category ovals based on students' observations of their schoolyard grass samples.