Reaching Out to the Experiential Sites 

Next steps before getting out

• Prepare learning goals and share them with your community partner
• Make it hands-on! What will the students be doing? 
• Be interdisciplinary – look for opportunities to incorporate multiple subject areas into your experience.

Make it reciprocal!

• Ask in advance if the partner needs monetary compensation.
• Look for opportunities to contribute to the partner’s operation.
• Be proactive in building a mutually beneficial relationship with your community partner.

Curriculum and Planning

Here’s the mock schedule constructed on Kat’s class tour at the farm for your reference, which can be applied in most cases.

12:15 Arrive

12:15 – 1:00 Based on the number of students, teachers may divide them into different sections into separate areas to ensure the individualized learning experience as much as possible. A session usually consists of relevant questions to lead into the topics and the main topics with practical examples, a Q&A session, and followed by group activities or experimentation.  

One group tours the farm and the other visits the compost and does some hands-on data gathering or group activities.

The food scraps session was presented by Jen and Trevor. They began the session by asking questions about the importance of decomposing foods scraps, or how it helps them and the world financially and environmentally. They later went on to talk about the definition and the actual decomposition process. Both included their daily work into teaching the students to make the knowledge more familiar and practical. The students were able to do some experiments with adjusting temperatures and moistures to facilitate the decomposition process.

The farm tour session touched on CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and how it can be a good option for people who want to support local agriculture and eat more locally grown produce while also being a good way for farmers to get a predictable income and build a closer relationship with their customers. Economically, the farm’s business strategy and investment from the perspectives of farmers are worth noting. Relevant devices for seeding and harvesting are introduced. Afterward, the students visited the greenhouses to learn more about agriculture techniques such as crop rotation and the reasons behind including pests and soil nutrition. The students also raised burning questions on climate change and its effects on the farm in reality.

1:00 – 1:45 Groups switch

1:45 – 2:00 Say goodbye and take a group photo

Find out such sample schedules and inspirations with our resources below!

Kat’s planning is very interdisciplinary as it combines Chemistry, Biology, Economics, Geology, and Social Justice into the learning content.

Find out how you can incorporate different subjects into the curriculum below!