Strawberries are a great focus for educational investigation. Not only are the fruits themselves a favorite of most children, the strawberry production cycle used by North Carolina growers — plant in the fall and harvest in the spring — fits well with the traditional school year.
NC Strawberry Investigations (NCSI) is a set of lesson plans for grades K-5, with 5-7 lessons for each grade, each of them organized around the current curriculum standards for science, social studies, math, and language arts. These same Common Core standards are applicable in other states as well.
The NCSI lessons may be done as a full-year program, or teachers may dip into the set and pick and choose among the lessons, or simply use them as inspiration. It is not necessary to visit a strawberry farm or have a school strawberry garden, though either of these activities enhances the Strawberry Investigations.
The lessons and resources are also appropriate for preschools, home school groups, after-school programs, non-school educational settings, or on-farm programs.
Resources
- Growing a School Strawberry Garden
- Strawberry Farming Through The Year Slide Show
- The Schoolyard Strawberry Project
- Agriculture in the Classroom – wide range of lessons (not strawberry-specific)
- Food Safety for your Garden
- NC Ag in the Classroom Ag Mags
- NC Farm to School “A Year in the Life of a NC Strawberry” poster
- NC Farm to School Strawberry Story Book and Activity Guide
Books
- Strawberry, by Jennifer Coldrey and George Bernard
Gorgeous photographs, drawings, and text on two levels of difficulty describe how the strawberry plant produces juicy strawberries and sends out runners to start new plants. Out of print, but available used on Amazon, Ebay. - From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons
How does a seed begin? What happens during pollination? A useful companion to the discussion of how strawberries are propagated vegetatively – rather than from seed. This simple introduction unravels the mystery of plant reproduction for the very young and includes instructions for growing a bean plant. Gail Gibbons signature bold and bright illustrations and clear text provide another excellent resource for primary-grade students.