pigs feet and plant roots?

Well, it was fairly cloudy and the threat of rain persisted the whole time, but Wednesday turned out to be a fun day! We met with a 3rd grade EBD class, students with special classroom needs, in the early afternoon and introduced them to the nutrient cycle. Each student had pieces of paper each labeled with a step in the nutrient cycle (decomposition, organic matter, etc), and were given time to think about what order each of the steps would occur. Once they were done they gave a short explanation of the cycle and related it to the garden, particularly through the compost pile which they are always excited to talk about.

We had one more class afterwards, a fun group of 5th graders who particularly made me realize the importance of the garden to the children at Lakewood. Emma created a worksheet with sketches of three plants that the students could find in the garden: lettuce, sunflower, and pineapple. We split in to groups and examined the plants, labeling the parts and discussing the function of those parts. The kids determined what plants need to carry out photosynthesis, and discussed similarities between animals and plants (somehow leading to eating pigs feet and hot sauce?).
Overall, it was a great day.. the starters are beginning to sprout, cucumbers are coming up, and the rain held off until we left!