Grade: 5th

07 Nov 2023

Farm Exploration

This program engages students in a hands-on exploration of Greenacres Farm.  We will focus on building age specific skills and apply them to learning about farming practices and the places where we farm.  This is an ideal program for a first time visit to Greenacres or for students to become more familiar with farming.

Ohio Science Standards:

  • K.LS.1: Living things have specific characteristics and traits.
  • 1.ESS.1: The sun is the principal source of energy.
  • 2.LS.1: Living things cause changes on Earth.
  • 3.LS.3: Plants and animals have life cycles that are part of their adaptations for survival in their natural environments.
  • 5.LS.1 Organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem.
  • 7.LS.2 In any particular biome, the number, growth and survival of organisms and populations depend on biotic and abiotic factors. Elements can be organized by properties

Indiana and NGSS Standards:

  • K-ESS3-1.Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.
  • K-2-ETS1-1. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
  • 1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
  • 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
  • 3-LS3-2. Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment
  • 4-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
  • Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
  • 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
  • MS-LS1-4 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
  • MS-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem. 

Ohio Social Studies Standards (K-8):

  • History – Heritage: Ideas and events from the past have shaped the world as it is today. The actions of individuals and groups have made a difference in the lives of others.
  • Geography – Places and Regions: A place is a location having distinctive characteristics, which give it meaning and character and distinguish it from other locations. A region is an area with one or more common characteristics, which give it a measure of homogeneity and make it different from surrounding areas. Regions and places are human constructs.
  • Economics – Economic Decision Making and Skills: Effective economic decision making requires students to be able to reason logically about key economic issues that affect their lives as consumers, producers, savers, investors and citizens. Economic decision-making and skills engage students in the practice of analyzing costs and benefits, collecting and organizing economic evidence and proposing alternatives to economic problems.
  • Economics- Scarcity: There are not enough resources to produce all the goods and services that people desire.
  • Economics – Production and Consumption: Production is the act of combining natural resources, human resources, capital goods and entrepreneurship to make goods and services. Consumption is the use of goods and services.

    Vocabulary:

    farming, livestock, observation, senses, tools, living, nonliving, adaptations, soil, water, air, energy, produce, habitats, and ecosystems

    07 Feb 2022

    Maple Inquiry (4th -8th)

    (Jan 21 to Feb 25, 2026)

    Maple sugaring is the tradition of making maple syrup from the sap gathered from maple trees in late winter. Plan to make observations, ask questions, collect data using scientific tools, and analyze the data you collect. Explore our authentic sugar bush and sugar shack as science comes to life through this hands-on, guided inquiry program. (Jan 21-Feb 26, 2026)

    Ohio Science Standards:

    • SIPA Grade 3-5: Observe and ask questions about the world that can be answered through scientific investigations.
    • SWK Grade 3-5: Science is a way of knowing about the world around us based on evidence from experimentation and observations.
    • SWK Grade 6-8: Science is a way of knowing about the world around us based on evidence from experimentation and observations.
    • SWK Grade 6-8: Science is a continual process and the body of scientific knowledge continues to grow and change.
    • LS Grade 4: Changes in an organism’s environment are sometimes beneficial and sometimes harmful.
    • LS Grade 5: Organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem. All of the processes that take place within organisms require energy.
    • LS Grade 7: Energy flows and matter is transferred continuously from one organism to another and between organisms and their physical environments.

    NGSS Standards:

    • 3-LS4-3 Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
    • 5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
    • 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment
    • MS-LS2-3: Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
    • MS – LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

    Ohio Social Studies Standards:

    • SS Grade 4: Geography- The economic development of the United States continues to influence and be influenced by agriculture, industry and natural resources in Ohio.
    • SS Grade 5: History- Early Indian civilizations (Maya, Inca, Aztec, Mississippian) existed in the Western Hemisphere prior to the arrival of Europeans. These civilizations had developed unique governments, social structures, religions, technologies, and agricultural practices.
    • SS Grade 6: Economics- When selecting items to buy, individuals can weigh costs and benefits and compare the price and quality of available goods and services.

    Vocabulary: sugar bush, sugar shack, sap, diameter, density, xylem, phloem, glucose, hypothesis, observation, investigation, comparative question, data, analysis

    Video Introduction: CLICK HERE for Maple video with a Greenacres educator

    01 Mar 2021

    Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers on the Farm

    August-June 

     Ecosystems are always at work on a farm!  Join us as we investigate the roles of producers, consumers and decomposers and how they help us everyday. 

    Ohio Science Standards:

    •  5.LS.1 Organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem.

    Indiana and NGSS Standards:

    • 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
    • 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment
    • 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
    • 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

    Ohio Social Studies Standards:

    • Geography – Human Systems: The variety of physical environments within the Western Hemisphere influences human activities. Likewise, human activities modify the physical environments.
    • Economics – Production and Consumption: The availability of productive resources and the division of labor can have a positive or negative impact on productive capacity

      Vocabulary:

      producer, consumer, decomposer, ecosystem, compost, livestock, crops

      01 Mar 2021

      Traditional Farming Methods

      August-June 

      Old is new again! This field trip is a surprise adventure for students to uncover clues about traditional farming methods of the past and how we have adapted them for the future.

      Indiana and NGSS Standards:
      • 5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
      • 3-5-ETS1-2 Engineering Design. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

      Ohio Social Studies Standards:

      • History- Heritage: European exploration and colonization during the 1400s 1600s had lasting effects which can be used to understand the Western Hemisphere today.
      • Geography – Human Systems: The variety of physical environments within the Western Hemisphere influences human activities. Likewise, human activities modify the physical environments.

      Vocabulary:

      traditional farming, beekeeping, seed saving, tools, soil, ley field, crop rotation, livestock