LibGuides: Educator Guide: Farm to Table: Farm to Table Educator Guide

Farm to Table

Tips to Come Prepared

Before you visit the Genovesi Environmental Study Center (GESC) with your class, review the Educator's Guide to prepare for your students.

Read the Essential Questions (p. 1) and Connections to Standards (p. 2) to decide how you want to link your curriculum with your field trip
Complete the Pre-Visit Lesson with your class activating student interest and engagement
Come to GESC ready to engage and learn with our experiential, hands-on field trip program, Elementary Hydroponics

Library Finds

Growing Good Food by Anne Flounders Have you thought about where your food comes from? Do you know the difference between organic and nonorganic foods, and is organic always a more healthful choice? Some farmers have opened their farms to the local community to help grow and pick crops. In this book, you'll read why community-supported agriculture is growing fast and how the choices you make at the grocery store can make a big difference in Earth's health as well as your own. Book features: Table of Contents; Glossary; For More Information including books and web sites; Index; photos and captions; charts and graphs; source notes.
What Do Roots Do? by Kathleen V. Kudlinski; David Schuppert (Illustrator) This factual, rhyming picture book digs into the wonders of roots and the amazing things they do for trees, flowers, and all kinds of plants. The lilting text and richly-detailed illustrations are sure to appeal to kids and teachers alike!
Urban Farming by Rebecca Rissman Urban Farming helps readers trace the history of farming in urban areas, understand why we do it, explore the science behind it, and discuss controversies from an objective viewpoint. The title will engage readers on the topic and help them to weigh the pros and cons as they make their own food decisions. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
Growing and Eating Green by Suzy Gazlay; Ruth Owen Come inside for a fresh look at careers in "green" food, from planting to cultivation, and merchandising to selling. In addition to the "greening" of conventional methods of food production, this book examines careers in alternative energy, equipment, packaging, and delivery systems.
Growing Nutritious Food by Tamra B. Orr In this book, students see the scientific method at work in a real-world situation. Readers practice close reading as they look for clues that will lead to a deeper understanding of food, health, and the transfer of energy. The scientific method pushes students to apply critical thinking as they learn new methods of exploration and build on concepts they may already know. Additional tools, including a glossary and index, help students learn new vocabulary and locate information.
Before We Eat by Pat Brisson; Mary Azarian (Illustrator) Milk doesn't just appear in your refrigerator, nor do apples grow in the bowl on the kitchen counter. Before We Eat has been adopted by the USDA's Agriculture in the Classroom program. Before we eat, many people work very hard-planting grain, catching fish, tending farm animals and filling crates of vegetables. With vibrant illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Mary Azarian, this book reminds us what must happen before food gets to our tables to nourish our bodies and spirits.

Essential Questions

What are the parts of a plant? What function does each part have?
How do plants grow and change over time?
In what ways do all living things depend on plants?
Why do scientist study plants?
Why do flowering plants have pollen?
How does food get from the farm to our table?

Our Educator Guide

Farm to Table Educator's Guide

Sora eBooks

Access these free ebooks by signing in to the Sora app with your NYC DOE credentials.

How Did That Get in My Lunchbox? by Chris Butterworth; Lucia Gaggiotti (Illustrator) Fresh retro artwork lures little readers on a tasty trip to farms, dairies, and more. Yum! The best part of a young child's day is often opening a lunchbox and diving in. But how did all that delicious food get there? Who made the bread for the sandwich? What about the cheese inside? Who plucked the fruit? And where did the chocolate in that cookie get its start? From planting wheat to mixing flour into dough, climbing trees to machine-squeezing fruit, picking cocoa pods to stirring a vat of melted bliss, here is a clear, engaging look at the steps involved in producing some common foods. Healthy tips and a peek at basic food groups complete the menu. Back matter includes an index.
The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons What are vegetables, anyway? Give kids the 411 on veggies with this richly illustrated introduction to produce! Peppers, beans, corn, and peas!  Nonfiction superstar Gail Gibbons lays out the basics of veggies with colorful watercolors and straightforward text. Learn how they grow, how they get to stores, and how many kinds there are--and learn some weird trivia, too! Diagrams, cross sections, and illustrations get kids up close and personal with glossy red peppers, plump orange pumpkins, delectable little peas, and dozens of other vegetables in this essential primer on the subject.
The Good Garden by Katie Smith Milway; Sylvie Daigneault (Illustrator) From the best-selling author of One Hen comes the inspiring story of one struggling farming family in Honduras and their journey to growing enough food to meet their needs. Based on the real story of farm transformation underway in Honduras and many other countries, this book offers children ways they can be part of the movement to grow "good gardens" and foster food security.Eleven-year-old María Luz and her family live on a small farm. This year their crop is poor, and they may not have enough to eat or to sell for other essentials, such as health care, school uniforms and books. When María's father must leave home to find work, she is left in charge of their garden. Then a new teacher comes to María's school and introduces her to sustainable farming practices that yield good crops. As María begins to use the same methods at home, she too sees improvements, which allow her family to edge their way out of the grip of the greedy "coyotes" --- the middlemen who make profits on the backs of poor farmers. Little by little, the farms --- and the hopes --- of María and her neighbors are transformed as good gardens begin to grow.
How Do Plants Grow? by Baby Professor Plants are very important to all life on Earth. They provide food, clothing, shelter and even oxygen that we breathe to live. This book discusses how plants grow, which provides the foundation of knowledge on caring for them.
Right This Very Minute by Lisl H. Detlefsen; Renee Kurilla (Illustrator) What's that you say? You're hungry? Right this very minute? Then you need a farmer. You have the stories of so many right here on your table! Award winners Lisl H. Detlefsen and Renee Kurilla's delicious celebration of food and farming is sure to inspire readers of all ages to learn more about where their food comes from--right this very minute!
Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery; Jessie Hartland (Illustrator) As featured on Humans of New York "Hartland's joyful folk-art illustrations bop from the gray-toned jazzy vibrancy of a bustling city neighborhood to the colorful harvest of a lush urban farm." --The New York Times "An inspiring picture book for youngsters with meaningful ties to the environment, sustainability, and community engagement." --Booklist Discover the incredible true story of Harlem Grown, a lush garden in New York City that grew out of an abandoned lot and now feeds a neighborhood. Once In a big city called New York In a bustling neighborhood There was an empty lot. Nevaeh called it the haunted garden. Harlem Grown tells the inspiring true story of how one man made a big difference in a neighborhood. After seeing how restless they were and their lack of healthy food options, Tony Hillery invited students from an underfunded school to turn a vacant lot into a beautiful and functional farm. By getting their hands dirty, these kids turned an abandoned space into something beautiful and useful while learning about healthy, sustainable eating and collaboration. Five years later, the kids and their parents, with the support of the Harlem Grown staff, grow thousands of pounds of fruits and vegetables a year. All of it is given to the kids and their families. The incredible story is vividly brought to life with Jessie Hartland's "charmingly busy art" (Booklist) that readers will pore over in search of new details as they revisit this poignant and uplifting tale over and over again. Harlem Grown is an independent, not-for-profit organization. The author's share of the proceeds from the sale of this book go directly to Harlem Grown.
Growing Plants in Space by Georgia Beth Have you ever heard of a space farmer? Space farmers are astronauts who have received special training to learn how to grow plants in outer space. Learn about the challenges of farming in outer space with this high-interest STEAM book created in collaboration with Smithsonian Institution.

Farm to Table

Materials for Pre-Series Lesson

Identifying Parts of a Plant

Materials for Post-Series Lesson

Farm to Table PSA

Fantastic Farm to Table Facts!

The soybean oil from one bushel of soybeans will make 2,112 crayons. One acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons!
Women make up 36% of the total number of U.S. farm operators; 58% of all farms have at least one female decision-maker.
Nearly three-quarters of all cranberries are grown in the U.S., mostly in Wisconsin, as well as in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington. It takes about 4,400 cranberries to make a gallon of juice.

Educator Guide: Farm to Table: Farm to Table Educator Guide

Farm to Table

Tips to Come Prepared

Library Finds

Essential Questions

Our Educator Guide

Sora eBooks

Farm to Table

Materials for Pre-Series Lesson

Materials for Post-Series Lesson

Fantastic Farm to Table Facts!

Connections to Standards