If you’re looking to do some beginner gardening projects for homeschool this easy composting idea will get you started. Too, learn about the amazing Dr. George Washington Carver will make it a fun day. Check out more ideas too at Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle – Upper Elementary).
And because January 5th is George Washington Carver Day, it’s the perfect time to learn about him.
Focus on his hardships and he overcame them, what he did to help people understand about crops and to help people in the south better understand soil.
George Washington Carver made many contributions to his time that are still very relevant and helpful today.
While most of us know him for his work with peanuts and sweet potatoes there is so much more to it than that.
About Dr. George Washington Carver
Dr. Carver was born into slavery and all the way through his graduate studies he struggled to find schools that would admit him because he was African American.
George Washington Carver was born sometime during the Civil War,
He was known as “Carver’s George,” and was enslaved to Susan and Moses Carver, successful Missouri farmers.
He taught and was the head of the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Institute.
Dr. Carver was a botanist, agronomist, chemist, and inventor as well as a teacher.
Also, Dr. Carver worked with people in the south to help improve the soil and maximize crop yields.
Additionally, he encouraged farmers to improve their soil without commercial fertilizers either through planting legumes that improved the nitrogen of the soil and were great sources of protein for people but also by using compost.
If you are interested in gardening or homesteading on any level, composting is an easy thing to start with.
It is literally just gathering kitchen and yard waste and tossing it in a bin to decompose into free, nutrient rich soil that is perfect for improving small or large gardens.
Composting also helps cut down on the waste in your garbage and landfills by almost 30%.
Rather than filling your bins and landfills with this type of waste, you can turn it into soil for gardens or container plants.
First, add in some books about George Washington Carver for your gardening projects for homeschool.
11 Gardening and Composting with Dr. George Washington Carver Activities and Resources
Whether you're doing a gardening unit study or want to learn about the scientist Dr. George Washington Carver, you'll love a few of these resources.
Sally is a young girl living in rural Alabama in the early 1900s, a time when people were struggling to grow food in soil that had been depleted by years of cotton production. One day, Dr. George Washington Carver shows up to help the grown-ups with their farms and the children with their school garden. He teaches them how to restore the soil and respect the balance of nature.
Explore the incredible world of plants, from the smallest seeds to the tallest trees, whilst you discover all about the weirdest, smelliest and deadliest flowers on our planet, with this engaging
encyclopedia for children aged 9-12.
Born in 1860s Missouri, nobody expected George Washington Carver to succeed. Slaves were not allowed to be educated. After the Civil War, Carver enrolled in classes and proved to be a star student. He became the first black student at Iowa State Agricultural College and later its first black professor. He went on to the Tuskegee Institute where he specialized in botany (the study of plants) and developed techniques to grow crops better.
Learn the difference between a farrow and a barrow, and what distinguishes a weanling from a yearling. Country and city mice alike will delight in Julia Rothman’s charming illustrated guide to the curious parts and pieces of rural living. Dissecting everything from the shapes of squash varieties to how a barn is constructed and what makes up a beehive to crop rotation patterns, Rothman gives a richly entertaining tour of the quirky details of country life.
Teach your kids that composting is fun with this funky guide that takes you from the nitty-gritty of compost composition and care to Worms and Ladders, a fresh take on a traditional board game.
Kids everywhere are seeking knowledge about the environment and climate change. Not only is composting becoming more common in households and residential gardens, but many school gardens feature compost piles, too
If you don’t have the yard space or just want to teach your child how composting works on a smaller scale you can grab a mini countertop Compost Kit to watch the breakdown.
The compost bin is made of high quality and durable PP material, which is environmentally safe and can withstand cold winters, perfect for gardens, farmland, yards. In addition, the PP material is very durable, can retain heat while regulating moisture, and produce fertilizer as quickly as possible.
Here are 12 spirited, easy-to-implement ideas for theme gardens that parents and kids can grow together, connecting children to nature through gardening. Each project includes a plan and the planting recipe--as well as a "Discovery Walk," activities and crafts to make with what you grow. And each is illustrated with author Sharon Lovejoy's lyrical watercolors.
Great book for beginners.
Moreover, here are some fun gardening projects to add to your unit about George Washington Carver.
More Gardening Projects for Homeschool
- How to Easily Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO
- Kinder Gardening to Celebrate Nature and Science
- Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study
- Growing a Seed Activity For Kindergarten Science Kids Activity
- How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids
- How to Make a Fun Kids Root Viewer
Then add a simple compost lesson.
How to Teach Kids to Compost
To start composting all you need is an indoor compost container.
You can use something as simple as a designated bowl for it.
However, you will want to empty it into your outdoor compost bin at least once a day to avoid drawing bugs and having it emit an odor.
If you use a small countertop compost container like this one below they have a charcoal filter up top and seal nicely.
With this you can empty it outdoors every other day or so and still have no odor.
As you have kitchen waste, just toss it in the compost container like eggs, coffee grounds, fresh fruit, and vegetable scraps, etc
Next, you will need a compost bin for outdoors, this is where the real action will take place. The combination of waste will help everything break down into a healthy soil.
Create your own or buy a ready-made one.
“Stir” your compost pile with a rake or limb every 3 to 4 days to encourage decomposition.
A properly maintained compost bin will heat up and break down items faster than one that is not kept up.
The proper percentage of compost waste is 50% green compost and 50% brown compost.
Green is fresh recently dead materials with life still evident-fresh grass, veggie and fruit scraps, manure, etc.
Brown is older dead materials like straw, twigs, dead leaves.
Finally, grab this free printable below. Laminate and put it on your refrigerator.
Too, you can add it your gardening notebook.
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