CU2-6

2:6 **Title:** Solar Calendar – Relation to agricultural cycles 1.  **Gain the attention of the learner** Bring in a variety of vegetables, ask students to guess how long it takes this plant to grow from seed to mature plant. 2.  **Review relevant past learning** What plants did we find that were special to the current season of the year 3.  **Present new material:** Plants need sunlight, heat, water, soil and time to grow. Farmers plan their activities by how things are planted and when they are harvested. 4.  **Provide guided practice** Before class, read through the catalogs and cut out pictures of plants and sort them in envelopes by their harvest date if they were planted at the end of the frost. On the back of each picture write the name of the month it would mature. Ask students one by one to pull a picture from the envelope. Determine the length of time from planting to harvest and cut a sting of the appropriate length. Clip one end of the string and the picture to the solar calendar scroll based on its harvest date. Clip the other end of the string based on its planting date. 5.  **Provide independent practice** Have students select a season of the year. Each child should draw a picture of a garden based on the season it would mature.
 * Goals:** Students will review the planting/harvesting schedules and domestic animal life cycles in relation to the seasons and the seasonal holidays.
 * Materials:** Solar calendar scroll, seed catalogs, crayons, colored string, paper clips, scissors
 * Close the lesson **Discuss the relation of the growing season with the yearly seasons. What happens if planting occurs a few months early or late? Note the dependence on the solar calendar for good harvests.