Connect, Explore, Engage- Three Sisters Garden

Created Feb. 6, 2024 by Sandy Benton, Beth Hoagland, Erika Suo

Connect, Explore, Engage Template-Three Sisters Garden

Students will read and discuss the legends of three inseparable sisters, corn, bean, and squash, who only grow and thrive together. This relates to the tradition of interplanting corn, beans, and squash in the same mounds, which is widespread among Native American farming societies.  It is a sustainable system that provided long-term soil fertility and a healthy diet for generations.  The students will also develop an understanding of symbiotic relationships found between organisms living in the same ecosystems.  


Unit Title:

Growing a Three Sisters Garden

Abstract:

Students will read and discuss the legends of three inseparable sisters, corn, bean, and squash, who only grow and thrive together. This relates to the tradition of interplanting corn, beans, and squash in the same mounds, which is widespread among Native American farming societies.  It is a sustainable system that provided long-term soil fertility and a healthy diet for generations.  The students will also develop an understanding of symbiotic relationships found between organisms living in the same ecosystems.  

Grade Level:

2-5

Lesson author(s):

Erika Suo, esuo@sshore.org

Instructional Materials Needed (if applicable):

Renee's Garden- Three Sisters Garden

Legend of the Three Sisters- Reading Passage

Lesson Plan- Three Sisters Garden

3 Legends of the Three Sisters Reading Passages

Three Sisters Investigation Worksheet

Three Sisters Gardens and Other Symbiotic Relationships Siftr

Symbiotic Relationships PowerPoint

Wisconsin Standards for English Language Arts Addressed (ELA Full Document or Literacy in All Subject Areas Full Document):

Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

Wisconsin Standards for Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Standards Addressed (Full Document or searchable spreadsheet):

ELS.EX2.A.i Analyze a system to break it down into its component parts to understand their interconnectedness in forming the whole system. Identify a familiar system, differentiate and relate ideas, identify nested systems, consider perspectives and alternative boundaries, and name parts of relationships. Describe how perspective is comprised of both a point and a view.

Evidence of Need:

The students need to develop an understanding of the symbiotic relationships between organisms in various ecosystems.


Evidence of Success:

The students will be able to explain the symbiotic relationship between the corn, beans, and squash in a Three Sisters Garden.  They will analyze the character traits of the three sisters in the folktale.  They will compare the interdependence of the characters in the story to that of the plants in the garden ecosystem.  Students will observe the codependence of the plants as they grow in their own Three Sisters Garden.  

Inquiry Experience 1

Setting and Estimated Time:  Classroom, 60 minutes.

Learning Target:  I can describe the character traits of each sister in the folktale:  The Three Sisters.  I can explain the central message or moral of the story by retelling the key details.  


Formative Assessment:  Students will complete the Three Sisters Investigation Worksheet.


Procedures:

Activity 1: Legend of Three Sisters Folktale

  1. Hand out the Three Sisters Investigation worksheet and facilitate a class discussion that allows students to share what they know about corn, beans, and squash. (Examples could include: Corn – tall plant, kernels grow on ears, yellow in color, etc.) Instruct students to list the items in the chart. Feel free to share the information found in the Background Agricultural Connections section of the lesson or have students research the three crops using the internet or other resources to add to their chart.
  2. Divide your class into groups of 3 or 4. Give each group one of the attached Three Sisters Legends handout. Instruct the students to read through their legend as a group and record characteristics of each sister in their chart on the Three Sisters Investigation worksheet. After the groups have read and discussed in a group, have each group share the characteristics of each sister (plant) with the whole class. They should also decide which crop each sister in their legend represents.
  3. As a class, discuss how the legends relate to how the three sisters can help each other when planted together. For example: Several of the legends describe the sisters “becoming stronger together” or “three sisters helping and loving each other”. Examples of how the actual crops benefit each other include the corn providing a trellis or pole for the bean to climb. The bean providing nitrogen to the soil to help the corn grow. The squash prevents weeds from growing and deters pests.

Inquiry Experience 2   

Setting and Estimated Time:  School Garden Area, 60 minutes

Learning Target:  I can plant a Three Sisters Garden and describe the codependence of the plants in their ecosystem.  


Formative Assessment:  The students will draw a diagram of a Three Sisters Garden including captions that explain the symbiotic relationship of the plants.  


Procedure:

Activity 2: Planting a Three Sisters Garden

School Garden:

  1. Once the ground has thawed in the spring and the danger of frost has passed, select a site that has direct sunlight for at least 8 hours a day.
  2. Build a small mound of soil about 12 inches high and three feet in diameter. If you have space for multiple mounds, each mound should be 3 to 4 feet apart in all directions.
  3. Soak four to seven corn seeds overnight and then plant them about 6 inches apart in the center of each mound. (You’ll eventually thin to three or four seedlings). Many Native people honor the tradition of giving thanks to the “Four directions” by orientating corn seeds to the north, south, east and west.
  4. After about two weeks, when the corn is at least 4 inches high, soak and then plant six pole bean seeds in a circle about 6 inches away from the corn. (You’ll eventually thin to three or four been plants.) At the same time plant four squash or pumpkin seeds next to the mound, about a foot away from the beans, eventually thinning to one.
  5. Maintain your three sisters garden. As plants grow, gently weed around them. Make sure the soil is moist. If beans aren’t winding their way around the corn, move tendrils to the corn stalk. Be sure to thin the plants once they are several inches tall.

Inquiry Experience 3

Setting and Estimated Time:  School Grounds or Home, 60 minutes

Learning Target:  I can identify symbiotic relationships in nature.

Formative Assessment:  Students will upload pictures of symbiotic relationships that they see in nature to the Siftr app.   


Procedure:

Activity 3:

1.  Share the Symbiotic Relationships slide share to explain/show examples of the five major types of these relationships found in nature.  https://www.slideshare.net/emneistadt/ecology-symbiotic-relationships  

2.  Show students how to use the Siftr app.  Take them outdoors to find symbiotic relationships.  https://siftr.org/36120/

3.  Tell students to find other examples to upload at home or in other places around your community.

Double check your plan for evidence of high quality instructional ELA materials as outlined by EdReports.org:


Return to top