Learners will examine the local community and determine what service organizations would benefit from a gift of flowers. The learners will share what they have learned about forcing blooms with the recipient of their potted flower gift.

Anticipatory Set:Review terms from the previous lesson including: bulb, corm, rhizome, food storage.

• Distribute Bulb Preparation and Potting Instructions (Attachment One). Go over the information about necessary steps in planting bulbs.
  
  
• Divide the class into groups of four learners. Have each member of the team number off from one to four. Assign the tasks so that each member has a responsibility:
  • Member One - Put one inch of gravel in the bottom of the pot. Lightly firm two inches of soil over the gravel.
  • Member Two - Put one bulb upright in the center of the pot. Place four or five bulbs around the center bulb as told in the instructions.
  • Member Three – Fill the pot with soil and gently firm around bulbs. Soil level should be one inch from the top of the pot.
  • Member Four – Water well so the soil is moist but not draining out of the bottom hole. Place the completed pot in a designated location.
    
    

• Clean up the potting area. Member Three from each group should help clean the potting area.
  
  

• Have each learner draw pictures or diagrams to show the potting process. These will be used to share and teach the flower recipient how to force tulip bulbs.
  
  

• Review the process by asking questions such as:

• What will be necessary for the bulbs to grow?
• What do you think might happen to the tulip bulbs during the next few weeks? (prediction)
  
  

• Ask the learners to visualize what the tulips will look like when they bloom. Ask them to visualize the time of year when the flowers will be in bloom and predict how they will change the atmosphere of a room by their presence. Explain that the pots of tulips will be given to others to brighten their environment. The group will have to determine who will receive the gifts of potted flowers.
  
  

• Discuss with the students services that people might need (for example: disaster relief, food, shelter, financial counseling) and if they know of an organization, locally, nationally or internationally, that provides that service.
  
  

• Explain the four sectors of the economy: government, for-profit business, nonprofit organizations and family. Ask the learners to describe why they are all considered part of the economy and have the learners brainstorm in small groups to come up with lists of services that each sector provides. Allow groups to present their lists to the whole class.
  
  

• Ask the learners to focus on the services listed under nonprofit organizations. Distribute Categories of Nonprofit Organizations (Attachment Two) and review each category. Place each service from the brainstormed list in its proper category on the worksheet.
  
  

• Distribute phone books to groups and put the local map in a convenient place. Explain how to find nonprofit organizations in the phone book (search under Social and Human Services, Environmental Conservation and Ecological Organizations) Have students identify organizations in the local community that help needy individuals and generate a list.
  
  

• Create a master list from the student lists and have students plot the locations of the organizations on the map(s).
  
  

• Ask students what they know or have heard about the organizations.
  
  

• Have the students return to their groups and identify two organizations they think would best benefit from a donation of live flowers. Putting together the lists that were generated, conduct a simple election process to select three recipient organizations for the flowers.
  
  

• Ask for volunteers to identify a contact person at each of the three organizations. Generate a letter explaining the nature of the class project and asking if this meets a need of the organization.
  
  

• When letters have been returned indicating that an organization might want to participate, have the class decide to which if not all of the organizations they will donate their flowers. Plan for the delivery later in the year when the flowers are blooming. Remember to include the student drawings from Lesson One: Structure and Function of Bulbs, Corms and Rhizomes when the bulbs, corms and rhizomes were dissected and sketched.
  
  

• To sum up the learning from this lesson, ask the learners to write a journal entry. It should include information about the potting process, examples of the services provided the four sectors of the economy, the types of nonprofits and examples of nonprofits in the community. Each learner should also imagine how he or she will feel when the flowers are blooming and given to a nonprofit later in the year. As a conclusion to the journal entry, the final paragraph should discuss, “I am a philanthropist through my work on these tulips because...”

None for this lesson.