Waldorf Block: G5: Fifth Grade Botany Parts I & II

This engaging Fifth Grade Waldorf Botany Block provides a comprehensive and immersive journey into the fascinating world of plants, designed specifically for the developing fifth grader. More than just textbook learning, this block uses the unique Waldorf approach to awaken a sense of wonder and curiosity about the natural world, fostering observation skills and preparing students for more complex scientific studies. Join Waldorf teacher Mr. Andrea for a journey of discovery through the world of plants. In this first block, we will enter into a living imagination of the plant's role between sun and earth. We will grow up with the increasingly complex forms of growing things from fungi through flowering plants. We will spend a year with a maple tree. The students will learn how the world of plants is an outward reflection of inward human soul qualities. 

Discover the Waldorf Fifth Grade Botany Block: Nurturing a Deeper Connection to the Plant World
This engaging Fifth Grade Waldorf Botany Block provides a comprehensive and immersive journey into the fascinating world of plants, designed specifically for the developing fifth grader. More than just textbook learning, this block uses the unique Waldorf approach to awaken a sense of wonder and curiosity about the natural world, fostering observation skills and preparing students for more complex scientific studies.
Key Features of the Earthschooling Waldorf Fifth Grade Botany Block:
  • Hands-on and Experiential Learning: Students explore plant life through sensory experiences, including seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching, connecting directly to nature.
  • Study of Plant Diversity: This block introduces a wide array of plants, progressing from "lower plants" like algae, fungi, lichen, mosses, and ferns to "higher plants" including trees and flowering plants.
  • Goethean Approach to Observation: The curriculum encourages careful observation of plant forms and structures, helping students develop the ability to discern characteristics like those of monocots and dicots.
  • Emphasis on Growth and Development: The curriculum mirrors the fifth grader's developmental stage, focusing on themes of growth, change, and the transition from dependence to more independence.
  • Integrated Learning: The Botany block incorporates various artistic activities, including drawing, painting, and botanical printmaking, allowing students to creatively express their understanding. Storytelling and poetry are also woven in to engage the child's imagination and deepen their connection to the material.
  • Creation of a Main Lesson Book: Students create personalized main lesson books, showcasing their learning through drawings, writing, and artistic representations, serving as a unique record of their educational journey.
Topics Covered Include:
  • Monocots and Dicots
  • Ferns, Fungi, Algae, Moss, and Lichens
  • Flowers, Fruits, and Vegetables
  • Trees
  • Seeds, Germination, and Photosynthesis
  • Plant Classification
  • Plant Parts (leaves, flowers, stems, roots) and their functions

This Earthschooling Waldorf Fifth Grade Botany Block offers a rich and rewarding learning experience that inspires students to become observant and appreciative of the plant world around them.

"Join Waldorf teacher Mr. Andrea for a journey of discovery through the world of plants. In this first block, we will enter into a living imagination of the plant's role between sun and earth. We will grow up with the increasingly complex forms of growing things from fungi through flowering plants. We will spend a year with a maple tree. The students will learn how the world of plants is an outward reflection of inward human soul qualities. Each Living Lesson set is a complete video course for the block and includes chalkboard drawings, teacher instruction, main lesson book drawings, music, watercolor, and more. The exact contents of the block can be found below in the description."

Living Lessons are video lessons where a teacher leads the class through the main lessons for this grade. You can use these lessons as examples to follow for your own teaching or can use them as supplements to your own teaching (we all need a break now and then. I would have loved to have these available on days I was ill or was taking care of my fussy baby). Scroll down to the class listings below to see the full syllabus and to view some free samples!

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Your Instructor


Nicholas Andrea
Nicholas Andrea

Nicholas Andrea now resides in the lush woodlands of northern Delaware with his family after spending the last six years teaching at the Asheville Waldorf School in North Carolina as a grades, music, and aftercare teacher. Nicholas earned his Waldorf Elementary and Music certifications at Sunbridge Institute in Spring Valley, NY. He is passionate about the Waldorf curriculum and believes in its ability to raise capable, compassionate, and creative human beings. After the birth of their son last October, Nicholas and his partner Cassie wanted more time at home with their baby which has led Nicholas to finding Earthschooling.

Nicholas is also passionate about music, speech arts, and history. Known in other circles as “The Bard,” Nicholas’s lifelong love of music has led him to a variety of instruments including world percussion, dijeridoo, flutes of various kinds, and Irish and Scottish bagpipes. He is also a published poet, and he spends his spare time plumbing the mysteries of world history in order to understand how we got where we are and where we go from here.


Course Curriculum


  Free First Lesson Samples (Members Ignore This Section)
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  Main Opening Verse
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  Fifth Grade Botany Block
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