Reference · Teachers and curriculum reviewers
Standards alignment
The Kansas science standards each grade band addresses on a Meadowlark Farm visit, and the activity that addresses them.
Version 1.0 · Updated 3 September 2026
How we use this
Kansas adopted the Next Generation Science Standards as its state science standards, so we plan each visit against the performance expectations for the grade band that is coming. Tell us which ones you are working on and we build the hands-on block around them.
Nothing below is a lecture. Each expectation is attached to something students do — walking a row, pulling fruit off a tree, sampling the pond edge, running a press — because the argument for leaving the building is that some things cannot be taught from a desk.
This sheet is written for a curriculum reviewer. If your approval process needs the expectations mapped to a specific unit or pacing guide, send it to us and we will do that mapping with you.
Early elementary — grades K–2
Walk the rows, sort what a plant needs, and meet the animals that live in the orchard.
| Code | Performance expectation |
|---|---|
| K-LS1-1 | What plants and animals need to survive |
| K-ESS3-1 | How living things depend on their place |
| 2-LS2-1 | Plants need water and light to grow |
| 2-LS4-1 | Diversity of life in a habitat |
Upper elementary — grades 3–5
Trace an apple from bud to press, then follow where the matter came from and where it goes.
| Code | Performance expectation |
|---|---|
| 3-LS1-1 | Life cycles of plants and animals |
| 5-LS1-1 | Plants get materials for growth from air and water |
| 5-LS2-1 | Movement of matter through an ecosystem |
| 5-ESS3-1 | Protecting earth's resources and environment |
Middle school — grades 6–8
Sample the prairie edge and the orchard floor, then argue about what the land is doing and why.
| Code | Performance expectation |
|---|---|
| MS-LS2-1 | Resource availability and organisms in an ecosystem |
| MS-LS2-4 | How change to an ecosystem affects its populations |
| MS-ESS3-3 | Monitoring and minimising human impact |
Beyond science
Visits regularly support work outside the science standards, and teachers are welcome to lean on any of it:
- Kansas history and social studies
- Agriculture as the state's economy, land use and settlement, and where a family's food actually comes from.
- Mathematics
- Yield estimates, spacing and area in the orchard rows, weights and unit pricing at the farm store.
- Writing and observation
- Field sketching and observational writing — students record what they see rather than what they expect to see.
- Career and technical education
- Food production, horticulture, silviculture, and the operating side of a small agricultural business.
Who to ask
Questions about a visit, a policy, or an accommodation go to either of us directly. Texting is the fastest way to reach the farm — we are usually outside.
- Tom Brown
- Owner — tom@themeadowlarkfarm.com
- Sayako Schwing
- Production Specialist — sayako.kanie@gmail.com
- Farm phone
- (316) 518-8907 — text or call
- Address
- 11249 SW 160th St, Rose Hill, KS 67133