This philanthropy and arts unit ties in with a teacher's existing unit about plants and the life cycle. Use this unit as a supplement or as a stand-alone review about the needs of plants, parts of the plant, and the life cycle of a plant. Before starting this unit, plant flower seeds (marigolds are ideal) enough in advance that they are already flowering. The students will be exposed to music, visual arts, pre-writing and writing activities. Students will participate in a service-learning project involving the beautification of the community. Students will collaboratively decide on a location to plant flowers to further their understanding of needs and wants in the community.

The learners will:

• identify the basic needs and purposes of flowers (and plants).
  
  
• differentiate between wants and needs (of people).
  
  
• participate in a trust-building exercise.
  
  
• role-play the movements of flowers.
  
  
• listen to music while creating flowers with a partner.
  
  
• decide on a philanthropic act related to flowers.
  
  
• recognize the difference between private property and common resources.
  
  
• use a problem-solving model to choose a site for planting.
  
  
• plant flowers for others and attend to the needs of the flowers.
  
  
• summarize the experience and reflect on the value of philanthropy through drawing, discussing, and/or writing about three benefits of philanthropy to both the recipient and the giver.

• See rubric from Lesson Three: Flowering Philanthropy.
  
  
• Teacher observation of students in discussions and cooperative activities