8-MS-ESS2-1:
Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’ Food Packaging Specialist: In this lesson students will learn that product packaging is a balance between function, food safety, and economics by designing a protective package for shipping perishable fruit. Each package will be presented to the class for evaluation, and the best design will be shipped to test the product's durability.

8-MS-ESS2-2:
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.

Watersheds, Soil Profiles and Erosion: Students develop an understanding of what factors impact water quality within watersheds, what soil types/profiles are most susceptible to erosion, what factors impact water quality within watersheds, and how to mitigate erosion on susceptible soils.

8-MS-ESS3-1:
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

Land and Soil in the Ecosystem: Students use an apple to represent the Earth and discover how our land resources are used. Through critical thinking, students discover why topsoil is a nonrenewable resource, the importance of soil to our food supply, and factors that impact topsoil distribution in different regions.

Soil and Sustainability: Students are introduced to the Dust Bowl and determine how to avoid another event like it in the future as they study soil texture, particle sizes, soil nutrients, and pH.

8-MS-ESS3-3:
Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing human impact on the environment.

Aeroponic Engineering and Vertical Farming: Students will use the Engineering Design Process to develop and construct an aeroponic garden to grow a food crop. Students will develop and apply an understanding of plant anatomy and physiology related to plant growth and ultimately discuss the possibilities and limitations of using vertical farming to produce our food.

At Home on the Range: Students will learn about rangelands by participating in a hands-on activity to grow their own grass to represent a beef or sheep ranch.

Climate Change Phenomena: Bananas in Our Breadbasket?: Students will explore the carbon cycle and evaluate associated phenomena of climate as they discover the impact climate change could have on the farms that produce our food.

Digging into Nutrients: In this lesson, students will gain background knowledge of the nutrient requirements of plants, how those nutrients are obtained by the plant, what farmers must do if the nutrients are not available in soils, and current issues related to agricultural production.

Fertilizers and the Environment: In this lesson students will recognize that fertile soil is a limited resource to produce food for a growing population, describe the role fertilizer plays to increase food productivity, distinguish between organic and commercial fertilizers, and recognize how excess nutrients are harmful to the environment. 

Growing Pulses: This lesson introduces agriculture as a managed system that has environmental impacts, and how farmers employ practices such as growing pulses to minimize these impacts.

Journey 2050 Lesson 1: Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture: Students will explore the core question, “How will we sustainably feed nearly 10 billion people by the year 2050?” as they discover what sustainable agriculture is and how it is critical to securing a stable food supply and future for a growing population.

Journey 2050 Lesson 2: Soil Nutrients: Students will identify nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus as primary soil nutrients necessary in the production of abundant and healthy foods, describe various methods of replenishing soil nutrients that have been depleted by plant growth, discover how overall plant health impacts a plant’s ability to resist disease and pests and describe what best management practices are in agriculture to improve overall sustainability. 

Journey 2050 Lesson 3: Water: Students will discuss the limited amount of fresh water on earth, identify how best management practices can reduce water consumption, discuss the need for water conservation and protection related to population growth and agriculture, and compare and contrast methods of irrigation for water conservation.

Journey 2050 Lesson 5: Land Use: Students will recognize that arable land (ideal land for growing crops) is a limited resource, identify best management practices that can be applied to every stakeholder’s land-use decisions; and analyze and discuss the impacts of food waste on our environment.

Learn, Protect and Promote Water!: In this lesson students learn about water sources, water pollution, and water protection. Students participate in an activity where they demonstrate the water cycle and see the potential for our water supply to become contaminated.

Overfishing and Aquaculture: Students will discover the sources of various fish and seafood, compare wild-caught and farm-raised aquaculture systems, and use a simulation to learn how overfishing can damage the ocean ecosystem.

Properties of Soils: Students examine the components of different soils and recognize how sand, silt, and clay particles effect air space and water absorption.

The Remarkable Ruminant: In this lesson, students will follow the farm to fork process of producing beef, learn how cattle and other ruminants convert grass into nutrient-rich foods such as milk and meat, discover ways cattle recycle food waste, and identify careers in the beef cattle industry.

Watersheds, Soil Profiles and Erosion: Students develop an understanding of what factors impact water quality within watersheds, what soil types/profiles are most susceptible to erosion, what factors impact water quality within watersheds, and how to mitigate erosion on susceptible soils.

Water Quality: Students investigate the effects of added soil nutrients on water quality, perform chemical and physical tests on water samples, collect and identify macro invertebrates from a freshwater system and compare physical, chemical and biological factors of an aquatic ecosystem to determine water health.

8-MS-LS1-4:
Construct and use argument(s) based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of survival and successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.

Flower Power: Students will observe the anatomical structures of flowers and explain a flower's role in plant growth and reproduction, as well as their connection to our food supply.

Photoperiod Phenomena: Students will understand how photoperiodism impacts plants and animals in the environment and learn how egg farms use this science to manage the production of eggs by their hens.

Plant Propagation: Students will learn about two types of plant propagation–seed planting (sexual) and stem cuttings (asexual) and recognize the genetic differences in these processes, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

8-MS-LS1-5:
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

At Home on the Range: Students will learn about rangelands by participating in a hands-on activity to grow their own grass to represent a beef or sheep ranch.

Applying Heredity Concepts: In this lesson, students will complete monohybrid and dihybrid Punnett squares in preparation for taking on a challenge to breed cotton plants that produce naturally blue colored cotton.

Digging into Nutrients: In this lesson, students will gain background knowledge of the nutrient requirements of plants, how those nutrients are obtained by the plant, what farmers must do if the nutrients are not available in soils, and current issues related to agricultural production.

Growing America: Students determine corn anatomy and function of plant parts, identify stages of plant development in corn, and research how temperature plays a role in corn growth as they calculate growing degree units (GDUs) for a region.

Sheep See, Sheep Do: Students will explore the difference between inherited and acquired traits and understand why knowledge of inherited and acquired traits is important to agriculture. Activities in this lesson include trait sorting, two short movies, a PTC taste test, and student presentations.

The Right Solution: In this lesson, students will understand concepts about solutes, solvents, and parts per million as they learn how fertilizer solution is properly calculated and applied.

Understanding Bacteria: This lesson introduces students to food safety, the 4 Cs of Food Safety, the Farm-to-Table Continuum, who’s responsible for keeping our food safe, and the link between food safety and other content areas. Students will also be challenged to hypothesize about where most bacteria are found and develop awareness that bacteria are everywhere and that various surfaces might have different levels of organisms.

Use of Biotechnology in Selecting the Right Plants: Students will simulate how a type of biotechnology called Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) is used to identify crop plants that have desirable traits such as sweet tasting fruit or natural resistance to a pest or disease.

Watersheds, Soil Profiles and Erosion: Students develop an understanding of what factors impact water quality within watersheds, what soil types/profiles are most susceptible to erosion, what factors impact water quality within watersheds, and how to mitigate erosion on susceptible soils.

What? No Soil?: After learning the five basic requirements of plant growth, students discuss terms related to hydroponics. Students then build and maintain hydroponic units from soda bottles.

8-MS-PS1-3:
Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

Clothes on the Grow: Students will gain a broad understanding of the types and sources of different fibers, examining their origins and observing their differences. Activities in this lesson include examining clothing and clothing labels and observing how different types of fabrics burn. 

Grow it Now, Drive it Later?: Students will discover potential careers in agriculture with a focus on the growing field of biofuel development.