SL1:
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Animal or Plant?: Students investigate the sources of different foods and examine the importance of eating a variety of nutritious foods.

A “Sour” Subject: Students will learn about the growth and production of citrus fruits and participate in an activity where they use skills of observation and mathematical computation to compare and contrast grapefruits and lemons.

Abraham Lincoln Clears a Path: His Agricultural Legacy: Students diagram the life of President Abraham Lincoln, including his childhood, presidency, and role during the Civil War, and describe his agricultural legacy and impact on agriculture today.

Backpack Garden: Through project-based learning, students use school resources to construct and grow a school garden to supplement the school Backpack Program with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Beef Basics: Students will explain the importance of the beef cattle industry, including the products cattle produce, the production process from farm to plate, and how cattle can utilize and obtain energy from grass and other forage.

Bring Home the Blue, Not the Flu!: Students investigate how diseases are spread, and discover how to prevent transmission between humans and animals.

Build it Better: Students will investigate animal handling preferences and design a cattle corral system that is durable, efficient and effective. Students will also discover the skills needed to be an agricultural engineer.

Build-a-Calf Workshop: Students will explore concepts of heredity in beef cattle and identify dominant and recessive traits.

Bunches of Berries: Students investigate a variety of berries, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

By Land, Air, or Sea: Students will discover how agricultural commodities are transported from producers to consumers.

Cheesemaking: From Liquid to Solid: Students make fresh mozzarella cheese and discover the science (changing a liquid to a solid), art, and craft involved in the development of specialty cheese.

Cowabunga! All About Dairy Breeds: Students will understand breed characteristics and countries of origin for five different breeds of dairy cattle. Students will discover why dairy farmers choose individual breeds for specific purposes.

Cracking Open the Story of Nuts: Students investigate a variety of nuts, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

Cultures, Food, and Communities Around the World: Students explore different cultures around the world, compare worldwide communities with local communities, and explain the interrelationship between the environment and community development.

Dark Days: Students will examine the modern and historical importance of soil erosion in Utah and on the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl.

Desktop Greenhouses: Students will investigate the importance of light to plants by creating a desktop greenhouse investigation and exploring the process of photosynthesis.

Discover Christmas Trees: This lesson is composed of six learning activities to teach about the Christmas tree. Science, history and geography topics are used to explore the history of the Christmas tree, life cycle of a conifer, types of trees and how they adapt, work on a Christmas tree farm, and the ecology of conifer trees.

Do You Know GMO?: Students explore the process of genetic engineering and discover the ten genetically modified crops approved in the United States.

Drone in High-Tech Farming: Students will discover the science behind how a drone works, explore how drones are used in agriculture, and program and operate a drone for the purpose of surveying a field.

Edible Numbers: Students will develop a working vocabulary regarding food, categorize foods by their sources, examine grocery ads, learn about food production, and apply what they learned by analyzing foods they eat at a particular meal.

Eggs: From Hen to Home: Students will trace the production path of eggs—beginning on the farm and ending in their home. Students will identify the culinary uses and nutritional benefits of eggs.

Energy’s Journey from Farm to You: Students discover how plants use energy from the sun to change air and water into matter needed for growth. Using dairy cows as an example, students investigate how animals obtain energy from the plants they eat to produce milk for human consumption. Further exploration is facilitated by a live virtual visit to a dairy farm or the option of viewing a pre-recorded virtual dairy farm tour.

Farmers Market Finds: Students explore the value of farmers markets to local communities and discover the benefits of locally-grown food.

Farming for Energy: Students identify renewable and nonrenewable energy sources and investigate how farms can produce renewable energy.

Farming in a Glove: Students observe how a seed sprouts and investigate the conditions necessary for germination to occur.

Food Miles: Students will explore the economic and environmental benefits of buying locally grown food.

FoodMASTER: Eggs: Students will examine the process of egg production from hen to home, explore the parts of an egg, perform measurements of circumference and height, compare raw egg whites to egg white foams, and prepare meringue cookies.

FoodMASTER: Fats and Oils: Students will identify the farm source of common dietary fats; compare nutrition facts labels and perform a taste test of various salad dressings; learn the chemistry of emulsification; and compare regular ice cream, reduced-fat ice cream and fat-free ice cream.

FoodMASTER: Fruits: Students will identify fruits that grow on a tree, bush or vine, classify fruits as pome, drupe, berry, melon, or citrus, perform an experiment about the browning of fruit, and learn drying plums to make prunes.

FoodMASTER: Grains: Students will learn the steps of making flour, compare the nutritional value of different cereals, compare cooked and uncooked rice, and identify the parts of a whole grain.

FoodMASTER: Meal Management: Students will choose foods from each of the five food groups to create a meal and calculate the cost of serving the meal to five people and to one person. Students will then be challenged to plan a meal that costs less than $1.50 per person. Students will prepare, evaluate and eat a lunch meal.

FoodMASTER: Meat, Poultry, and Fish: Students will learn how animals utilize nutrients and energy from food humans cannot digest and convert it to meat—a food rich in zinc, iron and protein. Students will discover how hamburger is formulated for leanness, compare two kinds of hotdogs and learn about fish.

FoodMASTER: Milk and Cheese: Students will taste test four different milks while comparing color, texture, taste and cost. In addition, students will read the four milk food labels and complete a table comparing calories, fat and calcium found in the milks. The class will make cottage cheese by heating milk to the proper temperature and adding an acid (vinegar) to speed up the separation of curds and whey.

FoodMASTER: Vegetables: Students will measure the weight and length or circumference of various vegetables. After studying the vegetables, students will classify the vegetables based on plant parts and explore chemical reactions from cooking colored vegetables in acidic and basic water. Students will also use a variety of vegetables to prepare soup.

Get Growing: Students design a green bean planter and explore planting specifications for green bean seeds.

Get Popping!: Students will discover how popcorn is grown and explore the phenomenon of how popcorn pops.

Got Guts?: Students will investigate the different digestive systems of livestock and learn how animals have unique nutritional needs based on these structures. Students will also discover the responsibilities of an animal nutritionist.

Grocery Store Problem Solving: Students will use basic mathematical skills to solve problems related to the cost of food while integrating geography and nutrition to enhance learning. Activities include analyzing grocery ads, assessing the nutrition and cost of meals, and exploring diets around the world.

Growing Grains: Students investigate a variety of grains, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

Growing Our State History: Students investigate what makes a community liveable and explore the influence of agriculture on the history of their state.

High-Tech Farming: Students will discover technologies that are used on farms to increase efficiency and yields and decrease costs and environmental impact.

Homes on the Range: Students will design a board game that reinforces how rangelands provide habitat for livestock and wildlife while benefiting humans, animals and plants. Students will also learn about the responsibilities of a range manager.

Honey Bees: A Pollination Simulation: Students will identify the parts of a honey bee, the stages of its life cycle and its role in pollination.

How Does Your Garden Grow?: Students synthesize what they know about soils, plants and the environment to plan a garden, present their plans and explain why they made the decisions that they did.

How Weather Impacts Farms: Students explore different types of weather and discover how weather conditions can impact farms.

Inherited Traits in the Living Corn Necklace: Students will observe the growth of Indian corn and popcorn seeds, observe similarities and differences between the two varieties, and discuss heredity.

It’s a MOO-stery!: Students will make observations and learn about historic tools used on a dairy farm to store and process milk into cheese and butter.

Let’s Raise a Barn: Students will explore the benefits and functions of different types of barns and use problem-solving skills to build a model of a hay barn that meets specific requirements.

Luscious Leaves: The purpose of this lesson is to review the functions of plant leaves and to develop an understanding of leaves as edible parts of some plants. Many edible leaves are part of a healthy diet and are a good source of vitamin A.

Machines and People: The purpose of this activity is for students to define the word "machine" and understand how machines are used in agriculture to produce food and fiber. They will observe a variety of machines and compare and contrast them.

Machines in Agriculture: The purpose of this activity is for students to make connections between the six types of simple machines and the complex machinery used to produce food and fiber.

Made to Move: Students will use simple machines to examine the relationships between force and motion. Students will complete a science journal and participate in group activities demonstrating the use of simple machines.

Many Types of Farms: Students will explore the sources of a variety of agricultural products and discover that farms can be diverse in size and in products that are grown and raised.

Milk Makin’ Math: Students will learn about the numerous career opportunities involved in the dairy industry. They will also practice real world math problems related to specific careers within the industry.

My Farm Web: Students use the visual representation of a web to explore the role of agriculture in their daily lives and understand how most of the necessities of life can be traced back to the farm.

Natural and Managed Ecosystems: Students will compare the differences between natural and managed ecosystems and describe ways in which farmers can protect agricultural ecosystems.

Nuts About Peanuts!: Students label the parts of a peanut plant on a diagram, follow step-by-step instructions to plant a peanut and use a chart to record the growth of peanut plants.

Oilseed Crops: Students investigate a variety of oilseed crops, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

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.

Pancakes!: Students describe the physical properties of materials and observe physical and chemical changes as they examine the ingredients in pancakes and how maple syrup is harvested from trees.

Peaches: What’s All the Fuzz About?: Students explore peach production in various regions of the United States, describe how peaches are produced and processed from farm to table, and explain how internal and external structures of peaches support survival and growth.

Pizza Time!: This lesson uses pizza as a basis for learning about agriculture, geography and mathematics.

Plant Growth Affects the Soil: Students will recognize nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as soil nutrients, learn that plants use soil nutrients as they grow, and discover that fertilizer replaces depleted nutrients. Students will also analyze information on seed packets to learn more about the needs that different plants have for growth.

Plant-Soil Interactions: Students will discover how plants and soils interact by observing root growth, considering the function of a plant’s roots, modeling the movement of water into the roots, and investigating the movement of water and nutrients throughout the plant.

Plants Around You: Students will categorize plants into groups, describe what plants need for healthy growth and start their own garden by planting seeds inside a cup.

Preserving the Powerful Pepper: Students preserve peppers to create their own probiotic food, observe properties of preserved foods and states of matter changes that occur, and discover the health benefits of probiotics.

Properties of Soils: Students will discover that different soils have different characteristics, examine different types of soil, investigate soil components, and observe how air space allows soils to hold and transmit water.

Pumpkins… Not Just For Halloween: Students will learn a variety of subjects including history, science, nutrition and math through the study of pumpkins. Activities include estimating the size and weight of pumpkins, sprouting pumpkin seeds and making pumpkin pie in a bag.

Right This Very Minute: Students will read “Right This Very Minute”—a table-to-farm book about food production and farming—and diagram the path of production for a processed product. Students will study a map to discover where different commodities are grown and write a thank-you letter to farmers in their local community.

Robots in High-Tech Farming: Students will discover the four main components of robots, explore how robots are used in agriculture, and program and operate a robot to address a farming challenge.

Secrets to Healthy Soils: Students will understand that the diversity of life in soil contributes to soil fertility.

Seeds, Miraculous Seeds: Students will develop an appreciation and understanding of the natural development of seeds, learn the anatomy and function of each seed part through a seed dissection, and classify seeds as monocots or dicots.

Significant Surroundings: Students will identify basic animal behaviors and hypothesize what causes them. Students will also discover the responsibilities of an animal physiologist.

Six Kinds Do It All: The purpose of this lesson is for students to become familiar with the six kinds of simple machines—the inclined plane, pulley, screw, wedge, lever, and wheel and axle. These machines are combined to form complex machines.

Sorghum at School: The Sorghum Story: Students will investigate sorghum, including the stages of plant growth, production in the United States, health benefits, geography, and positive environmental impacts.

Sun, to Moo, to You!: Students will investigate the transfer of energy in the process of making milk. Students will understand that there are different forms of energy, that living things need energy to survive, and that the primary source of energy is the sun.

Tasty Testing: Students discover the geographic regions where basil, oregano, and cilantro have cultural significance; understand the role of evaporation in herb drying; and recognize the different properties of dried and fresh herbs.

The Chemistry of Fruits and Vegetables: Students examine fruit and vegetable preparation and storage.

The Great Debate: The Reintroduction of Gray Wolves: Students discover multiple perspectives concerning the reintroduction of gray wolves into the wild by researching pros and cons and participating in a debate.

The Rotten Truth: Students will observe and explain the decomposition process and learn the methods and ingredients for making compost.

The TART Cherry on Top: Students will explore tart cherry production in the United States and explain why producers and consumers are needed in the cherry industry.

The Ultimate Efficient Recycler: Students will examine how cows help conserve natural resources by identifying the important role dairy cattle have in reducing, reusing and recycling food processing by-products. Students will identify each of the stages in the ecological cycle and the important role of decomposers.

Think in Pictures: Like Dr. Grandin: Students will compare agricultural inventors and inventions by creating a timeline of important dates, explore cattle flight zones, and work as agricultural engineers to design a corral system that uses the research of Dr. Temple Grandin.

Three Sisters Garden: Students will investigate the "three sisters" crops (corn, beans and squash) and explore the benefit of planting these crops together. Students will also learn about Native American Legends and plant growth.

Topsy-Turvy Soybeans: Students will observe how plants respond to gravity by germinating soybeans in a CD case and rotating the case as they grow.

Tree-mendous Fruits: Students investigate a variety of tree fruits, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

Truth or Hogwash?: Students will work in teams to play a game in which they answer true/false questions about swine and then research and develop questions of their own.

Types by Texture: Students will learn about soil texture and determine the texture of several soil samples.

Understanding MyPlate: Students will explore appropriate serving size and learn how to make good dietary decisions by understanding the components of nutrition as illustrated by MyPlate.

Vegetables: Tops and Bottoms: Students investigate a variety of vegetables, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

Wad-a-Watershed: Students will be able to understand the basic geography of a watershed, how water flows through the system and how people can impact the quality of our water.

Water Supply: Students observe the change of water states as it moves through the water cycle.

What Makes Up Your Profile?: Students will recognize soil changes in relationship to depth and understand factors associated with soil formation.

What’s Bugging You?: Students will learn the definition of a pest, examine how pests affect other living organisms and the environment, and identify how pests are managed in agricultural settings.

What’s in Soil?: Students will identify the components of soil and demonstrate that soil contains air and water.

Wheat and Dolls: Students will learn how wheat is grown and processed into flour and other wheat products and create wheat puppets to perform a play.

Whipping Butter into Shape: Students will investigate the physical change that occurs as milk is turned into butter.

Wild Rice: Students explore the life cycle of wild rice, compare the steps of the traditional Native wild rice harvest with a cultivated wild rice harvest, and create their own wild rice bowls.

Working Worms: Students observe how earthworms speed the decomposition of organic matter and learn how this adds nutrients to the soil that are important for plant growth. Activities include constructing worm habitats from milk jugs and completing “Ride the Wild Leaf Cycle” activity sheets.

SL2:
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively and orally.

Animal or Plant?: Students investigate the sources of different foods and examine the importance of eating a variety of nutritious foods.

Build it Better: Students will investigate animal handling preferences and design a cattle corral system that is durable, efficient and effective. Students will also discover the skills needed to be an agricultural engineer.

Build-a-Calf Workshop: Students will explore concepts of heredity in beef cattle and identify dominant and recessive traits.

Bunches of Berries: Students investigate a variety of berries, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

Cotton's American Journey: Students investigate the impact of cotton on the history and culture of the United States.

Cowabunga! All About Dairy Breeds: Students will understand breed characteristics and countries of origin for five different breeds of dairy cattle. Students will discover why dairy farmers choose individual breeds for specific purposes.

Cracking Open the Story of Nuts: Students investigate a variety of nuts, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

Cultures, Food, and Communities Around the World: Students explore different cultures around the world, compare worldwide communities with local communities, and explain the interrelationship between the environment and community development.

Drone in High-Tech Farming: Students will discover the science behind how a drone works, explore how drones are used in agriculture, and program and operate a drone for the purpose of surveying a field.

Edible Numbers: Students will develop a working vocabulary regarding food, categorize foods by their sources, examine grocery ads, learn about food production, and apply what they learned by analyzing foods they eat at a particular meal.

Eggs: From Hen to Home: Students will trace the production path of eggs—beginning on the farm and ending in their home. Students will identify the culinary uses and nutritional benefits of eggs.

Farmers Market Finds: Students explore the value of farmers markets to local communities and discover the benefits of locally-grown food.

Flower Power: Students will observe physical characteristics of flowers and explore principles of pollination.

FoodMASTER: Milk and Cheese: Students will taste test four different milks while comparing color, texture, taste and cost. In addition, students will read the four milk food labels and complete a table comparing calories, fat and calcium found in the milks. The class will make cottage cheese by heating milk to the proper temperature and adding an acid (vinegar) to speed up the separation of curds and whey.

Give Me Five!: Students learn about the five food groups and what state-grown foods fit into each group. This lesson makes a local connection to good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.

Growing Grains: Students investigate a variety of grains, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

High-Tech Farming: Students will discover technologies that are used on farms to increase efficiency and yields and decrease costs and environmental impact.

Honey Bees: A Pollination Simulation: Students will identify the parts of a honey bee, the stages of its life cycle and its role in pollination.

How Weather Impacts Farms: Students explore different types of weather and discover how weather conditions can impact farms.

Hunger and Malnutrition: Students will learn about the importance of eating a variety of foods in order to get all the nutrients needed to be healthy, explore diets around the world using Peter Menzel's Hungry Planet Family Food Portraits, and discuss the scope of the problems of hunger and malnutrition using the World Food Programme Hunger Map.

Keeping Soil in Its Place: Students will be able to demonstrate rain drop splash (splash erosion) and determine its impact on bare soil, ultimately being able to visually identify types of erosion.

Many Types of Farms: Students will explore the sources of a variety of agricultural products and discover that farms can be diverse in size and in products that are grown and raised.

Oilseed Crops: Students investigate a variety of oilseed crops, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

Pancakes!: Students describe the physical properties of materials and observe physical and chemical changes as they examine the ingredients in pancakes and how maple syrup is harvested from trees.

Pests and Pesticides in Agriculture: Students learn the definition of a pest and identify categories of pests including vertebrates, invertebrates, weeds or disease. Through a classroom activity, students learn how pests affect the growth of crops and how integrated pest management (IPM) is used to control pests.

Pigs on the Farm: Students will explore the basic needs of animals and create a model of a modern pig barn that will help farmers meet the needs of animals.

Pizza Time!: This lesson uses pizza as a basis for learning about agriculture, geography and mathematics.

Plant Growth Affects the Soil: Students will recognize nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as soil nutrients, learn that plants use soil nutrients as they grow, and discover that fertilizer replaces depleted nutrients. Students will also analyze information on seed packets to learn more about the needs that different plants have for growth.

Plant-Soil Interactions: Students will discover how plants and soils interact by observing root growth, considering the function of a plant’s roots, modeling the movement of water into the roots, and investigating the movement of water and nutrients throughout the plant.

Powerful Potato: Students will explore life science concepts by observing a potato grow with and without soil. They will further learn about geography and world cultures by charting potato geography on a world map and holding a potato dress up contest.

Preserving the Powerful Pepper: Students preserve peppers to create their own probiotic food, observe properties of preserved foods and states of matter changes that occur, and discover the health benefits of probiotics.

Properties of Soils: Students will discover that different soils have different characteristics, examine different types of soil, investigate soil components, and observe how air space allows soils to hold and transmit water.

Pumpkins… Not Just For Halloween: Students will learn a variety of subjects including history, science, nutrition and math through the study of pumpkins. Activities include estimating the size and weight of pumpkins, sprouting pumpkin seeds and making pumpkin pie in a bag.

Right This Very Minute: Students will read “Right This Very Minute”—a table-to-farm book about food production and farming—and diagram the path of production for a processed product. Students will study a map to discover where different commodities are grown and write a thank-you letter to farmers in their local community.

Robots in High-Tech Farming: Students will discover the four main components of robots, explore how robots are used in agriculture, and program and operate a robot to address a farming challenge.

Sun, to Moo, to You!: Students will investigate the transfer of energy in the process of making milk. Students will understand that there are different forms of energy, that living things need energy to survive, and that the primary source of energy is the sun.

Tasty Testing: Students discover the geographic regions where basil, oregano, and cilantro have cultural significance; understand the role of evaporation in herb drying; and recognize the different properties of dried and fresh herbs.

The Great Debate: The Reintroduction of Gray Wolves: Students discover multiple perspectives concerning the reintroduction of gray wolves into the wild by researching pros and cons and participating in a debate.

The TART Cherry on Top: Students will explore tart cherry production in the United States and explain why producers and consumers are needed in the cherry industry.

Tree-mendous Fruits: Students investigate a variety of tree fruits, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

Understanding MyPlate: Students will explore appropriate serving size and learn how to make good dietary decisions by understanding the components of nutrition as illustrated by MyPlate.

Vegetables: Tops and Bottoms: Students investigate a variety of vegetables, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.

What’s Bugging You?: Students will learn the definition of a pest, examine how pests affect other living organisms and the environment, and identify how pests are managed in agricultural settings.

What’s on MyPlate?: Students will explore what it means to eat a healthy diet by comparing the foods they typically eat in a day with the recommendations of MyPlate.

What’s Our Soil Worth?: Students determine that topsoil is a limited resource with economic value and use an apple to represent how Earth’s land resources are used.

Working Worms: Students observe how earthworms speed the decomposition of organic matter and learn how this adds nutrients to the soil that are important for plant growth. Activities include constructing worm habitats from milk jugs and completing “Ride the Wild Leaf Cycle” activity sheets.

SL3:
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

A “Sour” Subject: Students will learn about the growth and production of citrus fruits and participate in an activity where they use skills of observation and mathematical computation to compare and contrast grapefruits and lemons.

Beef Basics: Students will explain the importance of the beef cattle industry, including the products cattle produce, the production process from farm to plate, and how cattle can utilize and obtain energy from grass and other forage.

Growing Almonds: Fact or Opinion: Students will learn about the process of getting almonds from farm to table and distinguish the difference between facts and opinions as they learn about each stage and season of almond growth.

Magic Beans and Giant Plants: Students will plant seeds and make considerations on which conditions affect plant growth. They will design and conduct experiments using a problem-solving process and compare and contrast to understand the parameters which influence the health and growth of living things.

Science and Poetry with Almonds: Students will learn about the almond tree life cycle including tree dormancy, pollination, bloom and kernel development of an almond.

The Great Debate: The Reintroduction of Gray Wolves: Students discover multiple perspectives concerning the reintroduction of gray wolves into the wild by researching pros and cons and participating in a debate.

SL4:
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

A Rafter of Turkeys: Students will learn about the domestication and life cycle of the turkey, recognize how turkeys are raised on farms, and identify turkey products.

Backpack Garden: Through project-based learning, students use school resources to construct and grow a school garden to supplement the school Backpack Program with fresh fruits and vegetables.

By Land, Air, or Sea: Students will discover how agricultural commodities are transported from producers to consumers.

Desktop Greenhouses: Students will investigate the importance of light to plants by creating a desktop greenhouse investigation and exploring the process of photosynthesis.

FoodMASTER: Food Safety: Students will measure the temperature of cold, lukewarm and hot water using a thermometer, learn about the growth of microorganisms by observing yeast growth at varying temperatures and learn proper techniques for hand washing. The use of Glo Germ (TM) gel will visually reinforce the importance of personal hygiene/hand washing.

Full of Beans: Henry Ford Grows a Car: Students will identify the variety of soybeans used for human consumption, livestock feed, and industrial products; explain how key historical events affected soybean production in the United States; and create a bioplastic made from soybeans.

Growing Almonds: Fact or Opinion: Students will learn about the process of getting almonds from farm to table and distinguish the difference between facts and opinions as they learn about each stage and season of almond growth.

How Does Your Garden Grow?: Students synthesize what they know about soils, plants and the environment to plan a garden, present their plans and explain why they made the decisions that they did.

Making Half MyPlate Fruits and Vegetables: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to MyPlate (2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans) and to reinforce the importance of making half your plate fruits and vegetables.

Natural and Managed Ecosystems: Students will compare the differences between natural and managed ecosystems and describe ways in which farmers can protect agricultural ecosystems.

Plants Around You: Students will categorize plants into groups, describe what plants need for healthy growth and start their own garden by planting seeds inside a cup.

Right This Very Minute: Students will read “Right This Very Minute”—a table-to-farm book about food production and farming—and diagram the path of production for a processed product. Students will study a map to discover where different commodities are grown and write a thank-you letter to farmers in their local community.

Roll of the Genes: Students will learn about genes and how they affect important traits such as growth, reproduction, disease resistance and behavior. Students will also discover the responsibilities of an animal geneticist.

Science and Poetry with Almonds: Students will learn about the almond tree life cycle including tree dormancy, pollination, bloom and kernel development of an almond.

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.

Test Tube Hydroponics: Students will investigate the importance of nutrients for plant growth and discover how plants grow without soil by growing and observing plants in a test tube hydroponic system.

The Columbian Exchange of Old and New World Foods: Students will explore New World and Old World food origins to understand how the Columbian Exchange altered people’s lives worldwide.

The Great Debate: The Reintroduction of Gray Wolves: Students discover multiple perspectives concerning the reintroduction of gray wolves into the wild by researching pros and cons and participating in a debate.

Think in Pictures: Like Dr. Grandin: Students will compare agricultural inventors and inventions by creating a timeline of important dates, explore cattle flight zones, and work as agricultural engineers to design a corral system that uses the research of Dr. Temple Grandin.

Truth or Hogwash?: Students will work in teams to play a game in which they answer true/false questions about swine and then research and develop questions of their own.

Wheat Germ DNA: Using wheat as an example, students will explore how DNA determines the genetic traits of a plant and how plant breeders change the DNA of a plant to produce desired characteristics.

SL5:
Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

A Rafter of Turkeys: Students will learn about the domestication and life cycle of the turkey, recognize how turkeys are raised on farms, and identify turkey products.

Eggology: Students will identify how the basic needs of a growing chick are met during egg incubation. Activities include identifying and diagramming the parts of an egg and hatching eggs in class.

Roll of the Genes: Students will learn about genes and how they affect important traits such as growth, reproduction, disease resistance and behavior. Students will also discover the responsibilities of an animal geneticist.

Secrets to Healthy Soils: Students will understand that the diversity of life in soil contributes to soil fertility.

SL6:
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

A Search for the Source: Students determine that agriculture provides nearly all of the products we rely on in any given day by participating in a relay where they match an everyday items with its “source.”

FoodMASTER: Meal Management: Students will choose foods from each of the five food groups to create a meal and calculate the cost of serving the meal to five people and to one person. Students will then be challenged to plan a meal that costs less than $1.50 per person. Students will prepare, evaluate and eat a lunch meal.

The Great Debate: The Reintroduction of Gray Wolves: Students discover multiple perspectives concerning the reintroduction of gray wolves into the wild by researching pros and cons and participating in a debate.