L1:
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Can We Have Too Much of a Good Thing?: Students will understand that plants require nutrients in the proper concentrations. Students will discover that plants can be damaged or killed by either too many or too few nutrients.

Cotton's American Journey: Students will investigate the impact of cotton on the history and culture of the United States. Students will discover the growth and processing requirements for cotton, recognize how the invention of the cotton gin affected slavery, explain how the plantation system was organized, and ultimately understand the role of cotton in the Civil War.

Digging into Nutrients: 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.

FoodMASTER Middle: Cheese: Students will learn about the Law of Conservation of Mass by exploring environmental factors that can impact protein coagulation in milk (cheese-making process). By making qualitative and quantitative observations, they will test three possible methods of making curds and whey.

FoodMASTER Middle: Eggs: Students will learn the anatomy of eggs and the concept of forming colloidal dispersions called foams as they learn the anatomy of an egg, create a foam by whisking egg whites, investigate the effect of whisking time on foam, and compare and contrast the effect of different substances on the stability of foam.

FoodMASTER Middle: Fats and Oils: Students will explore the fat content of commonly consumed foods, observe physical properties of lipids (margarine, butter and vegetable oil) to distinguish between saturated and unsaturated fat, and observe the action of emulsifiers in heterogeneous and homogenous mixtures.

FoodMASTER Middle: Food Safety: Students will understand water-based state changes that occur at varying temperatures, recognize the importance of the proper hand washing technique for general health and disease prevention, understand the factors that impact mold growth and their application to food safety, and explore ways to prevent foodborne illness.

FoodMASTER Middle: Fruits: Students will learn the concept of enzymatic browning and methods for decreasing enzymatic oxidation by observing three types of fruit. Students will also understand the relationship between oxidation and antioxidants and the role fruits play in health and nutrition.

FoodMASTER Middle: Grains: Students will learn the physical components and nutritional composition of a grain, understand the function of the protein gluten in the structure of bread products, and investigate how mechanical and chemical digestion begins with salivary amylase in the mouth.

FoodMASTER Middle: Milk: Students will understand the nutritional components of milk (carbohydrates) as they test three types of milk for the sugar glucose before and after adding the digestive enzyme lactase to determine which milk(s) contain the sugar lactose. They will also explore the nutritional composition and health benefits of consuming milk, research food sources of calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus and devise ways to add bone-strengthening food to their diet.

FoodMASTER Middle: Protein: Students will examine dietary sources of protein and generally understand the relationship between protein synthesis and amino acids, while completing an activity to use beads as a representation of amino acids to construct proteins (polypeptide chains). Students will identify complete and/or incomplete proteins found in both animal and plant food sources.

FoodMASTER Middle: Sugar: Students will learn the concept of simple carbohydrates (sugar) in the diet and their role in providing energy to the body, compare saturated sugar solutions, and evaluate the sugar content of common beverages and sugar consumption within their own diet.

FoodMASTER Middle: Vegetables: Students will learn the concept of pH and the impact of acids and bases on plant pigments, explore the impact of acids and bases on plant cell structure, and discover the health benefits of consuming vegetables.

FoodMASTER Middle: Weights and Measures: Students will use common household measurement tools and scientific measurement tools and various methods of measurement to compare for accuracy. Students will also calculate percent error by comparing their measurements to actual values and apply these principles to analyze and decipher the components of a food as indicated on the nutrition facts label.

FoodMASTER Middle: Yogurt: Students will learn the role of bacterial fermentation and evaluate the effect of fat content, sugar content (lactose), and temperature in bacterial fermentation as they make yogurt.

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

Hungry Pests: This lesson teaches about invasive species: what they are, the threats they pose, and damages they can cause. Students will identify individual pests and invasive species and discover what they threaten, where they live, and the pathways hungry pests use to enter new locations. Finally, students move into action and explore what they can do to prevent the spread of invasive species.

Let’s Vote On It: Students will hold a mock election to learn the importance of becoming well-informed on the pros and cons of voting measures that affect our local economies, our environment and our quality of life.

Plant Nutrient Deficiencies: Students discuss the definition of “fertilizer” and relate it to plant nutrition and the need to restore nutrient balance in agricultural soils. They discuss how people and crops can suffer from nutrient deficiencies. Students assume the roles of plant doctors and diagnose nutrient deficiencies in corn plants.

The Environmental Cost of Food: Students examine the environmental footprint of food by discovering factors along the farm-to-fork process that contribute to a food's environmental footprint and discuss possible solutions to create a sustainable future through the foods we eat.

L2:
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing.

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.

L3:
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading or listening.

Blue’s the Clue: Souring Milk for Science: This lab introduces students to the effect temperature has on reducing and controlling the growth of bacteria. Students will use conventionally pasteurized and ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk to observe how different temperatures (hot, room temperature, cool and freezing) affect the growth of spoilage bacteria. They will also learn about the importance of pasteurization in keeping food safe.

Chain of Food: Students will explore the path food takes along the Farm-to-Table Continuum. They will begin on the farm and investigate food safety issues during processing, transportation, at restaurants and supermarkets, and finally, in their own homes. Teams will identify how food can become contaminated along the continuum and develop and present strategies for preventing contamination at each step.

In Search of Essential Nutrients: Students will learn the definition of an essential element, compare and contrast the essential nutrient requirements of plants and humans, explain why plants cannot use elemental nitrogen found in the atmosphere, and identify the sources for each essential nutrient needed by plants.

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

Walnuts: Naturally Nutritious: Students will interpret and compare nutrition labels to make healthy food choices and learn about the nutritional value of walnuts. Students will also have a walnut taste test and use walnuts in a recipe.

L4:
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

Applying Heredity Concepts: 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.

Hen House Engineering: Students will use the Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning model to evaluate styles of housing used for laying hens in the production of eggs. Using critical thinking skills, students will compare housing styles, determine which system meets their animal welfare standards, and engineer their own hen house model to meet the needs of laying hens.

Nutrients to Get Less of: This lesson introduces sodium and sugar as dietary nutrients we should consume less of. Students will identify the foods and beverages they should limit and recognize how to use the Nutrition Facts label to measure sodium and sugar intake.

Outbreak Alert—Shigella: Students will analyze a real-life foodborne illness outbreak. They will assume the role of FBI (FoodBorne Illness) investigators to plot out the steps and identify the questions to ask in order to get to the source of the outbreak. Students will discuss and compare their investigative approaches to the actual public health investigation.

Photosynthesis: Energy’s Journey From Farm to You: Explore photosynthesis to discover how plants obtain energy from the sun and then continue following energy’s path to see how energy can flow through ecosystems to ultimately provide food for humans.

The Geography of Thanksgiving Dinner: Students will identify common Thanksgiving foods and their farm source, determine if those foods can be produced locally, and locate the common origins of their Thanksgiving day dinner.

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, and what factors impact water quality within watersheds and how to mitigate erosion on susceptible soils.

L5:
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word relationships.

Fertilizers and the Environment: 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.

L6:
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Agritourism: Extreme Farm Makeover: Through project-based learning, students will work in groups to design an agritourism experience that will increase profits for a family-owned farm and provide agricultural literacy opportunities for community members.

AgVenture: Sourcing Ag Careers: Students consider the scope of agriculture and how it is the source of most of our day-to-day necessities in preparation to explore the five agricultural career pathways.

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.

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.

Crossed Up!: Students will discover that some items in their own kitchens may be contaminated by bacteria. They will be challenged to hypothesize about where bacteria might be found in kitchens and which items might have the most and the least bacteria. Students will develop awareness that bacteria can spread from surfaces to hands, and even to food, and will hypothesize how to control the spread of bacteria.

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

Food Systems Feed the World: Students will explore the steps and processes that create a food system and gain an understanding of hunger as it relates to the physical well-being, culture and geographic location of all people. Students will learn what a food system encompasses, create a "food system chain," and discuss why hunger still exists despite modern advances that have made the U.S. food system highly efficient.

From Foraging to Farming: Students will participate in a foraging activity, gaining perspective on how scarcity of resources can affect well-being and how agriculture provides the benefit of a steady, reliable food supply. Then they will read about hunter-gatherers and early agriculture and use maps to explore how geography affected the development of early civilizations.

Fueling Up for a Career in Biofuel: Students will recognize the importance of fuel energy and the fact that agriculture can produce biofuel; students will identify career opportunities in the biofuel industry.

Fungi Multiplication: Learn about edible mushroom cultivation and how one mushroom multiplies into many more! Create a spore print, and explore ecology concepts by experimenting with mold and yeast growth and researching species of fungi.

GPS and GIS Technology in Agriculture: Students will explore technical careers in agriculture and learn how GPS and GIS technologies are used to improve agricultural production.

Good Guys or Bad Guys?: Students will explore and observe microorganisms at work in decomposition as well as in the production and preservation of food. Activities include creating a "decay buffet" and identifying grocery store foods that contain or are made with the help of microorganisms.

Growing Our State History: Students will discover the connections between agriculture, natural resources and the history of their state.

Hands Off, Bacteria!: This lab challenges students to identify the variables involved in hand-washing. They will design labs to discover the best method for washing their hands to reduce the spread of bacteria. Students will also analyze and present the data.

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.

Journey 2050 Lesson 7: Technology and Innovations: Students will explore new technologies that will impact the future of farming, understand the role of developing countries in food security, and explain how consumers influence the production of food.

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.

Introducing the Nutrition Facts Label: Explore the features of the Nutrition Facts label with a focus on protein, analyze serving size, and make a Nutrition Facts label for a smoothie.

Nutrients to Get More Of: Students will plan a healthy meal—breakfast—using the Percent Daily Value (%DV), and will use the Nutrition Facts label to evaluate and compare foods as they plan their meals.

Planet Zorcon: Students will explore the connection between individual behavior and resource use, learn the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources, and identify careers related to natural resource management by playing an active, futuristic game in which teams have to collect limited resources from Planet Zorcon.

Plant-Soil Interactions: Students will recognize that plants remove nutrients from the soil, explain the roles of diffusion and active transport in moving nutrients from the soil to the plant, and relate the root and vascular systems of the plant to the human circulatory system.

The Quicker the Better? Food Processing: Students will explore different levels of food processing and the ways in which processed foods affect the health of our diets by looking at examples of foods from the grocery store and by closely examining food labels.

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.

A Search for the Source: In this lesson students will learn 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 item with its “source.”

Supermarket Smarts: Students will develop an awareness of the importance of food safety in retail food establishments. They will be challenged to design and manage their own food-safe supermarket department using the 4 Cs of Food Safety. At the end of this activity, each team will present its findings in an innovative presentation.

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.

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.

Wheat: Ancient and Ageless: Students will explore the importance of wheat in the development of culture by learning about the advent of agriculture, discussing wheat cultivation in Ancient Egypt, threshing a head of wheat with their hands, and making a corn dolly out of wheat stems.