Companion Resources

Agriculture is everywhere! From the time we wake up in the morning until we end our day at night, we have encountered agriculture through the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the fuel we use for transportation. Ag Today is a great reading supplement for upper elementary students to learn about agriculture. The six issues correlate with the themes of the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes and can be integrated into science, social studies, and language arts curriculum. Each reader provides real-world connections to STEM and makes learning relevant for students in becoming agriculturally literate.

Full of how-to projects for any level of gardener, this book includes step-by-step instructions with accompanying full-color photographs. Whether you’re planting flowers outdoors, or indoor vegetables, you’ll find a range of unique gardens you can grow yourself at home or in a classroom. Tips and techniques are included, as well as variations to make each project your own.

Maria and her family visit an apple orchard and pick apples in preparation to turn the apples into applesauce! Every year they use the special pot that has been in the family for generations to make applesauce. First they wash the apples. Then Grandma cuts them into quarters. Follow each step in the process as everyone helps to make delicious applesauce!

Having a cucumber taste test in your classroom can be informative and fun. This kit contains bitter cucumber seeds and non-bitter cucumber seeds. Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.

The "Eat Happy Project" is a British YouTube channel aimed to help children to understand more about food; where it comes from and how to cook it. Online Field Trips have taken schoolchildren from their classrooms to citrus groves in Valencia, Paddy fields in Thailand and banana plantations in Costa Rica, allowing them to interact with food growers and suppliers from all over the world. Browse the entire YouTube Channel or go directly to topic-specific playlists including Healthy Eating (ages 5-7) or (ages 7-11), Online Field Trips, Food Around the World, How Does Your Food Grow, and From Farm to Fork.

"I told my three sons stories about germs more than fifty years ago as fanciful bedtime tales." So begins this charming collection of poems written by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Arthur Kornberg to help us learn about the germs that help and harm us. These rollicking, entertaining, and informative poems have been illustrated with witty and amusing watercolors and the book also contains electron micrographs and a glossary for the student who wants to go deeper into the world of microbiology.

This animated feature celebrates 17th-century citizen-scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, whose discoveries of microbes changed our view of the biological world. Also available in Spanish.

What happens when the substitute teacher, Ms. Moo, leads the class for a day? Join Ms. Moo in a fun, fast mooving learning experience for grade school students. Through zany games of "Moo-nopoly" & "Pyramid of Power" Ms. Moo and her class discover life on a farm, where milk comes from, how cheese is made, and how milk group foods keep bones and teeth healthy and strong. Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.org.

Have you heard of hydroponics or aquaculture? In this video from the Gee Whiz in Agriculture series, you get a fish-eye view of fish and lettuce production in an ecologically-closed system. We look at plant and fish life cycles, showing how each is dependent upon the other for nourishment. Concepts of symbiotic life systems, chemical and nutrient cycling, and integrated food production are highlighted. A "model ecosystem" can be used to demonstrate concepts, both in the program and the classroom. This video is available on DVD or YouTube. Order this video online from agclassroomstore.com.

This 49-page 4-H guide to embryology provides background information and experiential life science activities for use in the elementary classroom. Students learn the parts of an egg, classification of chickens by breed, how to use an incubator, candle an egg, build a brooder, and more. Each activity is correlated to national science standards and follows the five steps in the experiential learning model: experience, share, process, generalize, and apply.

This 26-minute program from the Gee Whiz in Agriculture series explores a dairy food processing plant that makes many of our favorite foods, such as cheese, butter, and ice cream. Why "milk does a body good" and why it's considered nature's most perfect food are emphasized. A direct comparison of the nutrient values of milk and soft drinks are made, along with other nutritional considerations. This video can be purchased on DVD or accessed on YouTube.