Preparation: Prior to class, review the Background information, video clip and slide deck (including the speaker notes) associated with the lesson. Review the Teacher's Guide: Getting Started document for further information to prepare for class.

Activity 1: Introduction to Plant Health

1. Slide 5: Play the Soil Nutrients video (5:04). Prepare students for the video by asking them to discover the answers to four questions: 1) What three primary nutrients are necessary for healthy plant growth, and how can they be replenished? 2) How does a plant resist disease and pests? 3) What are best management practices? and 4) What are the 4Rs? (Background and discussion prompts are outlined in the steps below and in the slide deck notes.)
2. What three primary nutrients are necessary in the soil for healthy plant growth and how can they be replenished?
   • Slide 6: Ask students, “Why does soil matter to agriculture and to us?” (Crops that we eat grow in the soil as well as the crops we use to feed livestock that provide us with foods like meat, milk and eggs.) Explain to students that just like we need nutrients, which we obtain from the food we eat, plants also require nutrients, which they get from the soil. Successful agriculture relies on healthy soil. The soil beneath our feet is one of our most precious resources; in reality, it makes life possible! It is much more than just dirt! Soil is composed of sand, silt, clay, plant nutrients, organic material, bacteria, crawling critters, oxygen, water and much more.
   • Slide 7: Plants require 17 nutrients to grow. Ask students, “What three primary nutrients do plants need to grow?” (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).)
     • Remind students of the analogy used in the video of a bank and storing nutrients. As an additional example you can use a refrigerator analogy. Explain that we have to restock the refrigerator when we run out of food. Similarly, after we harvest a crop, we need to “restock” the soil with the nutrients that were used as the crop grew. This will allow the next crop to reach its full potential.
   • Slide 8: Recap with students, “Where do soil nutrients come from?” (Nature! Fertilizer, manure, organic sources/compost.) Be sure your students recognize that soil nutrients come from both organic and inorganic sources. Organic nutrients come from sources that were once living. Examples include animal manure, green crops and composts. Inorganic nutrients come from natural mineral deposits in the earth, which can be mined and processed into fertilizers that are easy for farmers to use and for plants to absorb.
3. How does overall plant health affect a plant’s ability to resist disease and pests?
   • Slide 10: Ask students to picture two individuals. One eats a balanced diet, exercises and has overall good health. The other does not consume a healthy diet and is much less healthy. If both of these individuals were exposed to the same contagious illness, which one is more likely to get sick? (The less-healthy individual.)
   • Slide 11: Explain that plants can also exhibit varying levels of overall health. Optimal plant health begins with proper nutrients. For plants, most nutrients are absorbed through the soil. Many nutrients are essential in photosynthesis, the process plants use to make their food. Kind of like cooking a balanced, healthy meal requires ingredients from all the food groups, plants need a balanced variety of nutrients in the soil in order to be healthy. Ask, “What can make a plant sick or destroy a plant?” Allow students to offer answers, then provide the following:
     • Insects
     • Diseases
     • Nutrient deficiencies
     • Weed infestation
   • Slide 12: As a class, discuss the benefits of maintaining optimal plant health.
     • Plants will be better able to resist pests and disease, thereby requiring less human intervention.
     • Plants will grow vigorously and be able to outcompete (grow faster than) weeds.
     • Plants will grow to their genetic potential and produce more food.

4. What are best management practices and the 4Rs?
   • Slide 13: Point out to students that we make lots of choices in life; some choices are poor, others are good, and still others are better or best. The same is true in managing plant health. In agriculture the term best management practice refers to the best way to do something. Ask students if they can think of ways to protect the soil. Farmers use a variety of soil conservation practices to prevent erosion (contour plowing, terracing, windbreaks, cover crops, crop rotation, no-till farming, etc.) and other technologies to maximize yields sustainably. These are examples of best management practices.
   • Slide 14: The 4R Nutrient Stewardship System represents the best known method of applying nutrients to crops. Regardless of the type of nutrient used, these practices must be followed for ideal crop yields, environmental protection and economic returns.
   • Slide 15: Have students compare the canola test plot on the left to the plot on the right. Ask, "Which crop appears healthier?" Inform students that the plot on the right relied only on the existing soil nutrients for plant growth, which was not sufficient. The plot on the left was fertilized following the 4R Nutrient Stewardship model. As a result, the canola crop had the proper nutrients to grow to its best potential. Note the following points:
     • When fertilizers are used properly, they provide the exact nutrients needed by soils and plants, reducing the risk of losses to the environment.
     • Fertilizer applied based on science and the 4R Nutrient Stewardship guidelines is essential as we strive to feed the world.
     • Manufactured fertilizers are responsible for 50% of the world's food supply. Without it, we couldn't feed everyone.

Activity 2: Sustainability Farm Game Level 2 Nutrients

1. Slides 16–18: Open Level 2 of the Sustainability Farm Game on each student’s computer or device. Explain that this level of the game allows them to farm in more countries (Kenya, India, and Canada or the United States). Prepare students for the game by informing them of the following:
   • Level 2 allows you to see the impacts of adding nutrients to the soil. You will be comparing three nutrient management practices.
   • As you farm, you will be asked if you want to make investments that will cost money but will be used to improve the roads, research new seed varieties, Explain that these are examples of real-life investment opportunities that exist in each country.
2. OPTIONAL: Divide your class into three groups and assign each group a specific nutrient practice. Group 1 will choose “No Nutrients” each time they plant a new crop. Group 2 will choose “Standard Practice” each time they plant a crop. Group 3 will choose “Best Practice” each time they plant a crop. (These nutrient management methods represent a poor, good and best practice.) Instruct students to stop after they finish the first round in Kenya. Their screens should show their sustainability scores and the results of their sustainability barrels. Once the students have finished round one, compare the results of the three groups and their nutrient management practices. What were their sustainability scores? What were their limiting factors? After the class discussion, allow the students to complete the next two rounds using the nutrient management practice that they deem best. Once they finish farming in Canada they will be done with Level 2 Have them stop here.
3. Slides 19–20: Once students have completed the game, use the following questions to help students synthesize what they have learned:
   • Which nutrient practice was best?
   • What negative impacts on crop yield, environment or economics did you see if you applied excess nutrients? What if you didn’t apply enough nutrients? (When excess nutrients are applied, the crop can’t use them all, and the nutrients can be lost to the environment, potentially damaging water quality and habitats. Using excess nutrients isn’t economical for the farmer. When insufficient nutrients are applied, the crop cannot reach its full potential, earning less for the farmer and producing less food to feed the world.)
   • Can farmers use nutrients while still farming in a sustainable way? (Refer back to the demonstration at the beginning of the lesson to tie the concepts together for understanding. Farmers who use best management practices monitor the health of their soil and apply soil nutrients as they are needed by following the 4Rs.)