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.
Students will read about and research the domestication of animals to better understand why and how they are raised on a farm. They will create a timeline of animal domestication.
Students will distinguish between natural and artificial selection and use a student-centered learning activity to see how science and genetics have been used to artificially select apples for specific traits like color, texture, taste, and crispness.
Students will recognize that plants, like people, require essential nutrients to be present in the right amounts in order to be healthy, use reference materials to diagnose plant nutrient deficiencies, define fertilizer as a type of “food” for plants, and appreciate that fertilizers are used to replenish nutrients in agricultural soils.
In this lesson, students will test for plant-available soil nitrogen and learn how farmers use this test to precisely match fertilizer application to meet crop needs and reduce the amount of nitrogen left in the soil.
In this lesson students will measure the pH of a soil sample and learn how pH affects the availability of nutrient uptake by plants. Students will determine if and how their soil pH should be modified through the application of soil amendments.
In this lesson, students will learn about solutes and solvents and will use serial dilution while investigating parts per million—a term used to describe the nutrient concentration of a fertilizer solution.
Students will explain the roles of diffusion and active transport in moving nutrients from the soil to the plant, describe the formation of soil and soil horizons; and describe the events in the Great Dust Bowl, how they relate to soil horizons, and how those events affected agricultural practices.
Students use the Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning model to evaluate styles of housing used for hens that lay eggs. Using critical thinking and scientific investigation 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. This lesson covers a socioscientific issue and aims to provide students with tools to evaluate science within the context of social and economic points of view.
Students learn what factors affect a country's ability to produce their own food and how food expenses differ throughout the world.
Students study the science of amino acids, proteins, enzymes, and beneficial bacteria to explore the phenomena, "Why does each variety of cheese taste different when the ingredients are the same?"
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.