Students explore the connection between geography, climate, and the type of agriculture in an area by reading background information and census data about the agricultural commodities beef, potatoes, apples, wheat, corn, and milk.
Students investigate how the need for wool impacted the American colonists by examining the Wool Act of 1699, determine the importance of wool in colonial America, and compare and contrast the differences between processing wool then and now. Students spin, weave, and dye wool to explore how wool was processed in Colonial times.
Students make connections between the six types of simple machines and the complex machinery used to produce food and fiber.
Students make observations about historic tools used on a dairy farm to store and process milk into cheese and butter.
Students investigate the collaborative work of an agricultural scientist and engineer who found new uses for soybeans and discuss careers in science and engineering, biobased products, and the use of renewable resources.
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 item with its "source."
Students 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 monitoring grazing sheep.
Students explore the scientific processes used to make the crops we grow and the livestock we raise (commodities) into some of the foods we eat every day. Students will discover how science and technology work together to create foods like pickles, bread, yogurt and more! To engage further in the topic, students will make their own cheese using enzymes produced through the fermentation of genetically engineered yeast.
Students discover technologies that are used on farms to increase efficiency and yields and decrease costs and environmental impact.
Students will expand their knowledge of microbial growth and scientific food preservation methods to learn how honey can serve as an antibacterial agent. Students will learn how honey may be used as a preservative of milk in areas without access to electricity or refrigeration and how this preservation method relies on elements found specifically in honey that cannot be replicated with other sources of sugar.
Students will explain why economics are important to sustainability, describe the relationship between a sustainable economy and the environment, develop a model demonstrating how agricultural production creates a ripple effect that impacts local and global economies and social stability, and discuss how investments build an economy.
Students will explain why economics are important to sustainability, describe the relationship between a sustainable economy and the environment, develop a model demonstrating how agricultural production creates a ripple effect that impacts local and global economies and social stability, and discuss how investments build an economy.