Agriculture

Soil is a renewable resource composed of unconsolidated mineral material (clay, silt, sand, and pebbles), decomposing organic matter, water, air, microbes and detritvores. The mineral material comes from the weathering of rock and sediments deposited by erosion via wind, water, ice and gravity, and is influenced by climate and topography.

To stimulate the effect of acid rain on plant life, students to set up a lab experiment to compare the effect of varying levels of acidity on plant seedlings and seed germination.

Plant growth rates are influenced by many factors including rainfall, climate, soil nutrients, and others. In this activity, students will develop a mathematical model for a growing plant.

This activity is correlated to National Mathematics content standards.

This week long unit examines the seminal work by Rachel Carson, as an example of scientific writing. Silent Spring was the first book to bring pesticides and the wide spread use of chemicals in the environment to the public's attention. Students will read selected chapters for both scientific content and literary analysis.

In the lessons provided on this web site, students will learn about one of the greatest challenges facing an ever-growing population: feeding everyone. As populations grow, food production must also increase, leading to innovative advances in agriculture.

In this lesson, students reflect on challenges that face farmers in cultivating crops, including insects.  They then simulate how crops are affected by native and non-native insect populations and the options farmers have to protect their crops.  Finally, students create an agricultural plan from the perspective of a farmer.

Science Updates are 60-second radio programs presenting current science research, as well as responses to questions phoned in to the Science Update hotline. One of the biggest environmental worries is global climate change, which is caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. In this Science Update, students will hear how soil might help fight it.

This lesson, developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for its Science NetLinks site, examines the interdependence of global trade in the context of the economic and social aspects of fisheries and aquaculture. The lesson uses web articles to explore the economic considerations of trade, local production, and global fish

Through this lesson examining the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s, students will understand the social and economic effects of the 1930s drought on American farmers; analyze the effects of human modification of landscapes; use knowledge of climate and weather to explain geographic phenomena; use a variety of media to display data.

In this lesson, students will understand how human needs for food and water are fulfilled and how climate change will impact the agriculture industry and our freshwater supplies. Specifically, students will: