Resources: Career and Technology Foundations Grades 5-9: Agriculture

Agriculture

Ag for Life: Sustainable Development Goals Lab
Resources for student and teachers about sustainable development goals and activities.
CBC: Farming is Canada
Farming is an integral part of Canada’s past, present, and future. In this video, Evan Fraser, director of the Arell Food Institute, discusses how Canada’s farmers can become more sustainable in their agricultural practices.
Exploring Ancient Clam Gardens with Indigenous Science
Clam gardens are an Indigenous science and technology used for millennia to create ideal habitats for clams to thrive and in turn create abundant sustainable food sources for Indigenous peoples.
First Nations and Agriculture
Three short chapters present a history of Indigenous farming and food practices in the prairies
Inside Africa's Food Forest Mega-Project
Soil is vital for plant growth, supports biodiversity, filters water, and keeps ecosystems balanced. But climate change is damaging soil, so we found a simple way to restore it
KnowItAll: Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources
A great collection of videos that explore work in many parts of the agriculture industry around the world.
Minecraft Education: Climate Futures: The Farm
Students will develop a deeper understanding of issues relating to agriculture from different perspectives and be challenged to think deeply about how it relates to climate change.
Planet Food
This two-part interactive game introduces the concepts of interdependence and globalization through the geography of food.
Put Your School Garden to Bed
Putting the garden to bed properly in fall can reduce the likelihood of pest problems next year, prevent soil erosion, add organic matter, and reduce the loss of important nutrients in the soil over the winter.
Resources for Rethinking: Current Food Issues
The Saskatchewan Organic Directorate (SOD) has produced these materials to help learners explore the challenges and advantages of local food production. The resource also involves students in the preparation of tasty dishes based on local, organic products.
TED: How the famous Three Sisters survived
Get to know the story of the Three Sisters, and what we can learn about sustainably growing food from Indigenous practices. Related Lesson
Virtual Farm Tours
This is a great Canadian site that has virtual interactive tours of eleven different types of farm (some of them are in Alberta). Take a look inside the barns and through the fields to learn about the lives of the animals who live there and the farmers who work with them. (site)
Waffle Gardens
In this lesson, students will learn about the agricultural technique of waffle gardening that was practiced by Indigenous peoples in New Mexico and Arizona. Students will understand how desert landscapes require different agricultural practices due to lack of rainfall and how to overcome those obstacles.
What is Agriculture?
A great overview article for students that explains what agriculture is, the history of agriculture, and what modern agriculture looks like
What is the Environmental Impact of Feeding the World? | Our Hungry Planet
To feed our rapidly growing and changing world, we need innovative solutions. In this video, you'll learn about some environmental issues related to the food we grow and eat.

Animals

Careers With Animals
Students wanting to work with animals often think only of veterinary medicine, but there are plenty of other options available. You can learn about them on this site!
Digestive System: Cow Stomach Investigation
Scientists can have an inside look at the digestive system by studying very special cows. Watch University of Idaho scientist as he explains how cows digest their food by opening a unique portal into a cow’s stomach.

Lesson Plans

Ag for Life: Curriculum Linked Resources
Educators can create free accounts to gain access to hundreds of high quality educational resources that tie directly to the K-12 curriculum
Ag for Life: Learning Resources and Lesson Plans
Agriculture-based learning and teaching resources from an Alberta-based Agriculture education organization.
Agriculture Literacy Matrix Lesson Plan
Designed for middle school classrooms and meant to last an hour, this lesson plan is the perfect introduction to a unit on agriculture and food systems.
Connecting Agriculture to Alberta Junior High School Curriculum
This guide provides an overview of connections to agriculture that can be developed around Alberta competencies.
Countryside Classroom
Countryside Classroom helps teachers to find resources, places to visit and school support relating to the themes of food, farming and the natural environment
National Agriculture in the Classroom (US): Teacher Resources
A treasure-trove of agriculture-based lesson plans for Grades 6-12 students.
Planting Science
PlantingScience is a free online resource that provides volunteer scientists, resources, and activities to support innovation in teaching, learning, and mentoring.
Science and Our Food Supply
Free supplementary curriculum from the FDA for middle and high school classrooms

Plants

Plants are Cool Too!
Chris Martine hosts this channel focused on biodiversity, botany, and ecology. Videos are short (less than 20 minutes), informative , and captivating.
Plants for Food and Fibre
Resources to use in your science class to explore plant raised for industrial and food needs. If you click the links, there is a sign-in prompt -- but you can bypass the sign-in by clicking the image instead and you will be able to access all the Google slides associated with that image
Study Jams: Angiosperms - Seeds in Fruit
Watch this video to learn about the two kinds of angiosperms. You'll learn the characteristics of monocots and dicots.
Study Jams: Flowers
Watch this video to learn more about the different parts of flowers and how each part does a certain job. Take the quiz after you watch the video.
Study Jams: Gymnosperms - Seeds in Cones
Learn about the different types of gymnosperms and their distinctive features. There is a quiz to test yourself after the slide show.
Study Jams: Plant Adaptations
Watch this video about how plants adapt to different environments. After you watch the video, you can take the quiz to test what you have learned.
Study Jams: Plants without Seeds
This slide show has images of two types of plants without seeds: vascular and non-vascular. Test yourself with the quiz after you've reviewed the slide show.
Study Jams: Plants with Seeds
Check out this video about different ways that plants reproduce themselves. Test yourself with the quiz after you've watched the video.
Study Jams: Roots and Stems
This slideshow of images describes the jobs that the roots and stems have to keep a plant healthy. There's a quiz to test your learning.
TED: How the famous Three Sisters survived
Get to know the story of the Three Sisters, and what we can learn about sustainably growing food from Indigenous practices. Related Lesson

Pollinators

Bees: A Honey of an Idea
This colourful and interactive site about bees is from the Canada Agriculture Museum. Learn about bees, pollination, life in the hive and beekeeping.
Hinterland Who's Who: Pollinators
This 60 second video clip is a classic Hinterland Who's Who video about pollination.
Pollinators - Busy doing what?
Check out this great video about pollinators; it's interesting and informative. There's also a link to the Hinterland bumble bee profile.
Why Protect Pollinators?
This 5-minute video discusses the importance of maintaining a healthy bee population and how humans can help with this.

Soils

Can Plants Help Slow Soil Erosion?
A science project for students that demonstrates how plants can slow soil erosion.
Healthy Soil
A lesson plan from Let's Talk Science about healthy soils.
NOVA: Power of Poop
This 3 1/2 minute video describes how farmers can use animal poop as energy for their farm. How does the anaerobic digester work to create energy and fertilizer? How can we use human waste as well?
Science Experiment on Soil Erosion
This classic yet simple science experiment demonstrates soil erosion in a way your students won't forget.
Science Trek: Soil
There is a lot more to the study of soil than just dirt. On this month’s Science Trek, host Joan Cartan-Hansen and her guests will answer students’ questions about soil and the environment.
Soils 4 Teachers
This professional society is made up of soil scientists, educators, and consultants focused on promoting soil science, including enhancing soils topics in schools.
Soils4Kids
This site for student includes scientific information about soil, experiments for the classroom, and online soil interactives.
Study Jams: Soil
Check out this slide show with information about soil, the importance of healthy soil and what we can do. Then you can test yourself.
Understanding Our Soil: The Nitrogen Cycle, Fixers, and Fertilizer
What are nitrogen fixing plants, and why use them over nitrogen fertilizer? This video answers this question through an explanation of the nitrogen cycle.

Statistics

Wikipedia: Agriculture in Canada
An overview of agricultural production in Canada that includes some historical data.

Sustainability

SARE Outreach: What is Sustainable Agriculture?
This playlist provides a short outlines of the basic principles of sustainable agriculture.
What is Sustainable Agriculture? Episode 1: A Whole-Farm Approach to Sustainability
This video highlights some common practices farmers and ranchers use to improve profitability, quality of life and environmental stewardship.
What is Sustainable Agriculture? Episode 2: Cover Crops and Soil Health
This episode examinesthe importance of healthy soils and the positive impact of cover crops
What is Sustainable Agriculture? Episode 3: Conservation Tillage and Soil Health
This video covers the basic principles of conservation tillage
What is Sustainable Agriculture? Episode 4: Social Sustainability
Let's learn about the social sustainability in agriculture and illustrates strategies that can help farmers and ranchers thrive.
What is Sustainable Agriculture? Episode 5: Ecological Pest Management
We'll talk about ecological pest management which applies natural principals to the farm.
What is Sustainable Agriculture? Episode 6: Sustainable Grazing
This episode shows how farmers can improve soil health and plant vigor by focusing on the health of their pastures and rangelands.
What is Sustainable Agriculture? Episode 7: Water Conservation
This episode highlights some common practices farmers and ranchers use to conserve and manage water.
What is Sustainable Agriculture? Episode 8: The Economics of Sustainable Agriculture
Today we'll talk about how practices such as crop rotation and reduced tillage can improve an operation’s bottom line sustainably

Water

Follow the Flow
This activity asks students to follow the flow in an Alberta watershed and consider how water quality and quantity are affected by human activities on the landscape. It is designed to be given to students to work on individually with minimal instructions.
Hidden Water
This video, created by Inside Education, is a review of groundwater in Alberta. Topics include quality, distribution, uses in the province, and how it links to the hydrologic cycle. (site)
Running Water Poster & Teachers Guide
This education kit explores the science of water use in Alberta and now contains new information about climate change, energy development and stewardship.
Study Jams: The Water Cycle
Play this video to learn more about the water cycle, the constant movement of water around Earth and the atmosphere.
Sea Level Rise NASA Resources for Grades 9 through 12
A list of lesson plans, articles, videos, and interactive activities for students from grades 9-12 to explore the science of rising sea levels.
Story of Bottled Water
The Story of Bottled Water describes the environmental and financial impact of using bottled water instead of tap water.
Water Footprint Calculator
An online questionnaire that calculates your water usage and compares you to the average American consumer.
Water Sacred Relationship: Grade 6
Find social studies and science lessons plans for Grade 6 that were developed by the Native Counselling Services of Alberta.

Related Game Kit

Click the bolded link to find the game kit in our library catalogue and request it from our library.

Agriculture Games Box (Grades 5+)
Kit includes: Agricola, The Farming Game, My Farm Shop, Stardew Valley

Related Kits available in your ATA Library

Click the bolded link to find the kit in our library catalogue and request it from our library. Click the sub-links to see how the technology can be used in the classroom.

Air Quality Kit for microbit