Career and Technology Foundations Grades 5-9

Resources for student and teachers about sustainable development goals and activities.

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.

This two-part interactive game introduces the concepts of interdependence and globalization through the geography of food. Educators will find the game and teaching guide for Grades 6-10.

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.

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.

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)

A great overview article for students that explains what agriculture is, the history of agriculture, and what modern agriculture looks like

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.

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.

Educators can create free accounts to gain access to hundreds of high quality educational resources that tie directly to the K-12 curriculum

Agriculture-based learning and teaching resources from an Alberta-based Agriculture education organization.

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.

This guide provides an overview of connections to agriculture that can be developed around Alberta competencies.

Countryside Classroom helps teachers to find resources, places to visit and school support relating to the themes of food, farming and the natural environment

A treasure-trove of agriculture-based lesson plans for Grades 6-12 students.

PlantingScience is a free online resource to teachers and schools. The program provides volunteer scientists, resources, and activities to support innovation in teaching, learning, and mentoring.

Free supplementary curriculum from the FDA for middle and high school classrooms

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

Watch this video to learn about the two kinds of angiosperms. You'll learn the characteristics of monocots and dicots.

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.

Learn about the different types of gymnosperms and their distinctive features. There is a quiz to test yourself after the slide show.

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.

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.

Check out this video about different ways that plants reproduce themselves. Test yourself with the quiz after you've watched the video.

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.

Chris Martine hosts this channel focused on biodiversity, botany, and ecology. Videos are short (less than 20 minutes), informative (thanks to a knowledgeable host and great guests), and captivating (with lots of stunning nature imagery).

This colourful and interactive site about bees is from the Canada Agriculture Museum. Learn about bees, pollination, life in the hive and beekeeping.

This 60 second video clip is a classic Hinterland Who's Who video about pollination.

Check out this great video about pollinators; it's interesting and informative. There's also a link to the Hinterland bumble bee profile.

This 5-minute video discusses the importance of maintaining a healthy bee population and how humans can help with this.

A science project for students that demonstrates how plants can slow soil erosion.

A lesson plan from "Let's Talk Science" about healthy soils.

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?

Check out this slide show with information about soil, the importance of healthy soil and what we can do. Then you can test yourself.

This classic yet simple science experiment demonstrates soil erosion in a way your students won't forget.

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.

The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is a professional scientific society, made up of soil scientists, educators, and consultants focused on promoting soil science, including enhancing soils topics in schools.

This site for student includes scientific information about soil, experiments for the classroom, and online soil interactives.

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

This playlist provides a short outlines of the basic principles of sustainable agriculture.

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.

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)

This education kit explores the science of water use in Alberta and now contains new information about climate change, energy development and stewardship. The resource includes a poster to project in your classroom, worksheets and a teacher’s guide full of activities.

Play this video to learn more about the water cycle, the constant movement of water around Earth and the atmosphere.

A list of lesson plans, articles, videos, and interactive activities for students from grades 9-12 to explore the science of rising sea levels.

The Story of Bottled Water describes the environmental and financial impact of using bottled water instead of tap water.

An online questionnaire that calculates your water usage and compares you to the average American consumer.

Find social studies and science lessons plans for Grade 6 that were developed by the Native Counselling Services of Alberta.