Is the Solution to Climate Change in Soil?
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Provided by: Ecosia|Published on: February 11, 2023
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Synopsis
- This video outlines the benefits of regenerative farming, in contrast to the downfalls of industrial farming practices, and highlights how this type of agriculture could improve soil fertility, food production, and biodiversity.
- Students will learn how crop rotation, planting legumes, and agroforestry can help address climate change.
Subjects: Social Studies, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: Ecosia
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- While this video does highlight the pitfalls of the agricultural industry, it also provides a hopeful outlook, outlining the many ways that this sustainable method could combat the climate crisis.
- This video challenges students to think about ethical issues surrounding the agricultural industry.
Additional Prerequisites
- Background information on the many impacts of agriculture may help students understand the dire need for more sustainable practices in food production.
- This video includes English subtitles for the segments spoken in French and German, but subtitles can also be turned on in a variety of other languages.
Differentiation
- Provide students with a graphic organizer that directs them to take notes on specific aspects of the topic, including biodiversity loss, overgrazing, ethical considerations, and obstacles to scaling regenerative agriculture.
- Use this resource alongside this lesson plan that compares regenerative farming with industrial livestock operations.
- Put advanced students in groups to research and discuss ethical issues surrounding farm animals and/or farm worker conditions. Alternatively, have them research the pesticides used on non-organic and non-regenerative crops to see how they may affect people and biodiversity.
- Allow students to choose a related topic to research more thoroughly, with choices such as how synthetic fertilizer use affects watersheds and the climate, how livestock waste contributes to climate change and water pollution, or how legumes and some cover crops naturally restore the nitrogen in the soil.
- As an extension, have students research functioning regenerative farms, such as this regenerative farm in Spain.
This video discusses farming, agriculture, and soil, and how they impact climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Small-scale versus industrial-scale farming is also examined. The presenters do a nice job of explaining different farming methods, identifying which ones they think are better, and discussing why it is so hard for individual farmers to change how they operate. Some speakers do not speak English but are captioned in English. The information presented is accurate and this resource is recommended for teaching.
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Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
Ecosia
Ecosia is the search engine that plants trees with its ads revenue. They have a YouTube Channel that has educational content as well to further their mission: to regenerate degraded landscapes, support rural communities and establish climate justice, one tree at a time.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
