Youth Climate Story: Regenerative Agriculture in Illinois
Videos
Grades9, 10, 11, 12Chemistry, Biology
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by ACE
What it is
- This inspirational video highlights young adults in Sheldon, Illinois implementing restorative agriculture techniques to help fight climate change.
- The video describes an innovative approach to carbon capture in which farmers apply mining waste products as fertilizer to help their crops and trees grow.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This video acknowledges the grief young adults feel related to climate change, while highlighting ways some youth are taking action.
- The video is short but describes farming techniques that are sustainable and innovative.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with basic farming operations such as planting, tilling, and fertilizing crops.
Differentiation
- Consider having students research a variety of sustainable farming techniques and report on their pros and cons.
- Social studies classes may consider using this video to discuss the topic of resilience in relation to food production and human resilience in the face of challenges.
- Chemistry and biology students could watch this video after learning about nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon. Have students research the mining material that the video mentions to see what elements may be present and how they help plants grow.
- Other resources related to this topic include this video on regenerative agriculture and this lesson plan on soil health.
From the scientist review
This video gives an overview of Zumwalt Acres, a sustainable farm in Illinois and gives an overview of how they are farming differently to create a more climate resilient farm. Two sisters talked about why they wanted to do this work, climate grief, and general feelings young people have about climate change. They do instill messages of hope and encouragement. Links in the description have all been vetted. The link to the farming site includes more information on their involvement with research with Yale University, links to relevant research papers, and resources and information on how their farming intersects with Judaism have been reviewed. The resource does briefly mention carbon capturing and is recommended for teaching.
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