This video explores the principles, global impacts, and scalability of regenerative agriculture.
Students will learn best practices for regenerative agriculture, healthy soil's role in the nutrient cycle, and steps individuals can take to support a sustainable global food system.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The video explains the current problems in our agricultural systems and provides potential solutions for food insecurity and climate change.
Students will learn how industrial agricultural practices contribute to biodiversity loss, deforestation, and a large percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Additional Prerequisites
Students need to be able to read subtitles for parts of the video when the speakers speak in languages other than English.
The link in the description to Ecosia's European regenerative agriculture fund is broken.
Differentiation
Other resources on this topic include this lesson on regenerative agriculture and factory farming and this video on traditional farming methods.
Students who feel inspired to take action can follow up with this project on starting a meatless Monday program at school or these resources for building a school garden.
Economics classes could analyze the political and economic obstacles involved in scaling regenerative agriculture and permaculture.
Students can read more about Ecosia's sources with links in the description.
Scientist Notes
This resource is an 18-minute video that examines the global state of regenerative agriculture systems. Consumer choices and citizen actions are discussed, and specific methods and strategies for practicing and implementing regenerative agriculture are presented. The scalability of regenerative agriculture is also discussed, including financing, labor, and other issues, including potential pushback from entrenched and existing agriculture lobbyists and companies. Sources are included in the video description. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
HS-ESS3-2 Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.
HS-ESS3-4 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
MS-LS2-3 Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-5 Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.1.9-12 Analyze how incentives influence choices that may result in policies with a range of costs and benefits for different groups.
