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Database Provider

Author

PBS Wisconsin Education

Grades

8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Subjects

Science, Social Studies, Biology, English Language Arts

Resource Types

  • Video, 4 minutes, 21 seconds, CC
  • Article

Regional Focus

North America, United States, USA - Midwest, Wisconsin, Driftless (CESA 3, 4)

Farming

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Synopsis
  • This short video features a fourth-generation farmer describing the organic growing practices on their farm in Wisconsin and the brief article describes how climate change may affect farms and community supported agriculture in Wisconsin.
  • The video also describes some of the changes they are observing on their farm and how they deal with pests or changing conditions.
Teaching Tips

Positives

  • The narrator describes the connection between the health of the crops she grows, the environment, and the health of the consumers who buy her products.
  • The farmer discusses sustainable agriculture practices such as cover crops, starting seeds in greenhouses, and using organic methods to produce large amounts of food.
  • The webpage has teaching tips related to local agriculture and agricultural history to try in the classroom with this resource.

Additional Prerequisites

  • Students should be familiar with basic agricultural terms such as crops, pesticides, organic farming, and yield.
  • Students should understand how soil and crop health can be affected by intense rainfall events, drought, and pesticides.
  • The second link in the body of the text is broken.

Differentiation

  • A review of basic farming practices and terms such as crop rotation, harvesting, yield, organic agriculture, pesticides, fertilizer, and photosynthesis may be helpful before engaging with this video and article.
  • Before watching the video and reading the article, ask students what types of fresh produce they eat and where it comes from.
  • Consider having students research local farms and farmers' markets in their community and see if there are any community supported agriculture programs in their area.
  • There are interdisciplinary opportunities to discuss economics and business when examining small businesses, the farm bill, food prices, and farming subsidies.
Scientist Notes
This resource from Climate Wisconsin provides a short (~4.5 minute) video about farming and agriculture in Wisconsin and how climate change is affecting the yearly temperatures, rainfall, and the arrival of new pests. A brief discussion of the economic impact of Wisconsin's agriculture is also provided. Teaching tips are provided. This resource would be a great addition to a classroom discussion about climate change and the effects that are not always visible to everyone except those that closest to the resource.
Standards
  • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
    • ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
      • HS-ESS3-3 Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
    • LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
      • MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
  • Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
    • Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
      • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
    • Speaking & Listening (K-12)
      • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.3 Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
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