Regenerating for the Next Gen

• This 60-90 minute lesson plan discusses the differences between regenerative agriculture and factory farming livestock operations (also known as CAFOs), and how these different agricultural approaches affect climate change and our environment. 
  
• It provides a student worksheet, teacher guide, slide presentation, case study, and informative video. 
  

Positives

• This lesson challenges students to think critically about global food production, livestock production, and the role agriculture plays in climate change.
• The video is very informative and the case study focuses on solutions that improve carbon storage and reduce emissions.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should be familiar with the terms regenerative, livestock, and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). 
• Students should have some basic knowledge about the major greenhouse gases and climate change.
• Teachers will need to create a free account to access this resource.
  

Differentiation

• This is a great resource to tie into science lessons about the carbon cycle, deforestation, ethics, ecology, and the nitrogen cycle.
• Economics and social studies classes could discuss current government subsidies going to the agricultural sector and how they could be redirected to support regenerative or organic agriculture to achieve a reduction in emissions and address climate change.
  
• Students may be interested in starting a Meatless Mondays campaign at school or learning more about the connections between food and climate change using these resources: Plant Rich Diets, Environmental Impacts of Food Data Explorer, The Diet That Helps Fight Climate Change, and How to Change Your Diet to Fight Climate Change.
  

• Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
  • LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
    • MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
  • ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
    • MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
    • HS-ESS3-1 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
    • HS-ESS3-4 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
    • HS-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
• College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
  • Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
    • D4.6.6-8 Draw on multiple disciplinary lenses to analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself at local, regional, and global levels over time, identifying its characteristics and causes, and the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address the problem.
• Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
  • Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
  • Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
  • Reading: History/Social Studies (6-12)
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.7 Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.