This article defines and explores the financial and environmental benefits of regenerative annual cropping as a climate solution.
Students will be introduced to six regenerative practices and their positive effects regarding climate change.
The projected data is analyzed to provide evidence for the adoption of the practices, although limitations are also mentioned.
Teaching Tips
Positives
Helpful sidebars present numerical data with easy-to-understand graphics and include a call to action for students.
The information is formatted like a scientific paper, with a clear cause-and-effect framework.
The information is easy to share via social media.
Additional Prerequisites
Because vocabulary is rigorous, a definition list would be appropriate.
Students should understand "hectare" versus "acre", since the data is presented in hectares.
Students should know what climate change is and the contributing role that agriculture plays in furthering climate change.
Differentiation
This article will work well with a note-taking assignment in any content area.
Probability and statistics connections can be made in math classes, as there are several data points to evaluate costs, benefits over time, and effects on the climate.
Students in English classes can use the article to evaluate the author's purpose, introduce scientific writing styles, or as practice for reading more complex scientific papers.
Using the helpful graphic that lists the co-benefits of regenerative annual cropping, teachers can assign the co-benefits as research topics, urging students to look at the Table of Solutions for more information.
This article is useful for any discussion related to farming, conservation, or the effects of human activity on the environment.
Scientist Notes
This article introduces and discusses regenerative agriculture and explores how it can be used to sequester carbon and reduce carbon emission rates. Details about the model they used to explore these topics are included. The article is organized similarly to a scientific paper with an introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion sections. The limitations of the study are also included. This composition makes this resource a simplified example of how scientific articles are often structured. Resources are included. The information presented is accurate, and this resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
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-ESS3-2 Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.
HS-ESS3-3 Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
HS-ESS3-4 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
HS-LS4-6 Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.2.9-12 Use marginal benefits and marginal costs to construct an argument for or against an approach or solution to an economic issue.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.
