This article examines why conventional paddy rice production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, the economic and environmental benefits of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), and how SRI can act as a carbon sink.
Students will learn that methane-producing microbes are a feature of conventional paddy rice production, the SRI reduces methane emissions and increases crop yields, and further implementation of SRI can preventmany gigatons of carbon emissions.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This article includes a brief history of SRI, referencing that it started in Madagascar in the 1980s.
This article contains an eye-catching picture of a smallholding farmer.
Additional Prerequisites
It may benefit students to know what methane emissions are and how they impact the environment.
Some students may need the terms hectare, sequester, degraded land, and others defined before reading the article.
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Differentiation
Language arts students can use this article and other agricultural-related solutions from the Table of Solutions for an informative essay on different agricultural solutions to the climate crisis.
Students can investigate the carbon footprint of their diets, then read this article and brainstorm other solutions to reduce emissions from their diets.
This article can enhance a lesson on how agriculture contributes to annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Students can extend their learning by researching different types of carbon sinks and why we need them.
Scientist Notes
This article introduces the use of a system of rice intensification (SRI) as a solution to reduce emissions. The report begins with a brief introduction to the importance of rice as a food staple for billions of people, along with a discussion about the history of using a system of rice intensification (SRI). Sections on the methodology, scenario, and model are provided, along with the results and discussion concerning the feasibility of reducing greenhouse gases through a system of rice intensification (SRI). This reading would be a great addition to a lesson discussing alternative methods for reducing carbon emissions. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-2 Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.
HS-ESS3-4 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.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.3.9-12 Analyze the ways in which incentives influence what is produced and distributed in a market system.
D2.Eco.8.9-12 Describe the possible consequences, both intended and unintended, of government policies to improve market outcomes.
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.9.9-12 Evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on human migration and settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at local-to-global scales.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2 Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.8 Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
