While most plants grow from seeds, many can also be grown from bulbs, tubers or stem cuttings. This is called
vegetative propagation. It is used in agriculture for growing many types of plants in the nursery and greenhouse industry, as well as for raising crops like potatoes and garlic.

Alternative Plant Propagation lesson available on the Curriculum Matrix.

In this hands-on fun activity, students learn what a soil profile looks like and the composition of soil. Students are introduced to the five soil forming factors and soil horizons.

This fast-moving relay race teaches students that before any product leaves a factory, or enters a store, it began as a resource or product of the natural world – most likely agriculture. Students will work in teams and run a relay race where they have to quickly decide the source of a product and then race to place it into one of the buckets marked Factory, Store, Farm or Earth. Source Relay is a great interest approach activity for older students!

Check out the adapted online, student worksheet version for elearning puposes!
Answer Key to Source Relay with explanations.

*This lesson plan is similar to our Breakfast Relay lesson plan. Click the link to check it out!

Students will discover that plants need an adequate amount of nutrients to grow and stay healthy. Plants uptake nutrients from the soil, so it is important to test soil regularly to determine if there are enough nutrients to support plant growth. The soil test kit will help students identify whether soils in their garden, yard, park, etc. are fertile or deficient in nutrients. Keep in mind that all plants need nutrients, but requirements vary depending on the type of crop, shrub, tree, etc.

Many foods we eat and grow in Oregon are not indigenous or native to North America. In this lesson students study the origin of fruits and vegetables from around the world and understand how the Columbian Exchange altered people’s lives.

Students will explore the use of Punnett squares and rudimentary statistical math through the lens of a real-life barley breeding scenario. Students will be introduced to the genetics of two barley varieties and will work towards an objective using Punnett squares and reasoning. In this activity, students will cross the Buck and Lightning varieties to create an F1, then cross two F1s to create an F2, to satisfy the objective. Finally, they will use a Chi-square calculator to evaluate a set of real-life data in comparison to their results. This lab assumes that students have already had a basic introduction to Punnett squares, their uses, and how to complete them. It is designed as a potential culmination of, and not a replacement for a genetics and Punnett square unit.

Virtual Lesson Plan

Discover the nutrient requirements of dairy cows! Students will collaborate in teams to unlock feed examples through a series of escape boxes. As students work to unlock each escape box, they will be tasked with calculating rations using the Pearson Square method to provide a balanced meal for dairy cows to enjoy!

We may know where the Columbia River is, but do we know how it was formed? Why is the Willamette Valley such a great place to raise crops? Why is the landscape of Central and Eastern Oregon so different from the rest of the west side of the state? Students learn the answer to these questions and more! The readings are written to teach middle school students about the three major catastrophic geological factors that created the landscape we see in Oregon and throughout the Northwest today.

This hands-on experiment demonstrates soil’s function as a water filter, as well as other physics concepts like hydrophobicity, soil absorption and adsorption, soil as a storage container for water, and the positive and negative charges of soil and contaminants.

Google Slide version of student worksheet available for elearning purposes. 

Yeast Blow up! Is yeast alive? What does yeast need to live? How does yeast help bread rise? A great interest approach for Food Science: Bread Dough Challenge lesson from the Curriculum Matrix!

Use this activity as an interest approach to the   Food Science: Bread Dough Challenge lesson from the Curriculum Matrix here.