Students will sharpen their observation, listening and vocabulary skills with this poetry writing exercise that
features items with an agriculture connection. For higher grades, have students create a haiku, acrositc, mirrored
refrain or cinquain poems.

Find our Google Slides version of the activity for elearning purposes!

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!

This lesson introduces plant needs and the basic principles of garden design. Square foot gardening is a method of food production that allows gardeners to grow a large amount of food in a small space. Gardens are divided into a square foot grid, with every individual square measuring 1ft by 1ft. The size of the plants at maturity will determine how many of each plant type can fit into a single square. This method requires students to use their math and measurement skills to design a garden that fits the uniquely sized beds at their school. This lesson can be used to emphasize fraction practice for older students and simple units of measurement and counting for younger students.
This lesson was adapted from the Junior Master Gardener Learn, Grow, Eat, and Go! Curriculum. You can purchase that here: https://jmgkids.us/lgeg/

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.

This activity will introduce students to farm economics and the variable forces affecting crop production and sales. Students will learn that farming is a business and the importance of anticipating and managing risks that affect profit. Lesson adopted from Oregon Aglink.

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!

They’re the only living things that make their own food. Not only that, but they are the source of all food for every other living thing. What are they? Plants! This lesson makes the connection that people have to plants.