The California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom takes pride in the variety of resources it offers to educators and students. Periodically, materials are revised or removed from general circulation. The lesson plans in this "Archives" section are sound educational pieces which will enhance your teaching. However, they are not listed on the main lesson plan section solely because they are not aligned to the current Content Standards for California Public Schools nor do they contain the most current statistics or contact information.

Chemistry of Fertilizers, The

 

By Jean Kennedy

Grade: 10-12

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Visual/Performing Arts

 

High school students use fertilizer science as a tool to apply chemistry to real world situations. Hands-on experiments, activities, practice problems, discussions and writing assignments are incorporated as students learn to break compounds into ions, make a fertilizer and test several fertilizers for phosphate content.

 

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Counting on Cooperatives

 

By Nancy Harris and Michael Jarman

Updated September, 1997

Grade: 5-6

Subjects: Social Studies, Language Arts, Mathematics, Art

 

This six-lesson unit introduces students to the study of economics, including an introduction to basic business types and systems. Students learn about international, national and California history as they take a historical tour of cooperatives and how they have evolved into the business structures that exist today. Arithmetic skills are reinforced as students cooperatively solve word problems and exchange money. In a culminating activity, students open a business of their own choosing and experience the business world first-hand as classmates act as consumers. Agriculture is the overall theme for this unit.

 

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Edible Plant Parts

 

By Karen Chambers and Pamela Emery

Grade: 2-3

Subjects: Science/Environmental, English/Language Arts, Health/Nutrition, Visual/Performing Arts

 

This unit inspires students to think about the fruits and vegetables they eat and categorize them into edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. Agricultural topics are incorporated into several curricular areas including literature, art, science and mathematics.

 

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Genetic Engineering in Agriculture

 

By Suzanne Weisker

Grade: 10-12

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, History/Social Science

 

This unit designed for advanced science students introduces biotechnology and genetic engineering in a format that supports critical thinking and problem solving. Bacterial transformation activities are performed in this unit that highlight a current agricultural challengethe gossypol content in cotton.

 

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Entirety (1.12 MB)

How Much Is Too Much? How Little Is Too Little?

 

By Pamela Emery

Grade: 5-8

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts

 

Taking further the idea that plants require certain nutrients, students discover, through hands-on activities, that nutrients are required in proper forms and amounts. Lesson titles include "What's Wrong With Me?" and quot;Can There Really Be Too Much of a Good Thing?"

 

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Interrelationships of Soil, Water, and Fertilizers and How They Affect Plant Growth, The

 

By Pamela Emery

Grade: 9-12

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Visual/Performing Arts

 

This comprehensive unit offers high school students the opportunities to perform guided classroom science projects and relate their newly gained knowledge to current agricultural issues including ground water quality and sustainable agriculture. A problem-solving role-play concludes the unit.

 

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Entirety (2.42 MB)

Invaders, The

 

By Kelly King and Cynthia Livingston

Grade: K-3

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, History/Social Science, Visual/Performing Arts

 

In this comprehensive unit, the students become detectives and gather evidence against the suspect (the pesky Mediterranean fruit fly).

 

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Invasion of the Medfly

 

By Jerry Delsol and Holiday Matchett

Grade: 4-6

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, History/Social Science, Heath/Nutrition, Visual/Performing Arts

 

This comprehensive unit teaches students about the pesky and persistent Mediterranean fruit fly. Students learn science concepts, review California and world geography, practice reading and writing, perform art projects and use mathematics in this exciting unit.

 

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Entirety (1.68 MB)

Mysterious Plant Caper Spanish Worksheets, The

 

By Joanne Borovoy & Karen Holtman

Grade: K-1

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Visual/Performing Arts

 

Spanish student activity sheets for The Mysterious Plant Caper comprehensive unit

 

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Entirety (1.21 MB)

Mysterious Plant Caper, The

 

By Joanne Borovoy & Karen Holtman

Grade: K-1

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Visual/Performing Arts

 

Students use observation and evaluation skills in a series of scientific experiments and hands on multi-curricular activities to learn the basic parts of plants and that plants are living things which require water, air, light and nutrients for survival.

 

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Starting All Over Again (The Cycles of Nature)

 

By Lois Bechely and Karen Traiger

Grade: 6-8

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Visual/Performing Arts

 

Middle school students perform activities, experiments and a cross-curricular role play to learn the importance of cycles in nature and their relationships to the production of food and life on planet Earth. Carbon, Oxygen, water, rock/soil and nitrogen cycles are examined. This unit may be used as a supplement to How Much Is Too Much? How Much Is Too Little?

 

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Tree to Table

 

By Kelly King and Cynthia Livingston

Grade: K-3

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, History/Social Science, Health/Nutrition, Visual/Performing Arts

 

Integrates language arts, mathematics, science, social science, and visual and performing arts concepts while following food production from the tree to the table.

 

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What Do Plants Need to Grow?

 

By Pamela Emery

Grade: 2-4

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Heath/Nutrition, Visual/Performing Arts

 

In this comprehensive science unit, students learn that plants, in order to survive and reproduce, require certain nutrients. Thirteen interrelated hands-on lessons and activities allow students to experiment with plants and relate what they learn to the food they eat.

 

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What Do Plants Need to Grow? Spanish Worksheets

 

By Pamela Emery

Grade: 2-4

Subjects: Science/Environmental, Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Heath/Nutrition, Visual/Performing Arts

 

Spanish student activity sheets for the What Do Plants Need To Grow? comprehensive unit.

 

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