This activity teaches students to identify different types of fruits and categorize them into two main groups based on whether they are dry or fleshy. Students will follow a worksheet and complete a lab assignment where they dissect various fruits.
Ag-Bites are bite-sized ways to bring agriculture into your classroom. These one-page sheets explain how to perform hands-on learning activities with students in various grade levels (K-12).
These fact sheets provide information on the history, production, top-producing regions and economic values of various agricultural products and natural resources. The activity sheets provide specific lesson ideas and fun facts for each topic. Commodities include agricultural water, alfalfa, almonds, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beef, cantaloupes, carrots, citrus fruits, cling peaches, corn, cotton, cut flowers, dairy, dried plums, dry beans, forest resources, mushroom, pears, pistachios, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, processing tomato, rice, strawberries, table grapes, walnuts.
The crops we eat are constantly at risk of harm from pests. But what are these pests? In this activity, students will develop a definition of an agricultural pest that is meaningful to them and identify categories of pests such as insects, rodents, mollusks, weeds, and diseases.
This activity prepares students to interview someone in an agricultural career. Students will gain a greater awareness of the role agriculture plays in the American economy, practice oral and written communication skills, and learn about numerous agricultural careers.
In this activity, students will examine a variety of foods and their ingredients to determine which foods contain ingredients that may have come from genetically engineered plants.
This is a game in which students take turns rolling a die and drawing parts of a bee. Any number can play, and the only materials needed are a piece of paper, a pencil, a six-sided die, and the included printable activity sheet.
This activity introduces students to a unique and interesting sequence of events related to the nature of scientific discovery. They will explore how scientific discoveries evolve and often lead to unexpected outcomes. While researchers were trying to develop a method of tenderizing beef, they discovered that the process they were researching also decreased the harmful bacteria in meat by 40-60%. This activity teaches students about this process and how it was developed.
This activity details instruction for making butter in a small baby-food sized jar.
This activity details the instructions for making bread in a plastic bag. An excellent way to demonstrate bread-making and the properties of yeast within a classroom setting.
Using the context of a county fair livestock show, students explore how zoonotic diseases are spread. This program is designed to educate youth about the spread of disease and best practices for human and animal interaction. The online module can be accessed directly for virtual or remote learning. For in-person learning, see the full lesson plans linked below for upper elementary and secondary classrooms.
“Bringing Biotechnology to Life” is an activity resource for science educators and others interested in learning more about biotechnology and its role in food production. There are seven lessons and activities covering topics such as DNA, selective breeding, agricultural biotechnology, and more.
This STEM-based activity incorporates math (exploring dimensional spaces and problem solving) and art, as the students are encouraged to apply their creativity to come up with a unique design in form using apples and toothpicks.
A peanut will burn producing an impressive amount of flame for a long time. The flame can be used to boil away water and count the calories contained in the peanut. A great way to show students how calories are calculated for energy in our bodies.
In this activity students will taste different types of chocolate to determine if price is an indicator of better taste. Chocolate is a New World food that is now beloved by cultures around the globe. Use this activity to engage students with lessons related to the Columbian Exchange, global trade, food ingredients, and food origins and processing.
Composting is the process of creating nutrient-rich soil from decomposing organic matter like grass, leaves, and food scraps. Construct a compost bottle using a clear container, bottle, or jar and observe the organic matter break down into soil rich in nutrients that can be used in a garden. Instructions available in English and Spanish.
Free app teaching students how foods fuel their body to create energy for their favorite activities.
This game incorporates the knowledge students have gained about plant parts with the fact that plants provide people with the nutrients and energy needed for a healthy lifestyle. This activity will be most beneficial if conducted with students after they have been taught the individual plant parts.
A 30-minute activity teaching students about food allergies, reading food labels to identify allergens, and food substitutions. It can be added to any lesson on food labels, nutrition, etc.
Farming is a risky business. Droughts and severe storms, equipment problems and outbreaks of animal disease can all occur unexpectedly and impact a farm negatively. This printable classroom board game teaches secondary students about animal disease management. Students take roles as a farmer, accountant, purchaser, or veterinarian to manage a pig farm. They will learn and use methods to prevent disease such as vaccinations and quarantine as they buy and sell animals at the auction.
Students use this template to create a pop-up game to reinforce agricultural concepts concerning various plants and animals. Templates are available for apples, cows, dairy, pigs, sheep, and turkeys. Teachers can use the blank template to create their own pop-ups to reinforce concepts and understanding for any area of study.
Food Group Puzzle
This activity can be a supplement to any nutrition lesson. Students will complete puzzles by matching food groups to the nutrients the food group provides and examples of foods within the food group. A digital and paper version is included.
Food Safety from Farm to Fork: How Fast Will They Grow?
Students, acting as scientists, will explore bacteria and fungi. They will design an experiment that will promote or minimize the bacterial and fungal growth on a piece of white bread. This activity can supplement any lesson on food safety or the scientific method.
Food Safety from Farm to Fork: Mighty Microbes
In this activity, students, acting as epidemiologists, look at the facts of an outbreak and determine the source and cause of an illness that makes many picnickers sick. Interpreting data tables, classifying, and reading are incorporated into this investigative epidemiological mystery. This activity can supplement any lesson on food safety.
Food Safety from Farm to Fork: Operation Kitchen Impossible
In this activity, students become the head chef in a virtual kitchen. They will use mathematical knowledge, problem-solving skills and food safety guidelines to prepare a safe and nutritious meal. This activity can be used to supplement lessons on food safety.
Food Safety from Farm to Fork: Playing it Safe
Students will learn the basic science of food safety and the importance of safe food practices while playing a board game, performing “fact or opinion” and “cause and effect” activities, and then writing an essay on what they learned. This activity can be used to supplement lessons on food safety.
From Farm to You Coloring Sheet
This coloring sheet will accompany any lesson that explores the path food takes from farm to consumer. Students can color the image and then fold it to hide the consumers within the farm.
Fun with Almond Math
In this activity, students will multiply, divide, combine and reduce fractions using real world applications working with almond grower word problems and recipes.
Genetic Engineering (Grades 9-12)
In addition to selective breeding, genetic engineering tools are used by plant breeders to solve some agricultural challenges such as producing enough food to feed a growing global population or minimizing production impacts on our environment. Some plants have been engineered to be more nutritious, more resistant to pests, or more drought tolerant. In this activity, students will review the process of bacterial transformation and then look at the processes involved in creating genetically engineered plants.
Genetic Engineering in Crops (Grades 6-8)
In addition to selective breeding, genetic engineering tools such as transgenics and CRISPR gene editing can be used by plant breeders to solve agricultural challenges. Plants can be engineered to be more nutritious, more resistent to pests, drought tolerant, etc. This activity challenges students to match several crops and the challenges faced in growing them to potential solutions that could be reached with genetic engineering.
Glo Germ Set
Demonstrate proper handwashing technique, proper surface cleaning and how to prevent the spread of germs. This kit includes a gel, lotion, or a powder which glows when exposed to a long wave UV light. This kit can be purchased from a variety of online retailers, search keyword "Glo Germ."
Growing Letters!
Young children place seeds on a sheet of paper and watch the seeds germinate.
Growing Microgreens
Growing microgreens is a quick, easy, and tasty way to explore the seed germination and plant growth life cycle. There are MANY different kinds of microgreens—some taste mild and juicy, others pack a spicy punch! Try growing a variety of microgreens to observe and eat.
Growing Up Evergreen
In this activity, students will explore how evergreen trees grow from cone to maturity by reading Where Would I Be in an Evergreen Tree? by Jennifer Blomgren and by making a bird feeder from a pine cone.
Gyotaku: The Japanese Art of Printing Fish
In this activity the students will identify the parts and functions of a fish, explore the Japanese art of fish printing known as gyotaku, and label their gyotaku print with the parts of a fish.
Hands-On With Wool
Spinning, dyeing, weaving, and felting wool can easily be done in the classroom. This activity provides instructions and a materials list, making it easy to prepare a hands-on wool project for your class. Wool processing is a topic that connects easily to lessons in history and science.
Harvesting for a Healthy Community Farm to School Resources
Tailored to inspire curiosity, engage young minds, and foster a genuine connection to where our food come from, these farm to school resources bridge the gap between the classroom and the farm. Resources include posters, lessons, mini books, and videos investigating tomatoes, grapes, apples, citrus, carrots, herbs, leafy greens, asparagus, berries, and corn.
Have a Ball – Your Sphere of Influence
Do you have a complicated issue or problem to discuss with your students? Use a beach ball (or any other type of ball) to demonstrate why a person might have a different "point of view." This activity helps students recognize that every issue can be seen from different points of view.
Higher or Lower: Ingredient Investigation
This is a "Price is Right" style activity designed to help illustrate the sugar and salt content found in processed foods. This activity can supplement nutrition and food processing lessons.
How Many Hats Does a Farmer Wear?
This elementary activity illustrates the wide array of career paths available in agriculture. Students will create a paper "pinwheel" illustration of the many hats that farmers wear.
How to Extract DNA from Anything Living
Use these detailed instructions to add a DNA extraction activity to a science lesson on genetics and DNA.
How to Use a Ragdoll Test to Estimate Field Germination
Germinate seeds like a pro! The ragdoll germination test involves placing a known number of seeds in a moist paper towel, rolling up the towel and seeds to place inside a plastic bag, and assessing the number of seeds that germinate over the next few days. This is an easy way to demonstrate germination in the classroom and to test and discuss factors that affect germination.
Ice Cream in a Bag
This activity details the instructions for making ice cream in a resealable plastic bag.
Imported Food Safety
Through this web quest, students will examine where their food comes from, federal agencies involved in protecting our food supply, how imported foods such as honey present a safety challenge, and what measures are being taken to meet these challenges. This activity can be paired with secondary lessons on food safety.
Introduction to Circuits
Paper circuits are an exciting way for students to learn how electrical circuits work. This activity gives students a foundation for what a circuit is and how to create a closed, series, parallel, and open circuit using a few simple supplies. The concepts learned in this introductory activity are a springboard for more complicated electrical projects such as sewing circuits and building prototypes controlled by Arduino boards.
Invasive Species "Space Invaders" Game
The Space Invaders game helps students better understand the adaptive traits of plants in a new environment. The game simulates introducing new plants to 3 different ecosystems. After several rounds of play, students will see which plants survive and reproduced as well as which plants were potentially displaced.
Invasive Species Profile
In this activity students will create a profile for an invasive species in their area to gain an understanding of the diversity of organisms that can become invasive, where to go for trusted information, how humans may be involved in their introduction and spread, and what native species or resources are threatened. This activity can complement secondary level lessons on invasive species.
Is There Ever Too Much of a Good Thing?
This activity directs students in performing an experiment measuring the growth of beans using too much fertilizer, too little fertilizer, and the right balance of fertilizer. Students will learn how and why farmers use the correct amount and type of fertilizer to grow crops used for our food and fiber.
Journey 2050 Program Summary: Project-Based Learning
Journey 2050 is a program helping students engage in world food sustainability at a local and global scale. The program contains seven lessons which are aligned to education standards for both
6-8th grade and
9-12th grade. Use this project-based learning approach as a capstone to develop a plan to support sustainable agriculture.
Lab Investigation: Biodiesel
In this laboratory students will determine the amount of energy released from biodiesel compared to other energy sources.
Let's Get Growing!
Let's Get Growing! tells the story of Iowa native Dr. Norman Borlaug, whose research developed wheat that could grow in harsh conditions and feed hungry people worldwide. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for saving billions of people from starvation. Learn about him, sing some fun songs, and tell the story of his remarkable life in this easy musical. Included are additional resource suggestions and famous Borlaug quotes. Available online from JWPepper.com, materials for purchase and download include score, recordings for rehearsal use, and piano accompaniment tracks for performance.
Lose a Million Bacteria The Game
Based on the popular TV game show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”, this activity allows students to put their food safety knowledge to the test. It reinforces safe food handling practices, promotes cooperative learning, encourages class participation, and reviews food safety in a fun, interactive way. On Day 1, students create their own evaluation questions based on what they’ve learned from the Dr. X and the Quest for Food Safety video, activities, and labs. Then, on Day 2, they play the game, using the questions as an evaluation exercise.
Make Your Own Worm Bin
Vermicomposting in your classroom is an effective way to engage students with a wide variety of science concepts. This activity will show you how to make your own worm bin out of a recycled styrofoam cooler. Prepare the cooler ahead of time, and then have students add the bedding, worms, and vegetable scraps.
Making a New Apple Cultivar
Pair this activity with lessons on selective breeding. Students will identify desirable genetic traits in apples and use a coin flip to simulate the steps and time involved to breed a new cultivar of apple.
Mapping Meals Activity
A 20-minute activity to illustrate to students that many of our foods come from around the world. Activity can be added to any lesson on food, food sources, nutrition, etc.
Modeling Selective Breeding with Starburst®
In this activity students will model the process of selective breeding using Starburst® candies to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this breeding technique.
Move 'N Around – The Nitrogen Cycle Game
This classroom game is made up of eight stations that represent different forms of nitrogen. As players move from station to station, they collect cards that represent the different forms of nitrogen they became and whether they contributed to productive or unproductive outcomes. The interactive format breaks down a complex topic into an easy-to-digest format, allowing players to see how important nitrogen is as a building block of life and how to best optimize it as a critical component of biology.
New Plant Variety Safety Evaluation Project
Students will explore data collection for a hypothetical new potato variety to be evaluated for safety. They will also use a flow chart to evaluate whether the new variety is as safe and nutritious as comparable food or if additional information is needed to make a decision.
Nutrient Supply Activity
In this activity, students will explore the global problem of hunger and nutrient availability along with techniques that are being used to improve nutrient supplies where shortages exist. Students will also exercise their ability to identify credible information sources.
Nutrients for Life eLessons
Browse a library of elessons related to soil science. These videos are ideal for distance learning.
Pests, IPM, Poison Prevention, and You
This downloadable activity book is designed for kindergarten through fourth grade students. The activity book features four sections titled Living Organisms All Around Us, What Is a Pest, Integrated Pest Management, and Poison Prevention. Each section includes an introduction to the content, an activity for students, and helpful tips for kids and adults. The activity book can be used by educators and parents to introduce kids to these topics or to supplement existing lessons.
Portion Size Comparison
This activity can supplement any nutrition lesson. Students will identify portion sizes for food and compare them with common every-day items through a "Grab Bag" activity.
Processed Food Breakdown
This 20-minute activity allows students to apply their knowledge of reading food labels and identifying the nutrient content of food. Students work in groups and are challenged to create a nutritious meal with processed foods. This is an ideal capstone activity for a lesson on reading food labels and determining the nutrient content of foods.
Prolific Pollinators
How does your food get pollinated? Pollinators are essential to agriculture and the environment. Students will learn about the various categories of pollinators and their contribution to producing agriculture commodities. Includes three activities, a math exercise, and ideas for service learning and citizen science.
Seed Ball Garden Activity
Use these instructions from KidsGardening.org to make seed balls as a fun and inexpensive way to sow native plants and flowers! Seed balls are a small collection of seeds, compost/soil, and clay. They are commonly used to revegetate areas burned by wildfires but can also be used on a smaller scale in home gardens and classrooms.
Selectively Breeding Sheep: Punnet Square Practice
This activity can be a companion to a secondary genetics lesson allowing students to practice completing Punnett Squares. Students will learn about sheep production and how sheep breeders can use the Punnett Square to predict the likelihood of lambs in their flock inheriting a disease called Spider Lamb Syndrome or SLS.
Shape, Form, and Function in the Garden
In this activity students will gather, observe, and dissect flowers before collecting flowers and other plant parts to create pressed plant art. Use this activity to integrate art and science concepts while encouraging students to explore and observe plants found in their everyday surroundings.
Show Them The Germs!
This activity helps students to understand how germs are spread and how they can prevent disease by washing their hands properly.
Skillet Toasted Squash Seeds
Seeds from winter squash are collected, cleaned, and skillet toasted for a unique and tasty snack.
Sprouting Success
This activity provides basic instructions for growing edible sprouts. By sprouting seeds in your classroom, students can learn about the science of seed germination, plant growth, and how sprouts can contribute to a healthy diet. A seed is the miraculous start of a new plant. It contains all the food a new plant will need until its leaves reach sunlight and begin to make more food for the plant. Seeds are essential to agriculture and are the original source of much of our food, clothing, and shelter. Understanding agriculture and its role in civilization can provide a context for understanding social studies, science, and nutrition. Seeds need warmth, moisture, oxygen, and sometimes light or darkness to germinate. Changing these variables will produce measurably different results students can experiment with to explore the scientific method.
Supply and Demand
A simple activity that demonstrates the principles of supply and demand.
Sweet Slow Cooker Squash
Students have the opportunity to taste winter squash in the classroom with this simple slow cooker recipe.
Targeted Genome Editing
In this activity, high school students develop an understanding of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system and create an infographic (or poster or model) to demonstrate their understanding of the system.
The Bean Game
In this game, students determine how much money to invest in their bean crop and then roll dice to determine what happens to their crop during the planting, growing, harvesting, and marketing phases. Will their farms make money this year?
The Garden Show (Musical Play)
The Garden Show is a 25-minute musical play for grades 1-5 that ties well with science curriculum. Students learn about soil, plants, photosynthesis, pollination, and garden creatures from a wild bunch of characters, including dive-bombing bees, aliens from planet Chlorophyll, and a singing compost pile.
The Great Pumpkin
This is a fun and simple activity in which students will make a paper-plate model of the life cycle of a pumpkin.
The Healthy Hop 'n Shop
In this activity students categorize foods into food groups and describe the USDA MyPlate icon by participating in an activity where students act out the role of a grocery store worker and stock the "shelves" with food from each food group.
The Life Cycle of a Chicken
Create a colorful, egg-shaped chicken life cycle using the templates and egg tempera paint recipe provided in this activity.
The Making of a New Apple Cultivar
This high school activity introduces students to apple growing and shows them how selective breeding is used to benefit both the apple grower and consumer by producing a new and better-quality apple.
The Steaks Are High Online Game
This engaging game introduces students to the world of beef production, from the cow-calf operation to the livestock auction, stocker ranch, and feedyard. Answering math problems is the key to progressing through the game, reinforcing key mathematics standards for third- through fifth-grade students.
The Very Hungry Western Caterpillar
Based off of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, this caterpillar takes a journey through the Western United States as he eats some of the most popular agriculture commodities in each state. This book can be made individually by students or used as a classroom copy.
Tootsie Roll Conversation About Conservation Terms
In our efforts to protect the environment we sometimes confuse the terms preserve and conserve. This activity is designed to help students understand the difference between conservation, preservation, and indiscriminate use.
Trading Around the World
Play this game to experience the challenges and excitement of international trade. See if you can get the best price for the goods you sell and the biggest bargains for the goods you buy. Watch how the global economy is doing: the prices you'll be able to get and the deals you can make depend on how healthy the global economy is.
Troubled Waters
In this activity students perform an experiment on plant growth using saline water, acidic water, and alkaline water to determine the effects of water quality on plant growth.
Two Truths and a Lie
You're scrolling through social media and come across a food meme. Is this fact or fiction? Use this activity to help students debunk food and farming misconceptions. Then, put these resources to work by incorporating the agricultural themes into student research projects.
Value-Adding on a Christmas Tree Farm
In this activity, students will learn how to add value to Christmas trees by making scented pillows from balsam fir needles which can be used for gifts or potentially as a fundraiser for your classroom. Older students can also calculate the potential income from selling their value-added projects.
Virtual Insect Collection Lab
Insect collections are so cool! This virtual insect collection lab allows students to participate in a virtual science experience as they learn more about insects and what they can tell us about our world.
Water Pollution Demonstration
Students will learn about the ways in which water can become polluted and why it is important to conserve water by developing a model and watching a demonstration of the pollution of a lake. This activity is a great companion to any lesson on water, conserving natural resources, pollution, etc. Students will learn about the ways in which water can become polluted and why it is important to conserve water by developing a model and watching a demonstration of the pollution of a lake.
Water Savers
Water Savers is a board game developed for grades 6-12 and designed to support a group of 2-5 students. The game introduces environmental issues and sustainable farming practices to encourage understanding of issues within students' community and/or region.
Weather Harvest Game
Farmers work with nature. Soil nutrients, planting, weed and insect control, machinery work, crop records and harvest are things farmers can control and manage. Farmers cannot control the weather. Crops may need to be planted more than once in the spring. Most crops are ready for harvest in late summer and fall but may be wiped out by a single weather event. Play the weather harvest game to see if you will be able to bring in your crop.
Order this game online from agclassroomstore.com.Weather Wisdoms
An elementary writing activity to supplement lessons on the weather. Students will learn how the folklore related to weather observation played a role in the growing of crops and raising animals many years ago.
What Do Plants Need to Grow?
This activity reviews the fundamentals required for plants to survive. This activity is best used after students have learned about a plants' basic necessities (air, water, light, and nutrients). The activity also demonstrates the many ways that humans rely on plants in everyday life.
Wheat Weaving: How to Make a Corn Dolly
Students will learn about the history of weaving with straw and make their own woven wheat ornaments, traditionally known as "corn dollies." The art of weaving with wheat stems (straw) is practically as old as wheat itself. Traditionally, corn dollies were made using the last stems of harvested grain. Wheat was most common, but oats, rye, barley, and corn were also used. The woven ornaments with the heads of grain still on the stem were hung on inside walls where they made it safely through the winter. These sacred grains were then planted the next season to ensure the fertility of the entire crop.
Wisconsin Fast Plants®
Growing Wisconsin Fast Plants in your classroom is a great activity to give life to lessons on plant growth and development, pollination, life cycles, and heredity. Fast Plants are members of the cabbage family (Brassicaceae) that have been selectively bred for rapid development. In five to six weeks, these plants will complete an entire life cycle, from seed to seed. They are small, productive, and easy to grow, making them practical and manageable for classroom research and demonstration. Fast Plants of all types will show some differences between individual plants, but those with several variations (non-purple stem, yellow-green leaf) will show greater variability between individuals, an important consideration for lessons on heredity.
