Abstract
A focus on modern-day people
and problems can serve to engage students in the learning process. This
approach can aid teachers who struggle to bring meaning to the curriculum
and motivate children to learn. The agriculture unit described in this
article is based on service-learning principles and enriched by technology
integration. Through these deliberate unit activities based on math,
social studies and science standards, students reached a level of understanding
about agricultural issues facing our community, country and world.
Unit Background
The idea for the service-learning
unit on agriculture was inspired by a North Carolina Ag in the Classroom
workshop (http://www.ncagintheclassroom.com/).
The workshop emphasized the need for students to connect to the lives
of North Carolina farmers and to realize the importance of the work
they do for the people of the world. The theme of agriculture provided
an opportunity to connect seventh grade science, social studies, math,
language arts, technology and character education standards as well
as to address common misconceptions that children have about the foods
we buy in the grocery store. Though service-learning activities forged
connections between the material, technology played an important role
throughout the unit. Internet searches and the creation of spreadsheets
and charts were used regularly in various components of the unit.
Weather
The 10-week project began
with a study of weather and of the consequences of tornadoes and hurricanes.
After learning some basic weather fundamentals, students took an in-depth
look at the weather in North Carolina and how it can be drastically
altered by storm systems, particularly hurricanes. Students were able
to track the storms of past and current hurricane seasons on the Internet.
Students found statistics about the damage of previous storms using
the following sites:
WRAL Weather
http://www.wral.com/weather
USA Today Hurricanes
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/whur0.htm
NOAA National Hurricane Center
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
Hurricane and Storm Tracking
http://hurricane.terrapin.com
AccuWeather.com Hurrcianes
http://hurricane.accuweather.com/adcbin/hurricane/facts.asp?partner=accuweather
With ironically “good
timing,” Hurricane Isabel struck North Carolina just as students
completed this component. The students used their knowledge to make
power point presentations on hurricanes for the students in the elementary
school, a part of their science outreach to younger children. The Hurricane
Webquest (http://asterix.ednet.lsu.edu/~edtech/webquest/canequest.htm)
guided students in the creation of the powerpoint.
Download
a sample student powerpoint project (1.1 MB)
Environmental Impacts
of Weather
Next, students read current
events to find out how the hurricane impacted the farming industry in
North Carolina. As expected, North Carolina farmers were hit hard when
Isabel struck the coast. Students looked at land use, population, and
the storm destruction, all of which are topics in the social studies
curriculum. Students learned about flooding and how water pollution
can increase as a result of a hurricane. Students also read stories
and articles that described the life of farmers today versus farmers
of the past, an appropriate topic for comparison and contrast writing.
Some technological advances make it easier for farmers to prepare for
and handle weather irregularities, but farmers still face the challenge
of unpredictability. Inspired by their research, students passionately
defended farmers and told others about their history and present situation
as if the students suddenly had a great revelation about a forgotten
industry.
The USDA Agricultural Statistics
Data Base (http://www.nass.usda.gov:81/ipedb/)
provided a wealth of agricultural statistics for the United States and
other countries in the world. It allowed students to look at the statistics
for one particular region and then correlate the rise or fall of production
to economic or natural phenomenon that was taking place during that
time.
This provided students with
a great opportunity to make inferences based on the results of data
that has been collected over time. For instance, the following spreadsheet
was developed from statistics for corn production between 1993 and 2003.
It was challenging for students to try to account for the fluctuations
in production and prices over the ten-year period. With research and
the use of analytical thinking, students could come up with some very
feasible reasons for the shifts in the data table. Thousands of other
spreadsheets can be created by using the data from the website given
above.
Corn for Grain Statistics
for N.C. (1993-2003)
