This open textbook is intended to expose students to the application of quantitative genetic models to plant breeding populations. Specific topics include conducting and interpreting multi-environment trials, resource allocation using engineering principles, genetic modeling of quantitative traits, simulation modeling, variance, covariance and heritability, prediction, selection, and genetic gain.

This open textbook covers common statistics used in agriculture research, including experimental design in plant breeding and genetics, as well as the analysis of variance, regression, and correlation.

Each of the books in the PBEA series comes with a section in its back matter titled "Applied Learning Activities" which includes additional content aligned to each chapter such as handouts and worksheets, csv files, code for statistical analysis in R, and recommended readings.

This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. The site opens by telling kids that people have learned to change the food we eat. The first comic strip looks at a farmer who works to produce a larger, redder, tastier tomato. The second comic strip tells kids about genetic modification and imagines a scientist putting the flounder's "anti-freeze" gene inside the DNA of a tomato. Food for Thought presents kids with two scenarios about genetically modified food, asking them if they think they're good ideas.

Ranchers are participating in a pilot project to improve carbon storage and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. After quantifying their baseline emissions and carbon storage, they implement conservation practices that may let them tap into revenue from voluntary carbon markets.

This lesson is designed for adult learners who are pursuing a career in farming. It focuses on reading scientific and technical texts (Grade 6) related to farming and farm loans. This lesson will help learners identify and define technical words specific to farming and borrowing money. The learners will have the opportunity to apply their acquired knowledge in class activities such as reading and analyzing case studies.

This Educator's Guide provides a unique seed experiment utilizing the materials in the 4-H Honey Bee Project tool kit. 

Students learn about soil properties and the effect biochar—charcoal used as a soil amendment—has on three soil types, sand, loam and clay. They test the soils’ water retention capability before and after the addition of biochar. During the activity, student teams prepare soil mixtures, make observations (including microscopic examinations), compare soil properties, conduct water retention tests, take and record measurements, and analyze their observations and data. They see how the physical properties of soils—color, texture, and particle size—can be indicators of nutrient content and water retention capabilities to support plant growth. From their findings, they consider biochar’s potential benefits for environmental and agricultural applications, especially in conditions of drought and depleted soils. An activity lab sheet is provided to guide experimental data collection and analysis.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Plant health is essential for food production, but plants are often affected by pathogens that can threaten plant performance including crop yield. Unfortunately, we can often only predict plant health when pathogens have infected plants and can no longer be controlled – and by then it is too late. To counteract pathogens, farmers often apply extensive amounts of pesticides throughout plant growth. But excessive pesticide use is costly and affects the biodiversity of the surrounding species. A recent study sought to find a way to predict plant health before planting. Researchers investigated different classes of soil microbes throughout the growth of tomato plants. They found that bacterial predators called protists were the best predictors of pathogen dynamics in growing plants..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Charleston County School District Nutrition Services and the Green Heart Project are excited to be partnering this year for Harvest of the Month. November 2020 is the Great Sweet Potato Harvest! Nothing tops these sweet potatoes better than some Bee Cause Project honey! Enjoy!

Students will understand the role agriculture plays in determining the wealth of a nation, document the role agriculture played in American history, and describe the impact environmental and agricultural systems will have on the future world population.

This lesson presents students with information regarding the differences between ruminant and monogastric digestive systems. The project portion of this lesson allows students to work in small groups and get creative to demonstrate their knowledge of these two digestive systems. 

Over the last fifty years, humans have made remarkable progress in reducing hunger around the world. How can we keep our farms and food system resilient in a warming climate? Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, joins host Laur Hesse Fisher on this episode of TILclimate to explain how climate change is already impacting our global food system.

These guides give an overview of Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs), explain how SAEs work, and provide SAE options, implementation tips and appendices, including leaning plans, career plan templates, supervision plans and more.

This Book Club Challenge Guide will help Cloverbuds explore the book The Life and Times of the Honeybee by Charles Micucci with pre-reading and post-reading discussion questions, lots of hands-on activities including a Lifecycle of a Honey Bee figures activity, and much more! 

In this lesson, students will investigate seeds and the process of seeds growing to become the food we eat. Includes activity instructions, extension activities, songs, and a vocabulary list.

NGSS: Partially meets 2-LS2-1, Extension activities meet 4-LS1-1, 5-LS-1

Common Core: W.2.7, W.2.8, Extension activities meet MD.K, MD.1, MD.2.1, MD.3.3, MD, 4.4, MD.5

Social Sciences: 3.12, 4.12

Time: 45 minutes

Materials: "Seed, Soil, Sun" or other book about seed germination and plant growth, clear plastic cups, paper cups, paper towels, seeds, water

This course will give you over all idea about the following topicSeed development and maturation    seed quality and its maintenance  Genetics and agronomic principles followed in seed production Details of varietal and hybrid seed production in Agri and horticultural crops Importance of seed processing - Machines related to seed cleaning and grading  Factors affecting seed storage and different methods of seed storage Seed treatments - seed hardening - pelleting - priming - coating etcSeed Act, 1966 - Seed Rule 1968 - Seed Policy - PPVFRA - Seed Control order, 1983 -Seed bill 2004

In this lesson, students will investigate the miraculous process of air and water combining with seeds, soil, and sunlight to create nearly all the food we eat. Extension activities can take this a step further by encouraging kids to track growth rates of different seeds in an observation journal. Includes place-based connection, activity instructions, extension activities, songs, and vobaulary list.

NGSS: Partially meets 2-LS2-1, 1-LS1-1

Common Core: W.2.7, W.2.8, and MD.K, MD.1, MD.2.1, MD.3.3, MD.4.4, MD.5 with extension activities.

Time: 45 minutes

Materials: "One Bean" book or other book about plant germination, clear plastic cups, paper cups, paper towels, seeds, and water.

The Sentinel-2 10m Land Use/Land Cover time-series is live on ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World! This map provides an annual assessment of yearly global land cover from 2017–2021, in 9 different land cover classes, at 10-meter resolution. The new time-series animates the natural and anthropogenic processes that continue to transform our planet's landscapes and resources, giving researchers, planners, and the GIS community the information they need to make critical future decisions.