How can we Design Cattle to Better Meet Human Needs?

In this high school Storyline unit on genetics and heredity, students are introduced to ‘SuperCows’. As they explore the vast variety of cattle breeds, students discover that cattle are specialized for different purposes and while similar, the ‘SuperCows’ are clearly unique. Students wonder what caused this diversity and specificity which leads to investigations about the role of inheritance, DNA and proteins.

Students take notes and read articles about how life changed for humans because of the introduction of agriculture.  Students play “MasterMind” using the dates of significant changes in agriculture and complete a worksheet while researching historical events that have impacted agriculture.

This lesson from the National Agriculture in the Classroom Matrix is designed to teach students about the parts of honey bees, the stages of the lifecycle, and the role honey bees play in pollination. There are three activities including materials lists, vocabulary words, background connections, support documents, step-by-step procedures, and support videos. 

In this interactive, learners develop the skills to handle a horse safely before entering the corral for the first time. The interactive consists of three stages, each explaining an aspect of the safety procedures necessary for leading a horse.

In this module we will introduce you to concepts such as food security, food insecurity, nutrition security, livelihood security, food policies and programmes and the role of stakeholders and facilitators. You will gain the knowledge and skills required to gather information on many different levels, from the macro to the micro level. You will also, in time, become equipped to analyse community and household needs, understand the implications of policies and strategies for communities and households. You will eventually be able to report on the community situation regarding food insecurity and related issues and to advocate and request assistance for intervention.

This unit we focus on household food security and what the effect of food insecurity will be on households. These days the concepts nutrition, nutrition security, livelihoods and household livelihood security are also used when the bigger picture of household food security is discussed.

In this module your main task is to plan and carry out a set of activities with selected households in the community to help them gain a good understanding of their current and possible future use of natural resources in their area.

In Module 4 you are revising the important concepts from Module 1 such as food security,food insecurity, nutrition security and livelihood security. We add nutrition for the vulnerable,food behaviour, food choices, dietary patterns and diet diversity, as well as the role played by different stakeholders involved in food security. Together with the households you will gain knowledge on these issues and help the households themselves to gather information about their nutrition related problems, vulnerability, risks and malnutrition. You will together with them analyse the causes of these problems on different levels, from the macro to the micro level. The most important set of skills you will learn is how to work with households as a facilitator.

You are an employee of Green Valley Dairy and your job is to determine the mass of the company’s corn silage pile. Your boss knows that this pile is the limiting factor as to whether or not he can add animals to the herd. He is contemplating adding 500 head of cattle and needs to make sure there is enough feed in storage before they make the expansion...don’t mess up your measurements and calculations, as this is pivotal information.

Human Geography: An open textbook for Advanced Placement is aligned to the 2015  College Board course articulation for AP Human Geography. The purpose of  AP Human Geography is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth's surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice.

This course examines the dynamic interrelations among physical and behavioral traits of humans, environment, and culture to provide an integrated framework for studying human biological evolution and modern diversity. Topics include issues in morphological evolution and adaptation; fossil and cultural evidence for human evolution from earliest times through the Pleistocene; evolution of tool use and social behavior; modern human variation and concepts of race. The class also studies stone artifacts and fossil specimens.

This class introduces the multidisciplinary nature of archaeology, both in theory and practice. Lectures provide a comparative examination of the origins of agriculture and the rise of early civilizations in the ancient Near East and Mesoamerica. The laboratory sessions provide practical experience in aspects of archaeological field methods and analytical techniques including the examination of stone, ceramic, and metal artifacts and bone materials. Lab sessions have occasional problem sets which are completed outside of class.

Fourth in a series of videos from Khan Academy and 23andMe that introduces human prehistory, this video describes how agriculture changed human societies and genetics throughout the world.

Maker Faire participants collaborate in ISKME's Design Lab, using digital stories and salvaged materials to design an innovative school of the future. The Design Lab features Makers Mauro ffortisimo Di Nucci's deconstructed piano and INKA Biospheric Systems' Vertical Garden; as well as Student and Teacher project examples that integrate art, science, sustainability, and green design inspire the creation of shareable open-source learning resources. This wiki page showcases photos and video from the Design Lab, open educational resources for teachers, and a step by step guide through the design process.

We hear the word ecosystems in the news and at school but just what are ecosystems? It turns out there are lots of ecosystems. You might even learn you have some inside you! Also in: French | Spanish

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:

"With the world’s population expected to grow to over 9 billion by 2050, food is a major concern. Much of our increased food needs could be met by improving the yield of agricultural crops. A recent study examined one aspect of plant health: the plant microbiome, which plays a critical role in host health and productivity. Researchers focused on oilseed rape (OSR), the third most cultivated crop in the UK and a major source of vegetable oil. Field experiments have indicated that OSR yield declines proportionally with how often it is grown in rotation and while this has been associated with changes to the rhizosphere microbiome, it is unknown which microbes negatively affect plant yield. Comparing rhizosphere soil and bulk soil samples from 37 farms across the UK, they found that protists, bacteria, and fungi were influenced differently. Fungi were more widely influenced by the rotation frequency, but specific bacteria and protist species were also affected..."

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

Learners will be able to 1) describe different integrated pest management techniques for controlling agricultural pests and 2) identify environmental/economical advantages and disadvantages of different pest management methods

The purpose of this resource is to introduce the process of benchmarking in farming. It is a very basic tutorial aimed at familiarizing farmers with the practice of benchmarking in farm management. This resource hope to encourage learners to research further learning resources and opportunities. The content of this resource is derived from:

Kahan, D. (2013). Farm business analysis using benchmarking. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The discipline of Biosystems Engineering emerged in the 1990s from the traditional strongholds of agricultural engineering and food engineering. Biosystems engineering integrates engineering science and design with applied biological, environmental, and agricultural sciences. Introduction to Biosystems Engineering is targeted at 1st and 2nd year university-level students with an interest in biosystems engineering but who are not yet familiar with the breadth and depth of the subject. It is designed as a coherent educational resource, also available for download as individual digital chapters. The book can be used as a localized, customizable text for introductory courses in Biosystems Engineering globally. It is written as a series of stand-alone chapters organized under six major topics: Food and Bioprocessing; Environment; Buildings and Infrastructure; Information and Communications Technology and Data; Machinery Systems; and Energy. Each chapter is organized around stated learning outcomes and describes key concepts, applications of the concepts, and worked examples.

In this introduction to biotechnology's use in agriculture, learners will discuss history of the topic, model the fermentation process, and extract DNA in a lab activity.