Want curriculum that makes science come alive for your class? Feed the World lessons provided Sabrina Stalder, Agricultural Education Instructor and FFA Advisor at Athens High School with good activities and extension to reinforce science concepts.
In her Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources class, Stalder used the Soil Texture labtivity and Soil texture lessons to introduce a soil science unit. In the Soil Texture labtivity, the students gathered soil samples from different areas on school grounds and land lab. They also created a graph of their soil composition for comparison among the different groups. Next, the students went back to that same place to get a second sample for the soil texture field test lab. Students were able to conduct ribbon tests on several different samples.
Stalder used the nutrient content, pH and soil testing activity in her Greenhouse and Landscape class in order to test different soils for pH, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The students then had to determine what type of amendments each sample needed to make it ideal for a certain plant.
In the Environmental Science class the Biotic sampling activity helped determine the water quality of a nearby stream. The class predicted that the stream would be be a little polluted. After conducting a biodiversity index, they determined that the health of the stream is very poor because they were only able to find tolerant species and not very many of them. Stalder also used the population rates activity with this class. Stalder said, “The students were intrigued by this activity and it started quite a bit of discussion about how to meet the needs of our population.”
In her Animal and Plant Science course, Stalder used the Punnett squares activity as an extension since it dealt with dihybrids.