Vermicomposting
Students create a worm bin which will serve as a basis for investigations about ecosystems, life and nutrient cycles, and decomposition.
Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix
The National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix is a free database of standards-based lesson plans and resources for K-12 educators that use agriculture as a lens for teaching science, social studies, career and technical education, and nutrition.
Featured Lessons & Resources
Types by Texture
Students investigate soil texture and determine the texture of several soil samples.
Test Tube Hydroponics
Investigate the importance of nutrients to support plant growth and discover how plants grow without soil by growing and observing plants in a test tube hydroponic system.
Photoperiod Phenomena
Students will understand how photoperiodism impacts plants and animals in the environment and learn how egg farms use this science to manage the laying of eggs by their hens.
Compost Stew
From apple cores to zinnia heads, readers will discover the best ingredients for a successful compost pile. How do you start a compost pile? What's safe to include? This book provides the answers.
Soil Samples (Soil Texture)
This is a great kit for teaching students about soil textures. The kit includes two cups of sand, two cups of silt, and two cups clay. All of the soil samples are from the state of Utah and are representative of the Intermountain Region, although the mineral content may be different, the particle sizes are true to soil texture type and can be used by other states for demonstration purposes. Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
Popular Early Elementary Lessons
Four Seasons on a Farm
Students identify the characteristics of the four seasons of the year, investigate what causes seasons, and observe the effects changing seasons have on farms.
Farm Animal Life Cycles
Students investigate six major livestock species, discover that animals need air, space, food, water, and shelter to survive, explore the life cycle of a farm animal, and identify the products each farm animal produces.
The Amazing Honey Bee
Students investigate the three types of honey bees in a colony, identify their roles, and recognize honey bees as part of a community that works together.
How Does Your Garden Grow? (Grades K-2)
Students discover the needs of a seed to germinate and the needs of a plant to grow while exploring the life stages of a flowering plant.
My Farm Web (Grades K-2)
Students use the visual representation of a web to explore the role of agriculture in their daily lives and understand how most of the necessities of life can be traced back to the farm.
From Chicken Little to Chicken Big (Grades K-2)
Students identify different breeds of chickens, examine physical characteristics, and determine the stages of a chicken's life cycle.
Eating Plants
Students identify the structure and function of six plant parts and classify fruits and vegetables according to which parts of the plants are edible.
Understanding MyPlate (Grades K-2)
Students explore appropriate serving sizes and determine how to make healthy dietary decisions by identifying the components of nutrition as illustrated by MyPlate.
Inside the Egg, Hatching Chicks (Grades K-2)
Students investigate embryo development in chicken eggs.
Baa, Ram, Ewe... Sheep Tales
Students explore the process of making wool into cloth.
Cultures, Food, and Communities Around the World (Grades K-2)
Students explore different cultures around the world and their unique traditions centered around food and its preparations. Students discover how food gets from the farm to the grocery store.
Hatching Science with Classroom Chicks (Grades K-2)
Students explore how an embryo develops inside of a chicken egg over time, discuss life cycles and other natural cycles, and observe similarities and differences between parents and offspring.
Popular Upper Elementary Lessons
Cultures, Food, and Communities Around the World (Grades 3-5)
Students explore different cultures around the world, compare worldwide communities with local communities, and explain the interrelationship between the environment and community development.
Pumpkins... Not Just For Halloween (Grades 3-5)
Students estimate the size and weight of pumpkins, sprout pumpkin seeds, and make pumpkin pie in a bag.
From Wool to Wheel
Students investigate how the need for wool impacted the American colonists by examining the Wool Act of 1699, determine the importance of wool in colonial America, and compare and contrast the differences between processing wool then and now. Students spin, weave, and dye wool to explore how wool was processed in Colonial times.
Corn an A-maizing Plant: Food, Fuel, and Plastic
Students examine the growth, composition, history, and uses of corn through a close reading activity, discussion of renewable and non-renewable resources, and hands-on exploration of bioplastics made from corn.
Honey Bees: A Pollination Simulation
Students identify the parts of a honey bee, the stages of its life cycle, and its role in pollination.
Beef Basics
Students explain the value of the beef cattle industry, including the products cattle produce, the production process from farm to plate, and how cattle can utilize and obtain energy from grass and other forage.
High-Tech Farming (Grades 3-5)
Students discover technologies that are used on farms to increase efficiency and yields and decrease costs and environmental impact.
Natural and Managed Ecosystems
Students compare the differences between natural and managed ecosystems and describe ways in which farmers can protect agricultural ecosystems.
A Day Without Agriculture (Grades 3-5)
Students explore the wide scope of agriculture, identify the variety of agricultural products and by-products they use in their daily lives, and discuss the difference between needs and wants.
From Chicken Little to Chicken Big (Grades 3-5)
Students identify different breeds of chickens, examine physical characteristics, and determine the stages of a chicken's life cycle.
Desktop Greenhouses (Grades 3-5)
Students investigate the importance of light to plants by creating a desktop greenhouse investigation and exploring the process of photosynthesis.
Popular Middle School Lessons
Food Systems Feed the World
Students will explore the steps and processes that create a food system and gain an understanding of hunger as it relates to the physical well-being, culture, and geographic location of all people. Students will learn what a food system encompasses, create a "food system chain," and discuss why hunger still exists despite modern advances that have made the US food system highly efficient.
Plant Parts and Functions
In this lesson students will learn about plant parts and how they function in plant growth and reproduction.
Food Scientist for a Day
Students focus on the science involved in the production of our food and explore the high-tech aspects of agricultural production as they learn about careers in food science.
From Foraging to Farming
Students will participate in a foraging activity, gaining perspective on how scarcity of resources can affect well-being and how agriculture provides the benefit of a steady, reliable food supply. Then they will read about hunter-gatherers and early agriculture and use maps to explore how geography affected the development of early civilizations.
Flower Power (Grades 6-8)
Students observe the anatomical structures of flowers and explain a flower's role in plant growth and reproduction as well as their connection to our food supply.
Introducing the Nutrition Facts Label
Explore the features of the Nutrition Facts label with a focus on protein, analyze serving size, and make a Nutrition Facts label for a smoothie.
A Recipe for Genetics: Selective Breeding and Bioengineering (Grades 6-8)
Students identify technologies that have changed the way humans affect the inheritance of desired traits in organisms; compare and contrast selective breeding methods to bioengineering techniques; and analyze data to determine the best solution for cultivating desired traits in organisms.
From Cow to Carton: Milk's Journey to the Consumer
Students will explore milk production in the United States and explain the benefits of homogenization, pasteurization, and fortification of milk.
Clothes on the Grow
Students will gain a broad understanding of the types and sources of different fibers, examining their origins and observing their differences. Activities in this lesson include examining clothing and clothing labels and observing how different types of fabrics burn.
Supply and Demand: What If?
Students will demonstrate understanding of the importance of the relationship between producers and consumers by explaining how agricultural supply and demand affects commodity prices.
Popular High School Lessons
Food Science: Bread Dough Challenge
Students explore the phenomenon of what makes bread dough rise. Using baker's yeast, students will observe alcoholic fermentation and its connection to cellular respiration as they are challenged to act as food scientists and develop the best recipe for quick-rising bread dough.
A Tale of Two Burgers: Beef and Plant-based Protein
Students compare the components of beef and plant-based burgers by determining the production and processing methods of each product; evaluate the ingredients and nutritional differences between beef and plant-based products; and discuss different points of view in the agricultural industry concerning plant-based proteins and traditional beef. This lesson covers a socioscientific issue and aims to provide students with tools to evaluate science within the context of social and economic points of view.
The Big Deal About Big Ag
Discover how technological advances and economic forces influence the size of farms in the United States. Evaluate the pros and cons of large-scale agriculture for the production of our food, fuel and fiber and identify the similarities and differences in commercial vs subsistence farming.
Don't Forget the Eggs!
Students will discover the five culinary functions of eggs by completing a cooking lab comparing recipes with and without eggs. Students will see how eggs leaven, bind, thicken, coat, and emulsify our foods.
What's On The Nutrition Facts Label?
Students will be introduced to the Nutrition Facts label, navigate and decipher the Nutrition Facts label, use food labels to determine nutritive value of foods, and define terminology found on the label such as calories, nutrients, and servings.
Herbs and Spices of the World
In this lesson students will recognize the difference between a spice and herb, learn how herbs and spices are grown on farms around the world, and participate in a culinary challenge to season popcorn for various cultural cuisines.
Journey 2050 Lesson 1: Sustainable Agriculture (Grades 9-12)
Students will explore the question, “How will we sustainably feed nearly 10 billion people by the year 2050?” as they discover what sustainable agriculture is and how it is critical to securing a stable food supply and future for a growing population.
Evaluating Perspectives About GMOs
While many view bioengineered crops (GMOs) as a promising innovation, there is controversy about their use. This lesson provides students with a brief overview of the technology, equipping them with the ability to evaluate the social, environmental, and economic arguments for and against bioengineered crops (GMOs). This lesson covers a socioscientific issue and aims to provide students with tools to evaluate science within the context of social and economic points of view.
The Cattle Drive and Westward Expansion
Students will gain a greater understanding of the historical context and purpose of the cattle drives that took place in the mid 1880s. Students will be able to explain the cause and effect relationships of life on the frontier including, population growth, and later the invention and use of barbed wire, refrigeration, and railroads.
Tracing the Agricultural Supply Chain
Explore the complexity of global commodity chains that link the production and consumption of agricultural products. Discover how economics, politics, infrastructure, and other conditions affect the distribution of food throughout the world.
The Green Revolution
Evaluate the agricultural advances of the Green Revolution, discover the contributions of Norman Borlaug, and discuss the impacts of this era from an economic, social, political, and environmental perspective by watching the 2020 PBS film, The Man Who Tried to Feed the World.
The Role of Women in Agriculture
Students will investigate the number of women farmers globally and identify these farmers’ impacts on feeding the world's population.
Explore Illinois Agriculture
Bean Seed Cycle
Students explore how soybeans are grown by farmers, examine seed anatomy through a seed dissection activity, and observe the germination of a soybean plant.
It's a MOO-stery!
Students make observations about historic tools used on a dairy farm to store and process milk into cheese and butter.
Pumpkins... Not Just For Halloween
Students estimate the size and weight of pumpkins, sprout pumpkin seeds, and make pumpkin pie in a bag.
Build-a-Calf Workshop
Students explore concepts of heredity in beef cattle and identify dominant and recessive traits.
Corn an A-maizing Plant: Food, Fuel, and Plastic
Students examine the growth, composition, history, and uses of corn through a close reading activity, discussion of renewable and non-renewable resources, and hands-on exploration of bioplastics made from corn.
Oilseed Crops
Students investigate a variety of oilseed crops, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.
Grow it Now, Drive it Later?
Students will discover potential careers in agriculture with a focus on the growing field of biofuel development.
The Environmental Footprint of Livestock
Explore modern livestock farming practices and the ecological footprint of meat, milk, and egg production. Evaluate the contributions of the livestock industry and weigh the challenges related to environmental and economic sustainability of animal-source foods in comparison to plant-source foods.
Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic
Auntie Yang starts an enduring picnic tradition when she discovers soybeans, a dearly-missed food from China, growing in Illinois. The picnic tradition quickly grows into an annual community celebration. Based on actual events, this story can be used to teach about soybeans, immigration, diversity, culture, and community. The book includes some simple Chinese words defined in a glossary at the back as well as additional information about the people who inspired the story and additional information about soybeans.
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.
Pumpkin Reader
Use this 4-page reader for students to self-discover facts about pumpkins. What are pumpkins? Topics include: Pumpkin vocabulary, plant anatomy, pumpkin history, varieties of pumpkins, and more.
Nutrition Ag Mag
The Nutrition Ag Mag is an agricultural magazine for students. This issue focuses on nutrition with segments highlighting physical fitness, career options, making healthy dietary choices, and how to read a food label. The entire publication can be viewed online.
Have an idea for the Curriculum Matrix?
Let us know if you have an idea you'd like to share for a new lesson plan or companion resource.
Looking for a list of agriculture terms?
Download a CSV spreadsheet containing the vocabulary words used in the Curriculum Matrix.