How has agriculture and the Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Program impacted your students and instruction?

When I first started teaching Human Geography, I knew very little about agriculture. The Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom program really helped me to develop meaningful lessons for my students. I use the Food For Thought Maps to teach Von Thunen's Theory and use the Commodity cards to teach Minnesota's agricultural regions. Many of my students don't think of Minnesota being an agricultural state, so this is an eye opener for many of them. Teaching about agriculture from the local to global scale is getting to be more important to do. Students need to understand where their food is coming from and how this food is being grown/raised and processed in order to make the most educated decisions about what products to buy.

What are some current agricultural projects your students are working on?

*  Students go to the grocery store and map where their food comes from.Then we make a class map.

* AP students create an infomercial about an agricultural topic that relates agriculture to health issues.

* Students map where different crops are grown and then use the book "What the World Eats" to better understand why certain foods are prevalent in certain diets.

What advice do you have for other teachers on using agriculture in their curriculum?

Plan carefully!! There is so much you can do with agriculture, its easy to run out of time!   Be sure you do agricultural lessons at varies scales - Minnesota , national and world patterns. Also, relate agriculture to the student's life. This unit really opens up students' eyes to what they are eating and why.

Why do you believe it is important for our students to be agriculturally literate and aware in today's society?

"You are what you eat" is an old saying, but is very true. Students need to understand this and there is no better way for them to do that than to learn about food. With the growing world population, the issue of food production and distribution will continue to be a major issue. The use of natural resources to increase food production and improve food distribution will affect all people and by learning about this in school, students will be better equipped to deal with these issues and be better global citizens.