Grade Level: 3rd Grade

Time: 30-60 Minutes (Depending on Speaker/Videos Used)

Essential Question: How can we be stewards of Wyoming’s agriculture to benefit current and future generations?

Objectives: Students will:

• • Identify the people who deal with livestock challenges on a regular basis
  • Discuss the difficulty associated with being a steward
  • Recognize that stewards play an integral part in Wyoming’s culture
  • Listen to interviews of Stewards of Wyoming and reflect on their impact on Wyoming

Purpose: Students will understand that livestock face multiple challenges and many people are involved in solving those challenges.

Required Materials/Resources:

• • Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Ga-yGn6kU Padlock Ranch Video (Source 5) Video length: 5 minutes 32 seconds
  • Video: https://youtu.be/ZZ848JGdTLE Kent Drake, Predator Management Coordinator (Source 1) Video length: 2 minutes 14 seconds
  • Video: https://youtu.be/Gw2Drm1b7X8 Justin Derner, Rangeland Research Scientist (Source 2) Video length: 2 minutes 3 seconds
  • Video: https://youtu.be/u3-MHRCppXY Brian Nesvik, Chief Game Warden (Source 3) Video length: 5 minutes 33 seconds
  • Video: https://youtu.be/ANcyHq2daJ8 Monte Lerwick, Rancher (Source 4) Video length: 5 minutes 55 seconds
  • Interview Questions
  • Guest speaker from agriculture industry for live interview (if available, use videos if not)

    Teacher Note:

    If you would like to have guest speakers come to your classroom instead of watching the videos, that would also be beneficial. Potential guest speakers include: veterinarians, ranchers, Game and Fish employees, and grazing (range) managers. The videos are between 5-10 minutes each. Depending on available time, watch as few or as many as you’d like. 
  • Reflection posters with questions
  • Markers (a different color per student)
  • Ranch Stewardship Note Taking page (Use for Padlock Ranch video)
  • Wyoming Stewards Note Taking page (Use for the other 4 videos)
  • Guest Speaker Note Taking page

Suggested Teacher Preparation:

• • Have supplied videos of interview candidates ready to show. Ensure that they work and are not blocked. If not using videos, arrange guest speaker(s) to visit prior to the day of the lesson. Provide the guest speaker(s) with the four questions listed below ahead of time in order to guide the discussion for the lesson.
    • • How are you a steward of Wyoming’s agriculture? (How do you develop, use, and care for agriculture in our state?)
      • What challenges do you face that directly impact livestock?
      • How do you deal with the challenge of predators, drought, and/or grazing? Are there other challenges their job specifically deals with?
      • What advice can you give to future generations about being prepared for these challenges?
  • Make copies of the note taking pages for each student.
  • Have a different color marker per student for poster activity.
  • Create posters with questions below on the top. Have one poster for each question.
    • • How do these jobs/stewards help make Wyoming unique?
      • What would happen if these jobs/stewards were to go away?
      • How is being a steward a challenge?
      • Why is being a steward important?

Standards:

Social Studies: SS5.5.4(Explicit), SS5.6.1 (Practiced/Encountered)

ELA: 3.W.8 (Explicit), 3.SL.1, 3.SL.2, 3.SL.3 (Practiced/Encountered)

CVE: CV5.1.1 (Explicit), CV5.3.1 (Practiced/Encountered)

Vocabulary: No new vocabulary for this lesson.

Instructional Procedure/Steps:

1. 1. Today students will get the chance to listen to people who work on addressing the problems and challenges that arise within their agricultural jobs. Students will either watch the provided videos or listen to the guest speaker(s). Refer to the list of guiding questions for the guest speaker(s) included to ensure that all the students are getting consistent information that aligns with the previous lessons.

   2. Application

      In this task, students will be engaged in the higher order thinking skill of application by using and applying knowledge from the videos to answer/decide how the individuals are good stewards.
      Pass out the note taking pages. Watch the videos or listen to the guest speaker(s). Here are the guiding questions that will shape the video interviews and should shape the live interview, if you choose that route.

• • • • How are you a steward of Wyoming’s agriculture? (How do you develop, use, and care for agriculture in our state?)
      • What challenges do you face that directly impact livestock?
      • How do you deal with the challenge of predators, drought, and/or grazing? Are there other challenges their job specifically deals with?
      • What advice can you give to future generations about being prepared for these challenges?

1. 3. After the videos and/or guest speaker(s) are finished, set up four posters around the room with a question written on each. Assign each student a different colored marker to answer the questions. This is to keep track of student accountability and monitor their understanding. Students will go to each poster and record their answers. Students should use their notes to help answer the questions. Answers will vary based on what the students take away from the previous lessons and interviews.  The four poster questions are listed below:

• • • • What would happen if these jobs/stewards were to go away or no longer be around? If we didn’t have predator management, there would be too many or too few predators. Students could list the specific details of those repercussions. If we didn’t have grazing management, the rangeland would not be as healthy.  Some areas would be overused, and others wouldn’t be grazed.  If we didn’t have ranchers, we wouldn’t be able to produce the number of livestock we do every year. This would hurt our state by reducing the number of livestock products our state produces and depends on. It would also make meat and other by-products rare, which would likely raise the price for consumers.
      • How are these jobs/stewards important to Wyoming? Wyoming is known for their livestock industry. Since we produce such a large amount of livestock, it shapes our entire state. Without these stewards who protect the balance of all these challenges, we wouldn’t have the booming livestock industry we have. Our families would suffer, our lands would suffer, and our state as a whole would suffer.
      • How is being a steward a challenge? Ranchers not only have to maintain their cattle in a healthy way, they have to worry about predators, droughts, and other challenges. They need to be able to tend to the livestock’s medical needs, as well as make sure they have enough money to keep their ranch running smoothly.
      • Why is being a steward important? Being a steward creates a beautiful and healthy place for both us and future generations. It allows us to recognize the great things Wyoming offers and realize that we are in charge of keeping it in that great condition. If we don’t care about Wyoming now, how can we expect the future generations to care about Wyoming?

1. 4. After all students have responded to each poster, bring the students back together and have them each share out what they have written on the posters. If new ideas are introduced by students through the discussion, add those to the posters, as well. Say: “Being a good steward of our state, while difficult at times, is important.  Maintaining the balance of predators and prey, caring for livestock well-being, and studying proper grazing techniques helps Wyoming agriculture. Stewards play an important role for current and future generations in Wyoming.”

Assessment: After the lesson, read each student’s poster responses to check their understanding.

Credits/Sources:

1. 1. Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom. (2018, January 10). Kent Drake, Predator Management Coordinator. Retrieved January 11, 2018 from https://youtu.be/ZZ848JGdTLE
   2. Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom. (2018, January 10). Justin Derner, Rangeland Research Scientist. Retrieved January 11, 2018 from https://youtu.be/Gw2Drm1b7X8
   3. Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom. (2018, January 10). Brian Nesvik, Chief Game Warden. Retrieved January 11, 2018 from https://youtu.be/u3-MHRCppXY
   4. Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom. (2018, January 14). Monte Lerwick, Rancher.  Retrieved January 16, 2018 from https://youtu.be/ANcyHq2daJ8
   5. Environmental Stewardship. (2013, October 25). Padlock Ranch-2013 Region V Environmental Stewardship Award Winner. Retrieved August 20, 2017 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Ga-yGn6kU