Lesson One: Stewardship & Agriculture
Grade Level: 2nd Grade
Time: 30 minutes
Essential Question: How can we be stewards of Wyoming’s agriculture to benefit current and future generations?
Objective: Students will understand the definitions of stewardship and agriculture.
Purpose: Students begin to learn what being a steward is in Wyoming. Throughout the course of the unit, students will develop this idea of stewardship.
Required Materials/Resources:
• Pictures (one picture per pair of students)
• 4 Ways Farmers Steward the Land text (one copy per student or display website listed in Source 1)
• Shared Reading protocol http://www.stanswartz.com/Shared%20Rdg%20excerpt.pdf (Source 5)
• Chart paper
Suggested Teacher Preparation:
• Print pictures
• Preview text and decide how it will be shared with the students
• Read through the Shared Reading protocol (Source 5)
• Prepare anchor chart for the assessment
• The resource that this lesson’s text is taken from (http://www.agfoundation.org/news/4-ways-farmers-steward-the-land) has some video links that may be helpful to teachers as you move into other lessons. They are not specifically embedded in the lessons, but may be useful:
o Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9YDlcKG4rA What is crop rotation? Agriculture 101: America’s Heartland (Source 2) Video length: 1 minute 48 seconds
o Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxZlAw-SUP4 Nabbing Nitrates Before Water Leaves the Farm: Riparian Forest Buffers (Source 3) Video length: 4 minutes 28 seconds
Standards: Not applicable
Vocabulary:
• Agriculture – cultivating of the soil, producing of crops, and raising of livestock
• Crop – a cultivated plant that is grown for food, fiber, or livestock feed
• Cultivate – prepare and use land for crops or gardening
• Farm – an area of land where crops are grown
• Livestock – animals kept for use and profit
• Ranch – an area where livestock are raised on open rangeland and graze on native grasses
• Steward – an individual who manages areas or resources
• Stewardship – As Wyoming citizens, we are stewards entrusted with the responsible development, care, and use of our resources to benefit current and future generations
• Timber – wood prepared for use in building and carpentry; also includes wood pellets and animal bedding
Instructional Procedure/Steps:
1. Introduce the term steward by having students discover how they are stewards of their classroom and school. The teacher gives examples of stewardship in the classroom by providing real examples such as: “(Name) is a steward of the classroom because he always makes sure that we have enough sharpened pencils to get us through the day. (Name) is a steward because she put her empty water bottle in the bin, so it can be recycled. I also noticed great stewardship of our class space from (Name) when he hung up a coat that fell off the hook.”
Teacher Note:
It is important for the teacher to listen for misconceptions while students are discussing stewardship and guide them to the correct meaning of stewardship as it pertains to the unit.
2. Have students work with a partner to complete this sentence stem: “I am a steward of our school by _________________________.” Have partners share their sentence with the class.
3. Discuss the definition of agriculture with students using the guiding information below: Agriculture is cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock.
• Cultivate – prepare and use of land for crops or gardening
• Farm – an area of land where crops are grown
• Ranch – an area where livestock are raised on open rangeland and graze on native grasses
The three major agricultural products produced in Wyoming are:
• Crop – a cultivated plant that is grown for food, fiber, or livestock feed. Common crops in Wyoming are alfalfa, sugarbeets, hay, and wheat.
• Livestock – animals kept for use and profit, such as cattle and sheep
• Timber – wood prepared for use in building and carpentry; also includes wood pellets and animal bedding
Say: “These are all renewable resources for our state. This means they can be used repeatedly because they can be replaced through care and maintenance.”
Teacher Note:
The discussion may also include the points that a farm can also raise livestock and ranches can grow some crops, even though the main purpose of a farm is to grow crops and the main purpose of a ranch is to raise livestock. Crops can also be grown for other purposes, such as fuel or aesthetics.
4. Have students read a short text helping them to connect the ideas of stewardship and agriculture. Display/pass out the text, and use the shared reading strategy (http://www.stanswartz.com/Shared%20Rdg%20excerpt.pdf) to read and discuss the text. Be sure to highlight the specific agricultural stewardship practices that are described in the text.
Assessment:
Have students get back with their partners. Distribute one picture to each group, and have students describe their picture by using this sentence stem: This picture is an example of agriculture because _________________________________.
While students share out, record student ideas on an anchor chart.
Credits/Sources:
1. American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. (2015, August 3). 4 Ways Farmers Steward the Land. Retrieved July 5,2017, from http://www.agfoundation.org/news/4-ways-farmers-steward-the-land
2. America’s Heartland. (2012, September 26). What is crop rotation? Agriculture 101: America’s Heartland. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9YDlcKG4rA
3. Missouri & Mississippi Divide RC&D. (2014, July 23). Nabbing Nitrates Before Water Leaves the Farm: Riparian Forest Buffers. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxZlAw-SUP4
4. Photo credits are listed on the photos
5. Swartz, Stanley L, Shook, Rebecca E., Klein, Adria F. (n.d) Shared Reading: Reading with Children. Retrieved September 4, 2018, from http://www.stanswartz.com/Shared%20Rdg%20excerpt.pdf