Unit 7 — March: Agricultural Mechanics and Structures
Description
Students are introduced to agricultural mechanics with an emphasis on designing and building chicken coops. The unit covers safety, basic carpentry, electricity, machinery, equipment, and precision farming concepts. Students design chicken coop structures using knowledge from earlier units about habitat requirements, calculating square footage and materials needed. They explore an on-campus chicken coop, analyzing construction materials and identifying improvement opportunities. Students build scale models of their coop designs using popsicle sticks, reinforcing design principles and construction techniques. The unit connects to broader agricultural engineering applications and equipment operation.
Essential Questions
- How do we design functional structures for agriculture?
- What materials and techniques support safe construction?
- How can we improve existing structures?
Learning Objectives
- Apply safety protocols in construction
- Use basic carpentry principles and tools
- Calculate materials and costs
- Design structures meeting specific requirements
- Evaluate existing structures critically
- Construct scale models
- Understand basic electrical and mechanical systems
Supplemental Resources
- Graph paper for design drawings and measurements
- Colored pencils and markers for design sketches
- Rulers and measuring tools for calculations
- Poster board for presenting final designs
- Construction paper for prototype and scale model details
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Crosscutting Concepts
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Science and Engineering Practices
Students engage in reading, writing, speaking, and listening tasks throughout all units. They conduct research on agricultural topics using informational texts, write blog posts and project reports, present findings to peers, and engage in collaborative discussions. Students summarize information from diverse media, quote from sources to support claims, and produce informative and opinion writing aligned to agricultural themes such as food systems, animal science, and natural resource management.
Students apply mathematical concepts across all units. They use measurement and unit conversions when testing water chemistry, calculating feed amounts, and designing chicken coops. Students collect and graph data from macroinvertebrate studies and plant experiments, calculate percentages for hatch rates and cost analysis, use area and volume formulas when designing agricultural structures, and apply operations with fractions and decimals in food science and agribusiness contexts.
Students apply scientific practices throughout the curriculum by conducting experiments, collecting and analyzing data, developing models, and constructing explanations. Topics including plant biology, animal systems, water chemistry, genetics, ecology, and food chemistry directly align with life science and earth science disciplinary core ideas. Students engage in engineering design when creating hydroponics systems and chicken coop structures, and they use crosscutting concepts such as cause and effect, systems and system models, and structure and function.
Career readiness, financial literacy, and 21st century life skills are embedded throughout all units. Students explore careers in agriculture, food science, natural resource management, veterinary science, and agribusiness. They develop personal and entrepreneurial financial skills through agribusiness simulations, plant sales, and grocery cost analysis. Students use digital tools for research, collaboration, and data visualization, and they practice critical thinking, creativity, and communication in team-based agricultural challenges.
Formative Assessments
- Observations of design process and calculations
- Journals documenting design iterations
- Discussions on structural improvements
- Self-evaluations of model construction
- Group work on materials selection
Summative Assessment
Projects including coop designs and scale models, portfolio updates with design drawings, blog posts on construction choices
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through a teacher-led interview about their coop design, supported by visual models or drawings, in place of written design documentation. Simplified calculation worksheets with visual aids or number lines may be provided to support material and cost estimation tasks.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
During design and calculation tasks, provide graphic organizers or partially completed templates so students can focus on key concepts such as material selection and square footage without being overwhelmed by open-ended formats. Allow students to demonstrate understanding of safety protocols and construction principles through oral explanation, labeled diagrams, or dictation rather than solely through written reflections or journal entries. Scaffolded checklists can help students track multi-step processes such as measuring, planning, and model construction in manageable increments. Extended time and access to a scribe or voice-to-text tool should be available for any written components, including portfolio updates and blog posts.
Section 504
Students should be given extended time on calculation tasks and design documentation to ensure accurate work without undue time pressure. Preferential seating near the teacher during direct instruction on safety protocols and carpentry principles supports focus and access to demonstrations. A reduced-distraction workspace is especially important during model construction, when sustained attention to precise physical tasks is required.
ELL / MLL
Visual supports such as illustrated safety posters, labeled diagrams of construction tools and materials, and picture-supported vocabulary references will help students access unit content across all lessons. Key terms related to agricultural mechanics and construction — such as scale, perimeter, materials, and structure — should be introduced with visuals and real objects before they appear in tasks. Directions for multi-step processes like design planning and model building should be given in short, clear steps, and students should be encouraged to sketch or label diagrams in their home language when it supports their understanding.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting the unit's design challenge to familiar structures students have seen in their communities can help build engagement and activate prior knowledge before introducing new construction concepts. Breaking the coop design process into smaller, clearly sequenced steps — such as sketching first, then calculating one measurement at a time — gives students manageable entry points and builds confidence. Hands-on work with physical materials during model construction offers an accessible mode of demonstrating understanding for students who may struggle with written expression, and early check-ins during the design phase can help catch misconceptions before they compound.
Gifted & Talented
Students who demonstrate early mastery of basic design and calculation concepts can be invited to explore how professional agricultural engineers approach structure optimization, such as factoring in ventilation efficiency, material cost-benefit tradeoffs, or animal welfare standards beyond minimum requirements. Extending the design challenge to include justification of every structural and material choice using engineering reasoning — rather than simply completing the model — deepens analytical thinking. Students might also investigate how precision farming technologies or sustainable building practices could be incorporated into their coop designs, connecting the unit to broader agricultural innovation.