Unit 8 — April: Chicken Farming and Horticulture
Description
This unit transitions chickens to outdoor coop environments and introduces horticulture principles. Students move hatched chicks to the coop and learn different farming types such as free range and chicken tractor systems. The unit covers showing chickens, including breed and class categories, attributes judges look for, and photography techniques for documentation. Students begin plant propagation and horticulture work, planting seeds and seedlings for later growth. The focus is on practical application of animal and plant knowledge in integrated systems.
Essential Questions
- What are different chicken farming systems?
- How do we prepare animals for showing?
- What are the basics of plant cultivation?
Learning Objectives
- Understand different farming systems and their benefits
- Identify breed characteristics for showing
- Prepare animals for exhibition
- Document animals through photography
- Understand plant propagation methods
- Prepare soil and plant seedlings
Supplemental Resources
- Poster board for documenting plant progress
- Markers and colored pencils for annotating photos
- Index cards for breed characteristics notes
- Lined journals for plant growth observations
- Graph paper for tracking plant measurements
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 coop transition and animal handling
- Journals documenting planting and early growth
- Discussions on farming system advantages
- Self-evaluations of photography quality
- Group work on plant preparation
Summative Assessment
Google Slides presentations on farming systems, projects documenting plant growth, portfolio updates, blog posts on horticulture beginnings
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding of farming systems and breed characteristics through oral explanations, labeled diagrams, or tactile models instead of written presentations. Visual supports such as photo cards of different chicken breeds, sentence frames for describing farming benefits, and reduced documentation requirements for journals may be provided as needed.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students may benefit from visual step-by-step supports when transitioning chicks to the coop or completing planting tasks, breaking multi-step hands-on processes into numbered, illustrated sequences. For documentation and reflection work such as journals and presentations, allow oral responses, voice recording, or dictated entries as alternatives to written output. Providing a vocabulary reference with pictures for farming system terms, breed characteristics, and horticulture vocabulary will support comprehension throughout the unit. Check in frequently during independent and group tasks to monitor understanding and provide corrective feedback before misconceptions become habits.
Section 504
Extended time should be applied to documentation tasks such as journals, photography self-evaluations, and the end-of-unit presentation to ensure students can demonstrate their understanding without time pressure. Preferential seating or positioning during demonstrations of coop procedures and planting techniques will help students access visual and hands-on instruction. Providing printed or digital copies of directions for multi-step tasks reduces reliance on working memory during practical activities.
ELL / MLL
Visual cues such as labeled diagrams of coop systems, farming method comparisons, and plant propagation steps will help students connect new English vocabulary to concrete agricultural concepts. Pre-teaching key terms related to farming systems, breed categories, and horticulture in students' home language when possible will build the background knowledge needed to participate in discussions and group work. Simplified, chunked directions paired with physical demonstrations during hands-on tasks will support comprehension and allow students to contribute meaningfully to practical activities.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting this unit's content to students' prior experiences with animals, plants, or outdoor environments can serve as a strong entry point and build confidence before introducing more technical concepts like breed standards or propagation methods. Offering reduced-complexity versions of documentation tasks — such as a guided journal template with sentence frames or a simplified photography checklist — allows students to practice key skills without being overwhelmed by open-ended formats. Pairing these students with supportive peers during coop transitions and planting activities ensures they have access to modeling and encouragement in a low-stakes, hands-on context.
Gifted & Talented
Students can explore comparative research on the ecological, economic, and animal welfare trade-offs of different farming systems such as free range versus chicken tractor models, going beyond surface-level identification to evaluate real-world implications. In the horticulture strand, students might investigate the science of plant propagation at a deeper level — examining variables that affect germination rates or seedling health — and design a simple inquiry to test a hypothesis using the classroom garden. For the documentation and presentation components, encourage students to consider audience and purpose more critically, exploring how agricultural photography or digital media is used professionally to advocate for specific farming practices.