Montague Township School District
Agriculture Curriculum Guide
Grade 7
2025-2026
Rachel Sikora
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Description
The Agriculture curriculum at Montague Township School covers all aspects of the National Council for Agricultural Education's Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (AFNR) Career Clusters for grades 5-8. Students explore agribusiness systems, animal systems, biotechnology systems, environmental service systems, food products and processing systems, natural resource systems, plant systems, and power, structural and technical systems through hands-on activities. The year emphasizes career readiness, natural resource stewardship, technology integration, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, and leadership. Students gain technical skills while investigating potential careers in natural resource management and agriculture.
Big Ideas
- Agriculture encompasses production, processing, and stewardship across multiple interconnected systems.
- Natural resources require responsible management to sustain ecosystems and support human needs.
- Scientific inquiry and hands-on practice develop skills applicable to agricultural careers.
- Technology and innovation drive modern agricultural practices and sustainability.
- Systems thinking helps students understand relationships between organisms, environments, and human activities.
Essential Questions
- What is agriculture and how does it impact our lives?
- How do we manage natural resources responsibly?
- What skills and knowledge are needed for careers in agriculture?
- How do living systems function and interact?
- How can we design and build solutions to real-world agricultural problems?
Crosscutting Concepts
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Earth and Space Sciences
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Life Sciences
Science and Engineering Practices
Students read and analyze informational texts about agriculture, food science, natural resources, and animal science topics throughout the year. They write argumentative and informative pieces, including blog posts, portfolio updates, and project reports, to communicate findings and support claims with evidence. Students engage in collaborative discussions, present research to peers, and develop vocabulary specific to agricultural science domains.
Students apply mathematical reasoning across units, including calculating feed amounts, fertilizer ratios, percent loss, square footage for chicken coops, costs of food using grocery ads, carrying capacity using graphs, acreage and supply calculations for agribusiness planning, and unit conversions in food science measurements.
Students conduct investigations and laboratory experiments aligned to life science, earth science, and engineering standards throughout the year. Topics include plant cell structure and function, photosynthesis and cellular respiration, genetics and heredity, ecosystem dynamics and food webs, water chemistry and macroinvertebrate biology, natural resource management, and engineering design applied to agricultural structures.
Students investigate the history of agriculture from Native American practices through the Industrial Revolution and into modern global food systems. They examine how cultural practices affect food production and distribution, explore food insecurity and inequality around the world, and analyze the relationship between natural resource use and societal development.
Career readiness, financial literacy, and 21st century life skills are embedded throughout the curriculum. Students explore careers in agriculture, food science, veterinary science, natural resource management, and agribusiness. They develop personal finance skills through grocery budgeting and agribusiness planning activities, and practice workplace readiness skills including teamwork, communication, and problem-solving across all units.
Assessment occurs throughout the year using formative, benchmark, and summative approaches. Formative assessments include exit and entrance tickets, observations, journals, pair-and-share discussions, self-evaluations, group work, and question-and-answer sessions. Benchmark assessments use Study Island data, pre-assessments, quizzes, and unit tests. Summative assessments consist of projects, labs, portfolio updates, blog posts, webquests, and presentations. This multi-modal approach allows teachers to measure student progress across knowledge, skills, and application in agricultural contexts.