Unit 1 — September: Introduction to Agriculture and Food Science
Description
Students begin by establishing classroom norms and learning about the FFA organization, including its constitution and bylaws. The unit introduces agriculture broadly—what it is, where it is found, and how it connects to everyday life. Students research the farm-to-table pathway at local, regional, and international scales. History and current agricultural practices in the U.S. and abroad are examined, including research on food production policies and cultural impacts on agriculture. The unit concludes with basic food science topics: cost problem-solving using grocery data, nutrition, meal planning, and food handling practices including sanitation, spoilage prevention, and storage.
Essential Questions
- What is agriculture and where can it be found in our lives?
- How does food travel from farm to our table, and what happens at each step?
- How do cultural and policy differences shape food production and distribution globally?
- What role does food science play in keeping food safe and nutritious?
Learning Objectives
- Define agriculture and identify its presence in daily life.
- Trace the farm-to-table pathway for local, regional, and international food sources.
- Research and compare agricultural policies and practices across different regions and cultures.
- Apply mathematical and nutritional reasoning to food cost and meal planning problems.
- Understand and apply basic food safety principles: sanitation, spoilage prevention, and proper storage.
- Explain the roles of different products and byproducts in agriculture and identify associated careers.
Supplemental Resources
- Grocery ads for cost analysis and meal planning
- Markers and poster paper for farm-to-table pathway posters
- Index cards and sticky notes for sorting activities on food products and byproducts
- Printed nutrition labels and food safety guidelines for reference materials
Crosscutting Concepts
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Earth and Space Sciences
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Life Sciences
Physical Sciences
Science and Engineering Practices
Students read informational texts about agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and animal science, and produce written work including research reports, blog posts, portfolio updates, and writing assignments. Students engage in collaborative discussions, present findings to peers, and cite evidence from multiple sources to support claims across all units.
Students apply mathematical reasoning across units including calculating food costs, feed amounts, percent loss, square footage for coop design, lumber quantities, soil nutrient amounts, population graphs for carrying capacity, and data collection and graphing in macroinvertebrate and plant biodiversity studies.
Students conduct hands-on investigations aligned to life science, earth science, and engineering design standards. Topics include plant cell structure, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, genetics and heredity, animal systems, water chemistry, ecosystems, food webs, population dynamics, natural resource management, DNA extraction, and aquaponics and hydroponics system design.
Students examine the history of agriculture, Native American agricultural practices, the industrial revolution's impact on natural resources, global food production policies, cultural food practices, food insecurity and inequality, and the role of agriculture in economic development across time periods and regions.
Career readiness, financial literacy, and 21st century skills are embedded in every unit. Students explore agricultural careers, practice agribusiness skills including budgeting and record keeping, develop personal and professional skills through FFA activities, and investigate how education and training affect earning potential in agriculture and related fields.
Formative Assessments
- Exit and entrance tickets on agriculture definitions and farm-to-table concepts
- Classroom and pair-share discussions about the impact of agriculture on everyday life
- Journal entries reflecting on cultural food practices and their agricultural roots
- Observations during grocery store problem-solving activities using ads and nutrition data
Summative Assessment
Writing assignments and projects demonstrating understanding of agriculture's definition and impact; portfolio updates documenting learning on farm-to-table systems
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through oral presentations, recorded explanations, or visual representations such as labeled diagrams or photos instead of written assignments. Word banks, graphic organizers, and sentence stems may be provided to support responses about agriculture definitions, farm-to-table pathways, and regional practices.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students with IEPs may benefit from graphic organizers that visually map the farm-to-table pathway, reducing the demand on working memory while supporting comprehension of multi-step agricultural systems. For written outputs such as journal entries and portfolio updates, allow oral responses, dictation, or visual representations as alternatives to demonstrate understanding of food science and agriculture concepts. Directions for problem-solving tasks involving grocery data and nutrition should be broken into numbered steps with key terms highlighted, and extended time should be provided as needed. Vocabulary previews for content-specific terms related to agriculture, food safety, and FFA before each lesson segment will support both processing and retention.
Section 504
Students supported under a 504 plan should receive extended time on cost and nutrition problem-solving tasks and written assignments, as well as access to a distraction-reduced environment during independent work. Printed copies of any content displayed on the board—including farm-to-table diagrams or food safety guidelines—should be provided so students can reference material at their own pace. Preferential seating during discussions and pair-share activities will support focus and participation in this highly discussion-based unit.
ELL / MLL
Multilingual learners should be supported with visual aids such as labeled diagrams of the farm-to-table pathway and illustrated vocabulary cards for key agriculture and food science terms introduced throughout the unit. Directions for research and meal planning tasks should be given in short, clear steps, and students should be encouraged to confirm understanding by restating instructions in their own words. Where possible, connect food production topics to students' home cultures and regional agricultural practices to build relevance and activate prior knowledge, and allow students to use bilingual resources when researching food policies or cultural farming practices.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional support should be connected to the unit's concepts through familiar entry points, such as discussing foods they eat regularly before introducing the broader farm-to-table system. Research and problem-solving tasks involving grocery data and nutrition can be scaffolded by pre-selecting accessible sources and providing partially completed organizers that reduce the complexity of getting started. Frequent check-ins during independent work and formative tasks will help identify confusion early, and pairing these students with supportive peers during discussions can increase confidence and engagement with the material.
Gifted & Talented
Advanced learners should be encouraged to investigate the agricultural policy and food systems research components of this unit at greater depth—for example, by analyzing trade policies, examining the environmental impact of industrial versus local farming, or comparing food sovereignty movements across different countries. These students can extend the meal planning and food cost tasks by incorporating variables such as food deserts, income constraints, or sustainability metrics, pushing beyond calculation into systems-level thinking. Opportunities to connect FFA organizational structures to real agricultural leadership and advocacy issues, or to pursue independent inquiry into a specific agricultural career pathway or byproduct industry, will provide meaningful challenge without simply adding more of the same work.