Agricultural Literacy

1
Agricultural Literacy

• Education About Agriculture
• AGED 3203

2
Education About Agriculture

• Most Americans know very little about ag
• No real effort is made to teach agriculture.
  What is taught is
• fragmented
• outdated
• farm oriented
• negative
• condescending

3
Education About Agriculture

• 25 of middle school students knew the sprouting
  of seeds is called germination.
• 17 of jr. high and high school students knew
  that legumes trap their own nitrogen.
• 99 of high school seniors knew that bacon was a
  product from hogs, but only 1/3 knew that hogs
  provide insulin, hair for paint brushes, and
  insulin for diabetics.

4
Education About Agriculture

• We should have K-12 Ag Instruction.
• Ag instruction should be incorporated into
  existing courses.
• Agribusiness should become involved.
• Vocational education organizations should become
  involved.
• Curriculum should be developed.

5
Teaching Science Through Agriculture

• All students need an understanding of science
• We have inadequate science education.
• Applied genetics - animal breeding
• The nitrogen cycle, food spoilage, bacteria
• Plant structure and function
• Invertebrates and vertebrates
• Ecosystems, populations, communities

6
Teaching Science Through Agriculture

• It is unrealistic for us to expect agriculture to
  be a major focus at any grade level.
• Science educators recognize the value of units
  which address real problems and application of
  scientific components.

7
Teaching Science Through Agriculture

• Teachers should be in-serviced
• Special applied science courses on ag topics
  should be available as optional elective science
  courses. Such courses should earn science credit
  for graduation and college entrance.

8
Teacher Education Training

• Except for Vo-Ag Teachers, no effort is made to
  teach teachers about agriculture.
• Teachers are unaware of curriculum materials
  available to teach agriculture.
• Teacher trainers in colleges of agriculture and
  colleges of education should work together.

9
Agriculture Outreach

• Ag in the Classroom
• Started by USDA in 1981
• 47 states have developed materials
• 4-H
• 8.5 million young people with projects
• 88 of these were scientific in content
• 55 were based in the biological sciences
• FFA
• Food for America

10
Agricultural Career Exploration

• Junior High Programs in Agriculture are uncommon.
• Neither students nor Americans in general have a
  realistic view of agricultures scope.
• Consider mandatory Ag Ed for all 7th graders.

11
Agricultural Career Exploration

• Career education in Ag is needed because
• 20 of labor force works in the ag industry
• need to dismiss the myths that everyone involved
  in ag suffers economic stress.
• Students identify agriculture with
• farming,
• hard work,
• male,
• boring,
• insecure

12
The Agricultural Education Teacher is hired to be
the expert on Agricultural Education for the
ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT!