0. Sustainability Practices in Modern Farming

1. Climate Smart Farming ACTIVATOR: Video – Climate Smart Farming
What did you learn about…?
Extreme weather’s impact
Spreading risk
Soil working techniques
Specialized irrigation systems
Green houses/high tunnels
Adapting crops for climate change
Agricultural management strategies 1

2. Background & Lesson Objectives
STUDENTS WILL:
Define sustainable agriculture.
Describe modern practices and technological advancements farmers and ranchers use to improve agricultural sustainability.
Design a solution to a modern agricultural need or problem following a systematic engineering process. 2

3. What is Agricultural Sustainability?
Think-Pair-Share:
Sustainable Agriculture (SA) = The production of plant/animal food and/or products using farming techniques that protect public health, human communities, the environment, and animal welfare
IMPORTANT GOALS OF SA:
conserving water
using renewable energy
more precise use of fertilizers/pesticides
promoting economic stability of farms
promoting biodiversity
improving farming techniques 3

4. Digital Farming Videos Think-Pair-Share What did you learn about…?
Smart sensors
Big data analytics
Networking to improve processes 4

5. Engineering Sustainable Farming Solutions
Your journals will be collected at the end of Day Two and should include:
A well-organized table of contents
List of all students comprising the engineering team
Numbered pages with detailed and dated entries
Background information/ explanations/illustrations for each step of the engineering design process on separate pages
A Critical Reflection 5

6. Engineering Sustainable Farming Solutions (cont.)
In your engineering teams, document your chosen problem/need and the results of your team’s investigation in your engineering journals.
By the end of today, you will have completed the first two steps of the engineering design process:
STEP 1: What is the need or problem?
STEP 2: How will you research the need or problem? 6

7. Engineering Sustainable Farming Solutions (cont.)
Choose a topic…
Utilize wind/solar as an energy source
Improve water conservation/storage
Integrate crops and livestock
Reduce or eliminate tillage
Retain/recycle nutrients on the farm
Preserve/restore natural habitats to protect water quality/support wildlife
Use of technology to protect crops
Provide education and recreation opportunities to the community
and research it! 7

8. Engineering Sustainable Farming Solutions (cont.)
Take out your engineering journals.
ACTIVATOR: Write down something interesting you uncovered about your topic yesterday. OR
Come up with one question you plan to research today.
Get back into your engineering teams to continue the design process. 8

9. Engineering Sustainable Farming Solutions (cont.)
Teams should now complete the remaining steps of the engineering design process:
STEP 3: How will you develop possible solution(s)?
STEP 4: How will you select the best possible solution(s)?
STEP 5: How will you design a prototype?
STEP 6: How will you test/evaluate the solution(s)?
STEP 7: How will you communicate the solution(s)?
STEP 8: How will you redesign the prototype (if needed)? 9

10. Communicate Your Sustainable Farming Design
DON’T FORGET…
Document your explanations and diagrams for steps 3-8 of the engineering design process in your journals.
Prepare to report out. Teams will have two minutes to share the identified need/ problem and the solution you came up with to address it.  10

11. Extension: Sustainable Agriculture Writing Prompt
Explain how sustainable agriculture is a journey, not a destination.
USE PRE-WRITING TECHNIQUES:
brainstorming
listing
free writing
clustering, mapping, or drawing
REMEMBER, A WELL-STRUCTURED ESSAY INCLUDES:
multiple paragraphs
smooth transition between ideas
precise language
relevant details and examples from the sustainability lesson 11