What is agriculture?

What is Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC)?

How do I use Oregon AITC resources for lessons to teach core subject areas?

Why teach agriculture?

How do I stay connected with Oregon AITC?

“The science, art or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in varying degrees preparation and marketing of the resulting

products.”

* 220+ Agricultural Commodities * Several Diverse Growing regions

Top 10 Commodities

1. Greenhouse & Nursery2. Cattle & Calves3. Hay 4. Milk5. Grass Seed6. Wheat7. Potatoes8. Pears9. Grapes for wine10. Blueberries

• Average age of principal operator is 59.6.

• 97% of farms are family owned

Oregon Ranks 1st in National Production of:

• Blackberries (100%)• Boysenberries (100%)• Hazelnuts (100%)• Orchardgrass seed (94%)• Ryegrass seed (92%)• Crimson clover (85%)• Red clover seed (75%)• Fescue seed (61%)• Potted florist azaleas (59%)• Sugarbeet for seed (47%)• Rhubarb (43%)• Christmas Trees (17%)

2012 2017

%

change

Number of Farms

35,439 37,616 +6.1

Land in farms (million acres)

16.3 16.0 -2.1

Average farm size (acres)

460 424 -7.8

• Everyone eats, so everyone is involved in agriculture

• Today’s students are far-removed from production agriculture (1% of Oregonians are farmers)

• Agriculture provides an arena for real-world discovery and problem-solving

Teach students about:• Where their food/fiber comes from

Teach students about:• Where their food/fiber comes from

• Jobs/Careers

Teach students about:• Where their food/fiber comes from

• Jobs/Careers

• Hands-on learning is fun!

Teach students about:• Where their food/fiber comes from

• Jobs/Careers

• Hands-On learning is fun!

• Oregon history and geography

Teach students about:

• Where their food/fiber comes from

• Jobs/careers

• Hands-on Learning is fun!

• Oregon history and geography

• Writing, poetry, art

Teach students about:

• Where their food/fiber comes from

• Jobs/Careers

• Hands-on learning is fun!

• Oregon history and geography

• Writing, poetry, art

• Real life application of core subjects

• Agriculture is used as a context to teach core subject standards

• Cross-curricular hands on materials and lessons

• K-12, public, private, homeschool, afterschool, extracurricular, in all 36 counties of Oregon

• Supported by agricultural community

• Aligned to NGSS, CCSS and social studies standards

*These items need returned

*These items do NOT need returned

Downloadable PDF files!

Try it out!

• Breakout into small groups• Look through the lesson plan and materials• Answer the following questions:

• How would this lesson fit into your classroom/program?• What did you like best about this lesson?• What would you changes or adapt for your program?

Be ready to share!

Busy Bees• Thyia• Katie A. • Tracy

Have you the time of day?• Jennifer• Emily

Activity Groups

Water Filtering & Soil• Elizabeth• Aude• Denise

Math & Science Pumpkins• Michelle• Katy Z.• Brandi

Dinner

Partner Resources

Try it out!

• Breakout into small groups• Look through the lesson plan and materials• Answer the following questions:

• How would this lesson fit into your classroom/program?• What did you like best about this lesson?• What would you changes or adapt for your program?

Be ready to share!

Soil Nutrients• Michelle• Thyia• Denise

Poetry in Agriculture• Elizabeth• Jennifer

Activity Groups

Germination• Katie A.• Tracy

A Hundred Bales of Hay• Emily• Katy Z.

Give Me Five!• Brandi• Aude

• Literature Circles Guide and Suggested Reading

• Oregon Forest Resources Institute: Opportunities for all grade levels. Curriculum, in-class programs, workshops and more!• www.learnforests.org

• American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture: A variety of low-cost and free resources available. Also an educational game, “My American Farm” is also available both online as well as in Google Play and the App Store.• www.agfoundation.org/resouces

www.oregonaitc.org

• Summer Agriculture Institute

• District & School Workshops

• Field Day Events

Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation@OregonAITCOregonAITC

mailto:Brittany.Capell@oregonstate.edu