Students at an Iowa university learn about sustainable agriculture

Topic:

        

This article is about a student-run farm in Iowa.

       

      

Before reading:

         

General Knowledge:

• Look at a map of the US. Can you find the state of Iowa?
• What kinds of tools are used for gardening? What tasks are each of the tools used for?
• What is "sustainable agriculture"?

         

Speculate:

• What might be the effects of giving students the opportunity to learn by working in a garden?    

       

Click on the embedded link below to read the article and see photos on the NPR website. Word count: 655

A Student-Run Farm Cultivates Passion For Sustainable Agriculture

       

After reading:

      

Review and discuss:

• Write a 3-4 sentence summary of this article. Begin your summary with "This article is about…".
• What might these students be learning through hands-on work in the garden that they wouldn't learn in a classroom only?
• Not all of the students who work in this garden will become farmers. Do you think that this class can benefit them even if they choose another type of career? Explain.
• Riley Madole says he'd like to continue this type of work in the future, but only a small number of other people in agronomy are also choosing sustainable farming. Why might more people prefer industrial (non-organic) farming instead?
• In your opinion, what was the most interesting thing mentioned in this article? Why?

        

Reflect and evaluate:

• Would you have been interested in an agronomy class like the one in this article, if it had been available to you? Explain.
• Student Heidi Englehardt says that working in the garden has given her a "passion" for physical work. What experience have you had with physical work? Do you enjoy it? Why or why not?
• Do you have a garden? What do you grow? If you don't have a garden now, what would you like to grow if you had one?
• Is there anything else you'd like to know about this topic? Do you have any questions that weren't answered in the article?
• What vocabulary words were new to you in this article? Make a record of what you have learned.

Beyond the page:

• Want to know more about sustainable agriculture? This page has a lot of information: What is sustainable agriculture?
• Take a look at this infographic on agriculture: The Global State of Agriculture

    
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