This is a series of stories about what scientists do at the Agricultural Research Service. It is geared to kids 8 to 13 years old.

Highlights of this course include: Major biological, chemical and physical components of the agricultural systems The scientific basis for understanding these systems and their management How has science influenced policies related to agriculture, food safety and environment in the United States? How have the policies evolved over time in the US? What has worked and what has not; what are the reasons and what are the consequences? Beyond science, what other factors influence policies? How do we link what we learn to ecological agriculture? How do we use what we learn for policy analysis?

Highlights of this course include: Major biological, chemical, and physical components of the agricultural systems The scientific basis for understanding these systems and their management How science has influenced policies related to agriculture, food safety, and the environment in the United States How the policies have evolved over time in the US What has worked and what has not; the reasons and the consequences What other factors influence policies beyond science How we link what we learn to ecological agriculture How we use what we learn for policy analysis

Students pretend they are agricultural engineers during the colonial period and design a miniature plow that will cut through a "field" of soil. Students are introduced to the engineering design process and learn of several famous historical figures who contributed to the design of the plow.

In 1931, a severe drought hit the Southern and Midwestern plains. As crops died and winds picked up, dust storms began. As the "Dust Bowl" photograph shows, crops literally blew away in "black blizzards" as years of poor farming practices and over-cultivation combined with the lack of rain. By 1934, 75% of the United States was severely affected by this terrible drought.The one-two punch of economic depression and bad weather put many farmers out of business. In the early 1930s, thousands of Dust Bowl refugees ? mainly from Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico ? packed up their families and migrated west, hoping to find work. Entire families migrated together (such as the men shown in "Three generations of Texans now Drought Refugees") in search of a better life. Images such as "Midcontinent ? Family Standing on the Road with Car," "Drought Refugees," and "Untitled, ca. 1935 (Worn-Down Family in Front of Tent)" offer a glimpse into their experience on the road, and show that cars provided many families both transportation and shelter on the road. About 200,000 of the migrants headed for California. The state needed to figure out how to absorb the thousands of destitute people crossing its borders daily. One of their tactics was to document the plight of the refugees. In 1935, photographer Dorothea Lange joined the Rural Rehabilitation Division of the California State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA), a section of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. She was assigned the job of using her camera to document the growing number of homeless Dust Bowl refugees migrating to California. She worked with Paul S. Taylor, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who was researching conditions of rural poverty in order to make recommendations on how to improve the workers' conditions. The work by Taylor and Lange played an important role in helping to raise public awareness of the crisis. The reports they made for the government included both data and striking images that revealed the desperate conditions in which the migrants lived and confirmed the need for government intervention. Stark images such as "Home of Oklahoma Drought Refugees" resonated with the public, and portraits of drought refugees like "Ruby from Arkansas" and others shown in this topic humanized the migrants for more fortunate citizens. In March 1936, Lange took what became one of her most famous images, "Migrant Mother." This image of a 32-year-old woman became an icon for the suffering of ordinary people during Great Depression.

A picture guide to easy vegetable growing.

In this video from Common Ground and Cleaner Water, Tribby Vice, a Kentucky farmer, talks about the changes he has made on his farm to protect the water quality of the stream running through his property and the watershed in which he lives.

In this integrated, multi-day Design Challenge unit, students will explore simple machines, transportation of materials, and river systems using stream tables. They will discover the problems ancient farmers faced and design their own working models that will attempt to solve those unique problems (includes Design Challenges Flowing From Here to There and Two Rivers Ran Through It).

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists investigate how farming along the Mississippi River impacts floods and what can be done about it.

Students explore simple machines to transport dry, but fluid, material from one container to another (also included as a part of Farming in Ancient Mesopotamia unit).

Students are asked how poor weather conditions affect the cost of fruits and vegetables.

In this lesson, students reflect on challenges that face farmers in cultivating crops, including insects. They then simulate how crops are affected by native and non-native insect populations and the options farmers have to protect their crops. Finally, they create an agricultural plan from the perspective of a farmer.

Against the backdrop of the devastating 1930's Dust Bowl, this video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA profiles an organic farmer and the techniques he uses to conserve topsoil.

This comic book focuses on alternatives to methyl bromide. Ozzy and Zoe Ozone travel around the world with Mona the Monarck butterfly. They observe in every continent how methyl bromide can be replaced with more environmentally friendly alternatives. It is developed as part of UNEP’s work programme under the Multialteral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol. This booklet is part of a suite of educational materials linked ot the global Ozzy Ozone campaign. This booklet is suitable for dissemination in schools as part of a national awareness campaigns. (Available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian and Urdu)

The Profit Seed game is an exploration of the issues surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMO) and the patenting of agricultural seeds. It is also an experiment with a novel game mechanic. A player uses her mouse to control the wind, trying to plant heirloom seeds while preventing GMO seeds from blowing onto a farmer’s plots. If enough GMO seeds land in the field and germinate, the lawyer from an agribusiness corporation comes to sue the farmer and take his land.

Produced in partnership with George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, this site is has information about George Washington as a farmer and a businessman. Information includes slave labor at Mount Vernon; how George Washington improved his farming practices; how farm resources are managed; the operation of a water-powered gristmill; the jobs that exist at a farm and mill; and the importance of animals to farming.

This teacher manual complements the video, Seed to Table: Farming at Mount Vernon.

Protecting their farms from elephants is a daily fight for African farmers in the Sahel. In this video segment from Africa, learn about the relationship between the African farmers and elephants in the Sahel.

For farmers, growing crops is just one step in running a successful farm—making the farm or market garden economically viable requires another suite of skills, including finding land, planning what crops to grow, marketing the crops, and managing income and expenses. This resource builds on our experience educating hundreds of apprentice growers in organic production, farm and business planning, direct marketing at a roadside farm stand, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) management through hands-on training in the running of our 100-member CSA program.

Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors is organized into six units, three focusing on marketing and three covering other topics related to making a small farm economically viable. Included are lessons and resources for running a CSA project, selling at farmers' markets, forming collaborative marketing groups and grower cooperatives, and selling to restaurants. Also covered are strategies to improve small farm planning, including enterprise visioning and market assessment; creating a business plan, including marketing and crop plans; and managing cash flow. Land tenure options such as cash-rent leases from non-profits, shared ownership models, conservation easements, and community land trusts are reviewed as additional mechanisms for addressing the complex issue of the economic viability of small-scale agriculture. This resource also reviews the trends and factors that influence small-scale agriculture's economics, and provides an overview of produce marketing in the U.S.

The training manual is designed for –

•Instructors at college and universities, agriculture organizations, farm-training programs, apprenticeship programs
•Agricultural extension personnel
•Farmers with interns
•Growers, teachers, and organizers at urban farms, community gardens, and food projects with direct-marketing outlets

This instructor's resource features class and field demonstration outlines, trainee exercises, and resource materials, with a focus on CSA. The manual can be used in a classroom setting or adapted for other training formats, such as short courses, conferences, and field days.

In this challenge students will discover the problems that early farmers faced while developing agriculture in "the land between two rivers" and design a working model that solves those unique challenges (also included as a part of Farming in Ancient Mesopotamia unit).