Impacts: Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Utah Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) is part of a nationwide agricultural literacy effort designed to help students develop an awareness and understanding of our food and fiber system and how it impacts our daily lives. With less than 2 percent of the U.S. population providing products that consumers use as food, clothing, and shelter, the importance of farmers and ranchers is evident.
Utah AITC provides resources to teachers and students, grades PreK-12, to increase agricultural literacy through education. Our program develops training and resources for practicing teachers and preservice teachers to contextualize their curriculum in the areas of science, social studies, health and nutrition, and career and technical education. All lessons are designed to meet state and national standards, and the free, classroom-ready curriculum is available at utah.agclassroom.org. Teachers also have access to an e-store where they can purchase kits and resource materials to accompany their lessons.
National AITC’s mission is to cultivate agriculturally literate citizens who understand and can communicate the source and value of agriculture as it affects our quality of life. AITC’s vision is that agriculture is valued by all, and Utah AITC is proud to contribute to this mission and vision. We invite you to read further to learn more about the program.
Sincerely,
Denise Stewardson, Extension associate professor, director, Utah AITC
Curriculum and Resources
All Utah AITC lessons and companion resources are available on the National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix – an online, searchable curriculum map of field-tested, research-based resources ready for classroom use. Visit utah.agclassroom.org/matrix.
Utah AITC education specialists contribute lessons regularly to the matrix. Lessons are searchable by keyword, grade level, or content area. All lessons are downloadable free of charge and are tied to Utah Core Standards, Common Core Connections, National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes, and national education content standards.
The following lessons were created and added to the Matrix in 2020:
Full of Beans: Henry Ford Grows a Car
(Grades 3-5)
Agritourism: Extreme Farm Makeover
(Grades 6-8)
Federal Lands: Ranching and Recreating on Common Grounds
(Grades 9-12)
A Recipe for Genetics: Selective Breeding and Transgenics
(Grades 6-8)Overall, six of Utah AITC’s lessons ranked in the top 25 searches on the Matrix for 2020:
A Tale of Two Burgers: Beef and Plant-based Protein
(Grades 9-12)
A Recipe for Genetics: Selective Breeding and Transgenics
(Grades 6-8)
Beef: Making the Grade
(Grades 9-12)
Carbon Hoofprints: Cows and Climate Change
(Grades 9-12)
Cultures, Food, and Communities around the World
(Grades 3-5)
Melons, Mitosis and Meiosis
(Grades 9-12)In 2020, Utah Agriculture in the Classroom reached:
teachers in Utah and nationwide via face-to-face and virtual workshops
Utah preservice teachers via face-to-face and virtual workshops
volunteers in Utah and nationwide via face-to-face workshops
students via teacher/volunteer training and Utah Farm Field Days
Marketing Outreach
| Bee Line Newsletter | |
|---|---|
| 3 issues distributed annually | Distributed online to 2,200 teachers |
| New lessons | Workshop Information |
| Teacher awards | Classroom Grants |
| Harvest of Activities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Monthly online newsletter | Distributed to 1,650 subscribers | Spotlights on seasonal commodities |
| Lessons and activities (focused on eLearning in 2020) | ||
| AgroWorld | |
|---|---|
| online newsletter sent every 2 months | distributed to 1,100 secondary teachers |
Utah Agriculture in the Classroom Facebook was viewed by 1,000 followers
Utah AITC Classroom Grants
In 2020, 10 Utah PreK-12 teachers were awarded $500 classroom grants for their innovative classroom projects that used agricultural concepts to teach reading, writing, math, healthy lifestyles, science, and social studies.
Classroom project grants included:
“Across All Grades”
Scott Thieme, Crimson View Elementary
“Aquaponics in the Special Education Classroom”
Amy Wilkey, Parowan High School
“CRE 5th Grade SEEd”
Ruth King, Cedar Ridge Elementary
“Eggcellent Adventure”
Laura Ure, Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy
“Hatching Chicks & Aquaponics”
Molly Ortiz, Taylor Canyon Elementary
“Hatching Science”
Cody Gull, Cedar Valley High School
“Mission to Mars”
Teresa Hislop, Ogden Preparatory Academy
“Plant Journals: Documenting the Growth of Living Things”
Amber Rock, Bell View Elementary
“Plant Science & Embryology”
Meaghan Porritt, Lewiston Elementary
“Planting for Science”
Carla van Oene, Windridge ElementaryTeacher & Volunteer Recognition
Feedback from Inservice Workshops
“I just wanted to thank you for your always excellent and timely lessons. As our STEAM coordinator and SEEd advocate, I love giving these vetted, integrated lessons to our teachers. They are especially important as we plan our own sharing garden this year. Keep up the good work! We appreciate it!”
— Teacher, DaVinci Academy of Science and the Arts
“Thanks so much for all the science supplies! I have really been struggling with loving the new core and teaching science as I have for the past 15 years. Now, I am excited to dig in with the lessons you shared with us!”
— Teacher, Orchard Springs Elementary, Weber School District
