Exploring Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Exploring Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources introduces middle school students to AFNR literacy to build excitement for the wide variety of opportunities in agricultural education and careers as they develop interpersonal skills, gain hands-on immersion in STEM, and begin planning a Supervised Agricultural Experience. Built to meet the needs of exploratory courses, seventy-six lessons are organized into twelve, flexible units that can be assigned to accommodate a variety of timeframes, interests, or grade levels. This text is expertly designed for young learners with engaging photographs narrated by colorful characters. Agriculture educator, Mrs. Lopez, introduces each lesson with reflective questions and connects students with ten additional, diverse characters spanning the agricultural career pathways. Students learn concepts in relation to how they may be used in a variety of careers from greenhouse manager to microbiologist, or national park ranger to supply chain specialist.

To connect classroom and experiential learning, all-new Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Profiles introduce middle school student stories of successful projects, while SAE for ALL Opportunities and Check-ins provided at the end of each chapter act as additional springboards for planning and decision-making. Each lesson ends with review and assessment that incorporates cross-curricular stills in STEM, ELA and social studies with Academic Activities and Communicating about Agricultural assignments. Hands-On Activities and Making Connections features in most lessons offer step-by-step mini projects to practice communication, STEM, and leadership skills related to agriscience.