Lesson Title: Farming Facts
Authors: Janet Hadley and Georgeanne Hribar
Author Info: Broadway High School, Broadway, Virginia
Ocean Lakes High School, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Grade: Advanced Placement Human Geography
Key Words: agriculture
Time Needed: 45 minutes or one half of a ninety minute block.
Overview: This lesson is designed to be used as a pretest and or introduction to
the unit on agriculture. The "Farming Fact" worksheet can be used to assess prior
knowledge about agricultural issues as well as a vehicle to communicate key facts.
Discussion of student responses to the questions provides an opportunity for the teacher
to assess student misconceptions and provide an overview of key topics within the
unit on agriculture.
The location of your school in either a rural or urban area will determine the amount
of time needed to discuss the worksheet.
Definition of Key Terms: agriculture, arable, acre, productivity
Objectives: Students will be able to:
1. Identify the portion of people engaged in agriculture for the world and the United
States.
2. List the four major food crops cultivated in the world today.
3. Identify the existence of seed and vegetative hearths on a global scale.
4. Identify the major agricultural crop of the United States.
5. Describe the relative size of an acre.
6. Examine a number of measures of agricultural productivity: number of people fed
per farmer, number of farms in production, and pounds of milk.
7. Realize that the various types of agriculture are unevenly distributed throughout
the world.
References:
A wealth of agricultural information is available from the following:
AgMag
, The Magazine of Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom; c/o MN Department of Agriculture;
Attn: Al Withers, Program Director; 90 West Plato Boulevard, St. Paul, MN, 55107.
U.S.D.A. AG in the Classroom
, Betty Wolanyk, Director; 4307 South Building, USDA;
Washington, D.C. 20250
Materials: "Farming Facts" worksheet, one per student.
Preparation:
1. Duplicate "Farming Facts" worksheet, one per student.
Activities:
1. Ask students to list all of the things in their life that are derived from the
practice of agriculture. Record the student responses on the board or an overhead.
Possible answers may include things such as clothing (from cotton or wool), and
paper in addition to basic food materials.
2. Distribute the "Farming Facts" worksheet and have students individually mark what
they think is the best answer. Reassure the students that this worksheet will provide
an indicator of their knowledge about agriculture and that you do not expect them
to achieve a perfect score.
3. Have teams of students compare answers.
4. Review the answers with the class as a whole. Instruct students to correct their
worksheet. Elaborate as needed.
5. Keep in mind that the questions in the "Farming Facts" worksheet were formulated
for two different purposes. Students may find some of the facts to be trivial but
interesting while others might be useful tidbits to include when writing an essay
on agriculture.
Correct answers:
1. D, 60% of the world's people are farmers; levels of agricultural productivity
vary widely throughout the world.
2. A, only 2% of people in the United States and Canada farm; emphasize the role
of technology
in the agricultural productivity of the United States and Canada.
3 B, Ethiopia was a hearth for seed agriculture; the debate continues on the sequence
of the origin of seed hearth. A wide diversity of plants of a certain type are seen
as indicators of the plant's probable origin.
4. C, corn is the leading crop of the United States, in fact between 1990 and 1992,
we grew 42.2 per cent of the world's corn production.
5 C, factors such a fertile soil, favorable climates, improved crop varieties,
and technology contribute to the productivity of American farmers.
6 B, there are about 380,000 kinds of plants with hundreds used for human food.
More than half of the world's foods comes from three grain plants: wheat, rice
and corn, and one vegetable, the potato. One third of the world's people use wheat
as a major food and one third use rice. One bushel of wheat can be used to produce 40 pounds
of flour which in turn could yield 42 pounds of bread.
7 A, an acre is 43,560 square feet.
8. A, thirty-six square miles of farmland are taken out of agricultural production
in Minnesota in a given year. In 1930 there were 6.5 million farms in the United
States, 5.6 million in 1950, 2.4 million in 1980 and 2.0 million in 1996. It is
interesting to note that even though the number of farms declines, the acres under cultivation
remain relatively constant. (Six hundred and twenty
acres are contained in one square mile.)
9. C, cows give milk about ten months of the year; a Holstein cow usually weighs
about 1,500 pounds; the world record for milk production was set by a Colorado cow
who gave 60,440 pounds of milk in a year.
10. C, current estimates claim the world population will be six billion in 1997.
Evaluation:
Have students write a short paragraph in which they respond to the following:
Which of the facts from the worksheet would be the most useful in the study of agriculture?
Give at least three reasons for your answer. Be sure to explain the reasons for
your answer.
Grade student responses for the number of reasons they cite that pertain to the topic.
Farming Facts
1. What percentage of the world's people are farmers?
a. 5 % b. 35 % c. 50% d. 60%
2. What percent of the population farm in the United States and Canada?
a. 2% b. 10% c. 25% d. 50%
3. One of the places seed agriculture originated is:
a. Canada b. Ethiopia c. Panama d. Germany
4. The leading agricultural crop of the United States is:
a. oats b. soybeans c. corn d. wheat
5. Each farmer in the United States grows enough food to feed _____ people.
a. 9 b. 16 c. 128 d. 2,000
6. Over half of the world's food comes from only four crops. The four major crops
include wheat, corn and
a. peas and carrots c. rice and potatoes
b. oats and sugar beets d. beans and bananas
7. An acre of land is approximately the same size as a:
a. football field c. school gym
b. average classroom d. roller skating rink
8. Since 1930, the number of farms in the United States has:
a. decreased b. increased
9. According to the national average, a cow produces _____ pounds of milk per year:
a. 5,100 b. 7,200 c. 15,300 d. 50,250
10. At current levels of production farmers grow enough food to feed _________ people.
a. 1 billion b. 2 billion c. 6 billion d. 10 billion.
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