When I Grow Up – Discover Agricultural Careers
“When I Grow Up: Discover Ag Careers” is a comprehensive agricultural career curriculum kit for 6th–8th grade students produced by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. It is organized around nine agricultural career focus areas (Agribusiness Systems, Agricultural Education, Animal Systems, Biotechnology Systems, Environmental Service Systems, Food Products & Processing Systems, Natural Resources Systems, Plant Systems, and Power, Structural & Technical Systems), each containing an introductory lesson, three interdisciplinary supplemental activities, and a take-home activity. The kit introduces students to the breadth of agricultural careers through hands-on, standards-based lessons and references the National FFA Organization’s AgExplorer career exploration tool.
At a glance
- Grade level
- 6-8, Middle School
- Materials
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- Access to a computer lab or laptops/tablets for students (one per student ideal, or in pairs)
- Internet access
- Name That Ag Career! cards, timer, and paper to keep track of points (card game)
- Copies of Career Plan handout, Company Ledger and Resource Roll Cards, and dice (Agribusiness lesson)
- Paper and writing utensils/markers
- Candy, at least four varieties (Agricultural Education lesson)
- Animal Systems handout, dice, optional Playdough or modeling clay (Animal Systems lesson)
- Copies of Issue Briefs, tear sheets/poster paper and markers, Challenges of Feeding the World handout and teacher key, Environment Scenario cards (Biotechnology lesson)
- House plant for propagation, potting media and pots, pruning shears or scissors, water and spray bottle (Biotechnology activity)
- Plants with harvestable seed, envelopes, butcher paper, knife, bowl of water (seed saving activity)
- Small plastic sandwich bags, paper towels, water-resistant marker, spray bottle (germination activity)
- Copies of Farm Plan handout, Environmental Management Strategies handouts, poster paper and markers (Environmental Service lesson)
- Food Products and Processing Systems handout (Food Products lesson)
- Sample food products with nutrition labels, small cups, club soda, popsicle sticks/coffee stirs, plastic spoons, strawberry flavorings (Food Products activities)
- Recycled and craft materials, adhesive items, breakable item (packaging activity)
- Large paper/poster board, brightly colored sticky notes (Natural Resources activities)
- Yarn, ruler, white paper, notepaper, pencil, optional digital camera (ecology activity)
- Potted seedlings, plant fertilizer, rulers (Plant Systems activity)
- Colored pencils or markers
- Career Focus Areas
- Agribusiness Systems; Agricultural Education; Animal Systems; Biotechnology Systems; Environmental Service Systems; Food Products & Processing Systems; Natural Resources Systems; Plant Systems; Power, Structural & Technical Systems
- Publisher
- American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (©2017)
- Kit Structure
- Each career focus area includes one introductory lesson, three standards-based interdisciplinary supplemental activities, and one take-home activity; designed to focus on one career focus area per month with weekly career days.
- Companion Tool
- AgExplorer (www.agexplorer.com), a career resource developed by the National FFA Organization, Discovery Education, and AgCareers.com.
Downloads & Links
Aligned Standards
Career Development Policy (NCDA)
- NCDA-7-9-3Helping Pupils Understand Career Applications of Subject Matter.
Common Core – ELA Literacy
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.2Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph or table).
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.4Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.5Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.2Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments or technical processes.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.2.AIntroduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.6Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.7Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.8Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
Common Core – Math
- CCSS.MATH.7.EE.B.3Solve multi-step, real-life, and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.EE.B.6Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.1Understand the concept of a ratio, and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems; e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double-number line diagrams or equations.
Economics
- Economics Standard 15Investment in factories, machinery, and new technology; and in the health, education, and training of people can raise future standards of living.
National Arts Standards
- VA:Cr1.1.6aCombine concepts collaboratively to generate innovative ideas for creating art.
- VA:Re8.1.7aInterpret art by analyzing art-making approaches, the characteristics of form and structure, relevant contextual information, subject matter, and use of media to identify ideas and mood conveyed.
National Core Arts Anchor Standards
- National Core Arts Anchor Standards: CreatingConceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work—Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work; organize and develop artistic ideas and work; refine and complete artistic work.
Next Generation Science Standards
- LS2.CEcosystem Dynamics, Functioning and Resilience
- LS3.AInheritance of Traits: Genes are located in the chromosomes of cells, with each chromosome pair containing two variants of each of many distinct genes.
- MS-ESS3-3Earth and Human Activity: Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
- MS-ESS3-4Earth and Human Activity: Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
- MS-ESS3-5Earth and Human Activity: Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
- MS-ETS1-2Engineering Design: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
- MS-LS1-5Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
- MS-LS2-1Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
- MS-LS2-5Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- MS-LS3-1Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial or neutral effects.
- MS-LS3-2Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits. Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
- MS-LS4-4Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals' probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
- MS-LS4-5Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.
- MS-LS4.DBiodiversity and Humans: Changes in biodiversity can influence humans' resources, such as food, energy and medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on—for example, water purification and recycling.
- MS-PS1-2Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
Social Science – Civics
- NSS-C.5-8.3Principles of Democracy: How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy? – What does the national government do?
Social Science / Economics
- NSS-EC-8.2Effective decision-making requires comparing the additional cost of alternatives with the additional benefits.
- NSS-EC.5-8.1Productive resources are limited. Therefore, people cannot have all the goods and services they want. As a result, they must choose some things and give up others.
- NSS-EC.5-8.14Profit and the Entrepreneur.
- NSS-EC.5-8.7Markets—Price and Quantity Determination – Markets exist when buyers and sellers interact. This interaction determines market prices and thereby allocates scarce goods and services.