Standard: Social Studies

07 Feb 2022

Maple Syrup

January 29 – February 23

Maple sugaring is the tradition of making maple syrup from sap gathered from maple trees in late winter/early spring.  Many animals (and people) are benefited by using the sap of the maple trees. Plan to visit our sugar bush at Greenacres as you experience with your senses how maple sap is turned into syrup. (January 29 – February 23, 2024)

Ohio Science Standards:

  • LS Grade 4: Changes in an organism’s environment are sometimes beneficial and sometimes harmful.
  • SIPA Grade 3-5: Observe and ask questions about the world that can be answered through scientific investigations.

NGSS Standards:

  • 4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction

Ohio Social Studies Standards:

  • SS Grade 4: Geography- The economic development of the United States continues to influence and be influenced by agriculture, industry and natural resources in Ohio.

Vocabulary: Spiles, sap, Gallons, Sugar Shack, Sugar Bush, Evaporation, Tap, Sapsucker

Video Introduction: CLICK HERE for Maple video with a Greenacres educator

01 Mar 2021

Sustainable Agriculture (Best Suited for Highschool)

August-June 

On this journey, we’ll answer the question:  what exactly is sustainable agriculture?  Then, you lead the way as we go on a fictional quest to build your own sustainable farm!

Ohio Science Standards:

  • ENV.ER.1: Energy resources
  • ENV.ER.4: Soil and land
  • ENV.GP.4: Sustainability
  • ENV.GP.7: Food production and availability

NGSS Standards:

  • HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

Ohio Social Studies Standards:

  • Industrialization and Progressivism: The rise of corporations, heavy industry, mechanized farming and technological innovations transformed the American economy from an agrarian to an increasingly urban industrial society.
  • Social Transformations in the United States: Political debates focused on the extent of the role of government in the economy, environmental protection, social welfare and national security.
  • Achievements and Crises: Advances in technology, communication and transportation improved lives, but also had negative consequences.
  • Globalization: Environmental concerns, impacted by population growth and heightened by international competition for the world’s energy supplies, have resulted in a new environmental consciousness and a movement for the sustainability of the world’s resources.
  • Fundamentals of Economics: People cannot have all the goods and services they want and, as a result, must choose some things and give up others
  • Sustainability: Decisions about human activities made by individuals and societies have implications for both current and future.
  • Sustainability: Sustainability issues are interpreted and treated differently by people viewing them from various political, economic and cultural perspectives.
  • Technology: The development and use of technology influences economic, political, ethical and social issues.
  • Technology: Technologies inevitably involve trade-offs between costs and benefits. Decisions about the use of products and systems can result in intended and unintended consequences.
  • Environment and Society: Human modifications of the physical environment in one place often lead to changes in other places (e.g., construction of a dam provides downstream flood control, construction of a city by-pass reduces commercial activity in the city center, implementation of dry farming techniques in a region leads to new transportation links and hubs).
  • Environment and Society: Human societies use a variety of strategies to adapt to the opportunities and constraints presented by the physical environment (e.g., farming in flood plains and terraced farming, building hydroelectric plants by waterfalls and constructing hydroelectric dams, using solar panels as heat source and using extra insulation to retain heat).
  • Environment and Society: Physical processes influence the formation and distribution of renewable, nonrenewable, and flow resources (e.g., tectonic activity plays a role in the formation and location of fossil fuels, erosion plays a role in the formation of sedimentary rocks, rainfall patterns affect regional drainage patterns).

Vocabulary:

sustainability, agriculture, three pillars of sustainability, soil properties, conservation, ecology, eco monitoring, research, animal welfare

01 Mar 2021

Farm to Market: Mrs. Nippert’s Marinara

August-June 

Join us as we follow the journey of food, from the field to the consumer.  Help us figure out how we can make this season’s harvest profitable! 

Ohio Math Standards:

  • 6.EE.2 Write, read, and evaluate expressions in which letters stand for numbers.
  • 6.EE.9 Use variables to represent two quantities in a real-world problem that change in relationship to one another; write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable. Analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables using graphs and tables, and relate these to the equation. 

NGSS Standards:

  • MS-ESS3-4 Earth 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.

Ohio Social Studies Standards:

  • Economics – Scarcity: The fundamental questions of economics include what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce.
  • Economics – Markets: The interaction of supply and demand, influenced by competition, helps to determine price in a market. This interaction also determines the quantities of outputs produced and the quantities of productive resources (entrepreneurship, human resources, natural resources and capital) used.
  • Economics – Financial Literacy: When selecting items to buy, individuals can weigh costs and benefits and compare the price and quality of available goods and services.

Vocabulary:

farm, product, economics, market, profit, consumer, production, supply and demand

01 Mar 2021

Digging Deeper with Soil

August-June 

All life depends on soil. Come learn how this important building block impacts life around Greenacres, and how we create healthier soil through farming practices. We will also experience how soil scientists study the properties of soil.

Ohio Science Standards:

  • 6.ESS.5 Rocks, mineral and soils have common and practical uses.
  • 6.ESS.4 Soil is unconsolidated material that contains nutrient matter and weathered rock.

NGSS Standards:

  • MS-ESS2-4 Earth’s Systems. Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
  • MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
  • MS-LS1-6 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
  • MS-LS2-3 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
  • MS-LS2-5 Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Ohio Social Studies Standards:

  • Economics – Markets: The interaction of supply and demand, influenced by competition, helps to determine price in a market. This interaction also determines the quantities of outputs produced and the quantities of productive resources (entrepreneurship, human resources, natural resources and capital) used.

Vocabulary:

 soil, soil properties, organic matter, air, water, microbes, soil tools, compost