Standard: Social Studies

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19 Dec 2023

Know your Zone

August-June

The USDA uses zones to define certain growing areas. Our farm, located in zone 6b, faces challenges from weather, pests, and soil conditions. Join us as we learn and engage with the farmers as they tackle and solve daily challenges in our zone. 

Ohio Science Standards:

  • B.DI.1: Biodiversity 
  • B.DI.2: Ecosystems
  • B.DI.3: Loss of diversity

Indiana and NGSS Standards:

  • HS-LS2-2. Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
  • HS-LS2-4. Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.
  • HS-LS2-6. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
  • HS-LS4-5. Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

Ohio Social Studies Standards:

  • Geography – Spatial Thinking and Skills: Maps and other geographic representations can be used to trace the development of human settlement over time.
  • Geography – Human Systems: Geographic factors promote or impede the movement of people, products and ideas.
  • Economics – Scarcity: The variability in the distribution of productive resources in the various regions of the world contributed to specialization, trade and interdependence.

Vocabulary:

 zone, mapping, crop, seeds, cultivation, season, temperature, region, germination, heirloom, microclimate, diversity 

19 Dec 2023

Genetics on the Farm

August-June

Through competition, nature passes the strongest traits onto the next generation. Using nature as a guide, see how our farmers use the same concept to improve our herds and gardens for production and taste!

Ohio Science Standards:

  • 8.LS.1 Diversity of species, a result of variation of traits, occurs through the process of evolution and extinction over many generations. The fossil records provide evidence that changes have occurred in number and types of species.
  • 8.LS.2 Every organism alive today comes from a long line of ancestors who reproduced successfully every generation.
  • 8.LS.3 The characteristics of an organism are a result of inherited traits received from parent(s).

Indiana and NGSS Standards:

  • MS-LS1-1. Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
  • MS-LS1-2.Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways the parts of cells contribute to the function.
  • MS-LS1-4 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
  • MS-LS1-5 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
  • MS-LS4-5. Gather and synthesize information about technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

Ohio Social Studies Standards:

  • Economics – Economic Decision Making and Skills: Choices made by individuals, businesses and governments have both present and future consequences.

Vocabulary:

genetics, breeds, natural selection, genetic traits, adaptations, farming, livestock, crops

13 Dec 2023

Step into Soil

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:

  • 4.ESS.3: The surface of Earth changes due to erosion and deposition.
  • 4.PS.1: When objects break into smaller pieces, dissolve, or change state, the total amount of matter is conserved.
  • 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.

Indiana and NGSS Standards:

  • 2-ESS2-1. Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.
  • 4-ESS2-1. Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
  • 4-ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features
  • MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services
  • MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
  • HS-ESS2-2. Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.

Ohio Social Studies Standards (K-8):

  • Geography – Spatial Thinking and Skills: Spatial thinking examines the relationships among people, places and environments by mapping and graphing geographic data. Geographic data are compiled, organized, stored and made visible using traditional and geospatial technologies. Students need to be able to access, read, interpret and create maps and other geographic representations as tools of analysis.
  • Geography – Places and Regions: A place is a location having distinctive characteristics, which give it meaning and character and distinguish it from other locations. A region is an area with one or more common characteristics, which give it a measure of homogeneity and make it different from surrounding areas. Regions and places are human constructs.

      Vocabulary:

      soil health, properties, erosion, deposition, matter, minerals, nutrient, weathering

      13 Dec 2023

      Inquiry on the Farm (Grades 4+)

      December – February

       Scientific inquiry is a way of doing science that includes making observations, forming hypotheses, designing studies, collecting data, and drawing conclusions. While spending time in the greenhouse and other growing spaces, even in winter, students will design and conduct a simple investigation to learn about farming through the inquiry process.

      Ohio Science Standards:

      • SIPA Grade 3-5: Observe and ask questions about the world that can be answered through scientific investigations.
      • SWK Grade 3-5: Science is a way of knowing about the world around us based on evidence from experimentation and observations. 
      • SWK Grade 6-8: Science is a way of knowing about the world around us based on evidence from experimentation and observations.
      • SWK Grade 6-8: Science is a continual process and the body of scientific knowledge continues to grow and change.

      Indiana and NGSS Standards:

      • 3-LS4-3 Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. 
      • 4-PS3-2.Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
      • 5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
      • 5-PS3-1:Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
      • 5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
      • MS – LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
      • MS-PS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.  

      Social Studies Standards (K-8):

      • Geography – Spatial Thinking and Skills: Spatial thinking examines the relationships among people, places and environments by mapping and graphing geographic data. Geographic data are compiled, organized, stored and made visible using traditional and geospatial technologies. Students need to be able to access, read, interpret and create maps and other geographic representations as tools of analysis.
      • Government – Civic Participation and Skills: Civic participation embraces the ideal that an individual actively engages in his or her community, state or nation for the common good. Students need to practice effective communication skills including negotiation, compromise and collaboration. Skills in accessing and analyzing information are essential for citizens in a democracy.
      • Economics – Economic Decision Making and Skills: Effective economic decision making requires students to be able to reason logically about key economic issues that affect their lives as consumers, producers, savers, investors and citizens. Economic decision-making and skills engage students in the practice of analyzing costs and benefits, collecting and organizing economic evidence and proposing alternatives to economic problems.

      Vocabulary: Observation, Investigation, Comparative Question, Data, Analysis

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