Final report for LNC19-419

LNC19-419 (project overview)

Project Type: Research and Education

Funds awarded in 2019: $122,488.00

Projected End Date: 10/31/2023

Grant Recipient: South Dakota State University

Region: North Central

State: South Dakota

Project Coordinator:

Dr. Krista Ehlert

South Dakota State University

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Project Information

Summary:

The protection and preservation of rangelands is integral to key ecosystem services within the North Central Region (NCR) such as biodiversity, recreation, and food and fiber production. Educating youth through a sustainable agriculture curriculum can serve as the direct link to the future sustainability of rangelands in the Great Plains and South Dakota. This project, entitled “Investigating Rangeland Systems and Practices: Enhancing Sustainable Agriculture Curriculum in South Dakota,” was focused on educating youth in grades 6, 7, and 8 about sustainable agriculture through a lens of rangeland systems and practices. Our overall objectives were to promote sustainable agriculture curriculum through educational events for teachers and 4-H Youth Program Advisors, and have educators and youth learn about sustainable agriculture through a rangeland lens. To maximize reach, we conducted workshops for teachers and 4-H Youth Program Advisors, providing educators with lesson and laboratory/field exercises that align with the Next Generation Science Standards. All lessons and laboratory/field exercises involve active learning strategies, such as think-pair-shares and small group discussions, as well as experiential and hands-on learning. We collaborated with ranchers in North Dakota and Montana with ranchers to provide vlogs (video blogging) for the curriculum. Students and educators learned about the local, national, and worldwide impacts sustainable agriculture has on people, the economy, and the protection of natural resources. This project resulted in increased awareness of sustainable agriculture among youth, including challenges faced, impacts of management strategies, and career opportunities. Ultimately, the long-term impacts of this project beyond the life of the grant will provide youth and, consequently, their families an objective understanding of what farmers and ranchers are doing, making them informed citizens and cognizant neighbors and future voters.

Project Objectives:

We modified our objectives from the initial grant proposal to the following for this final report:

Learning outcomes: 1) teachers and 4-H Youth Program Advisors will learn about sustainable agriculture and how to teach the curriculum.

Action outcomes: 1) the curriculum will be adopted by teachers and 4-H Youth Program Advisors within the NCR.

Condition outcomes: 1) increased concern for the protection and conservation of natural resources, 2) increased labor force in agricultural fields.

Introduction:

This final report includes activities from November 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023. Below we provide an overview of activities that occurred during the grant period. Of note is that we completed a budget reallocation and no-cost extension (NCE) request in July 2022. The main reason for the budget request was that instead of doing stand alone workshops with teachers, we actively incorporated the modules into Extension and outreach activities that already exist. The rationale for the NCE is to continue producing outputs for the grant. The request was approved by SARE.

Activities completed during the grant period:

5 Core Curriculum Modules with Lessons
1. Module 1: Overview of Rangelands
2. Module 2: Rangeland Plants
3. Module 3: Rangeland Animals
4. Module 4: Soil Health
5. Module 5: Foraging
7 Workshops and presentations for Teachers, 4-H YPAs, and Youth. Total participants = 81 adults and 135 youth.
1. 10/27/2021, 19 adult participants, SDSU Extension Fall Conference; Brookings, SD
2. 2021-2022 school year, Pilot of the curriculum conducted with Mobridge Middle School, 2 adults, approximately 40 youth; Mobridge, SD
3. 2/4/2022, 4 adult participants, SD STEM Teaching Association Conference; Huron, SD
4. 5/12/2022, 24 adult participants, SD 4-H Professionals’ Spring Training; Yankton, SD
5. 7/26/2022, 5 adult participants, SD Career and Technical Education (CTE) Conference; Sioux Falls, SD
6. 7/27/2022 and 7/28/2022, 2 adult participants, 95 youth participants, Dakota Dreams Camp; Brookings, SD
7. 11/30/2023, 25 adult participants, National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Annual Conference; Phoenix, AZ
3 Field Activities for Educators and Students. Total participants = 9 adults, 30 youth.
1. 1 field trip, 10/15/2021 with Mobridge Middle School for the pilot of the curriculum; 4 adults, approximately 40 youth, Mobridge, SD
2. 1 event, 6/14/2022 and 6/15/2022, 3 adult participants, 15 youth participants, SD Rangeland and Soils Days; Murdo, SD
3. 1 event, 6/14/2023 and 6/15/2023, 6 adult participants, 15 youth participants, SD Rangeland and Soils Days; Watertown, SD
  - The SD Rangeland and Soils Days is held annually in June in South Dakota. PI Ehlert helps lead Rangeland and Soils Days and at the event in June 2022, some components of the SARE modules were woven into working with the “New Rangers” group of 8-10 year old kids.
  - Participant support costs were used in June 2023 to fund travel and supplies for the New Rangers group of students to attend Rangeland and Soils Days.
15 Video Blogs (Vlogs) with Participating Ranchers. Total participants = 5 ranchers.
1 Extension Article
1. 10/2023, Ehlert and Rohrer. Range Roundup: Opportunities for Youth.
2 Conference Presentations
1. 2/16/2021, unknown attendee number, Society for Range Management Annual Meeting; virtual (COVID)
2. 11/30/2023, 25 adult participants, National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Annual Conference; Phoenix, AZ

After the conclusion of the grant, the following is ongoing:

1 Journal Article
- To be submitted to a journal such as the Journal of Agricultural Education.
1 Conference Presentation
- 1/29/2024, Society for Range Management Annual Meeting; Sparks, NV

Cooperators

Click linked name(s) to expand/collapse or show everyone's info

Hannah Nordby
Cindy Getzlaff
Jen Peterson
Gordon Gerbig
Casey Candee

Research

Involves research:

Participation Summary

Education

Educational approach:

Our overall objectives were to promote sustainable agriculture curriculum through educational events for teachers and 4-H Youth Program Advisors (YPAs), and have educators and youth learn about sustainable agriculture through a rangeland lens. We have focused on workshops for teachers and 4-H YPAs. Experiential and hands-on learning were at the core of this project. Instead of having ranchers directly involved in the curriculum, from a time constraint process, the grant Co-PIs led the curriculum effort. As a result, we conducted a pilot of the curriculum with Mobridge Middle School (Mobridge, SD). This allowed us to change the curriculum based on feedback from a middle school teacher and students. For example, some time estimates we had on activities were much too short, and actually took twice as long due to needing to conduct the activity with 20-25 students! We also learned from the Pilot that we needed to provide educators with more background information so that s/he felt confident presenting the material to students.

We developed five core curriculum modules: Module 1: Overview of Rangelands, Module 2: Rangeland Plants, Module 3: Rangeland Animals, Module 4: Soil Health, and Module 5: Foraging.

Hands-on experiential learning is woven throughout all curriculum modules. All of the components of the curriculum modules translate well to Bloom’s taxonomy, which is a framework for categorizing educational goals, and is familiar to teachers and 4-H YPAs. To illustrate how one of our curriculum modules connects to specific Next Generation Science Standards we will focus on an example of Module 2: Rangeland Plants. Students will first learn how to differentiate between types of plants such as grasses, forbs, and shrubs. This aligns with MS-LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes and challenges students to think about how plants reproduce, what impact environmental conditions have on growth, and the effects that characteristics such as flower color can have on pollinator attraction and therefore reproduction (Performance Standards MS-LS1-4 and MS-LS1-5). Further, there will be a focus on grasses so that students learn about different photosynthetic pathways and the cycling of matter and energy flow into and out of organisms (Performance Standards MS-LS1-6).

We presented the curriculum and held workshops for teachers and 4-H YPAs.

Workshop attendees were given materials including modular lesson plans and when available, any materials needed to complete each activity. Lesson plans and laboratory/field exercises provide a summary of the activity and learning outcomes, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards and South Dakota Standards of Learning. Further information such as appropriate classroom assessment techniques (CATs) and references are outlined for each lesson. When possible, we provided participant support costs to teachers and 4-H YPAs to offset the cost of mileage and lodging.

We developed 15 video blogs ("vlogs") that feature ranchers in the NRC across a variety of timepoints in the ranching and beef cattle world.

In our original grant proposal, we suggested an approach we called “Adopt-a-Rancher” where ranchers would develop video blogs (“vlogs”) to amplify a rancher’s viewpoint, thought processes, and daily decisions, as well as the seasonal foresight and adaptability needed to achieve sustainable and regenerative ranching practices. Vlogs were intended to “attach a face” to a person (i.e. a rancher) perhaps previously unknown to students and their families. Finally, we had proposed field trips to ranches to expose students to practical skills such as plant identification and rangeland health assessment, as well as provide the opportunity to interact directly with someone who is invested in the future of sustainable agriculture.

As a result of COVID-19, we quickly adapted to the fact that it was difficult to get students and teachers on field trips to ranches due to COVID restrictions. Further, it was also very difficult to have the ranchers themselves provide vlogs - they often had older cell phone models that resulted in poor video quality, so we did purchase some GoPros and associated video equipment to help with this. However, the ranchers we initially were collaborating with on the project seemed unsure of where to start with the videos. Thus, we removed the "Adopt-a-Rancher" component of the project, and instead relied on a contractor to conduct short vlogs with producers in the NCR. This avenue allowed us to have more control over the consistency of the video footage - the quality, sound, etc. Moreover, vlogs served as a “day in the life” for students to see and hear what a rancher does and allows students to be exposed to different ways of knowing, ultimately challenging their way of thinking and demonstrating multi-faceted problem solving.

We have evaluation data from the workshops we conducted with educators.

We provided workshop attendees with evaluations at the conclusion of each workshop. Evaluation data is included below under the associated output. The evaluations provide information on areas that need improvement for future projects that aim to teach youth and educators - teachers and 4-H Youth Program Advisors - about sustainable agriculture.

Project Activities

Module 1 - Overview of Rangelands

Module 2 - Rangeland Plants

curriculum

Proposed Farmers/Ranchers:

Actual Farmers/Ranchers:

Proposed Ag Educators:

Actual Ag Educators:

Proposed Completion Date:

October 31, 2023

Accomplishments:

Module 2 - Plants V3 FINAL copy

Available on the SDSU Extension website: https://extension.sdstate.edu/investigating-rangeland-systems-and-practices

Module 2 has been developed and teaches students about rangeland plants through the following activities:

Activity #1 - Dinosaur Extinction:

Students watch a YouTube video that demonstrates how dinosaurs went extinct - the collision of the astroid creates a crater and a cloud of dust. The cloud of dust blocks the sunlight from hitting the earth, resulting in plants dying because they cannot perform photosynthesis without light. Students write an acrostic with the word "photosynthesis" and demonstrate their current state of knowledge on the topic.

Activity #2 - Photosynthesis - The Starch Test:

The teacher sets up an experiment 24 hours before class, with two plants - one plant has been placed in a dark room for 24 hours and one that has been placed next to a non-shaded window. The students will take a leaf from each plant (dark, light) and place it in hot water, then drop the leaves in ethyl alcohol, which removes the green color from the leaf. The leaves are then covered in iodine solution, which is an indicator of starch. Thus, the leaf from the "light" plant will turn black because starch is present due to photosynthesis and the leaf from the "dark" plant will not turn any color, because no photosynthesis was able to occur.

Activity #3A - Range Plant Discovery Experiment Setup:

Students will divide into groups and be given plant starter pellets (like the kind you can buy to start seedlings), grass seed, and forb (flowering plant) seeds. Students are going to set up an experiment and will keep a lab notebook documenting their experimental design, process, and conclusions. Students are introduced to the terms drought and flood, and how they relate to rangeland plants. They discover differences in growth patterns between grasses and forbs. Students will rotate group members and come to water their plants and make any observations in their lab notebook.

Activity #3B - Range Plant Treatments and Observations:

Once the grasses have reached 2 inches tall, the students will come back to work on their experiment. Students will be tasked with subjecting their grasses and forbs to different moisture regimes - not enough, just enough, and too much to signify drought, a "normal" year, and a wet year. To mimic cattle grazing, they will use scissors to cut some of the grasses and forbs and compare that to ones that are not cut. Students will find that after a 10 day period of grazing, plants that have been grazed will have a more vigorous root system.

Activity #3C - Range Plant Discussion and Conclusions:

The teacher and students will have a discussion about the experiment they conducted and the scientific process by discussion what water regime had the healthiest forb and grass, what conditions stressed the plants, what indicators there were of stress, et.

Activity #4 - Classroom Assessment Technique:

Students will make a new acrostic using the word "photosynthesis" and expand on their knowledge. This is a great metacognitive exercise for students and provides them with the opportunity to think about how much they've learned. Teachers can also use a minute paper for a classroom assessment technique, asking students what the most important think they learned was, and what important questions remain unanswered.

Module 3 - Rangeland Animals

curriculum

Proposed Farmers/Ranchers:

Actual Farmers/Ranchers:

Proposed Ag Educators:

Actual Ag Educators:

Proposed Completion Date:

October 31, 2023

Accomplishments:

Module 3 - Animals V4 FINAL

Available on the SDSU Extension website: https://extension.sdstate.edu/investigating-rangeland-systems-and-practices

Module 3 has been developed and teaches students about rangeland animals through the following activities:

Activity #1 - Field Journals:

Students are introduced to the idea of field journals - keeping a record of observations, like they did in the experiments in Module 2. This time, however, their observations are focused on the world around them. Old field journal entires are shown to students to decipher - in what ways is a field journal like a diary? How is it different? What is described? Further examples are shared with students of other ways scientists keep track of their work.

Activity #2 - Grassland Birds:

Now that students know what a scientific journal entry is, they will create their own journal entry after learning about grassland birds found in South Dakota rangelands. Students will be taught information on key grassland birds: the sharptail, ruffled grouse, and prairie chicken. A video is shown to students on "Audubon Conservation Ranching," to provide a further connection between grassland birds and the relationship they have with grazers, such as cattle, who help create the habitat the birds need. Students are then given a Pocket Guide to Norther Prairie Birds. They are tasked with going and observing one of the birds found in the book and creating a journal entry. Students then report out the next class period and share their observations.

Activity #3 - Ruminating on the Digestive System:

In this activity, students learn about the differences between ruminants and non-ruminants. Specifically, a cow and a horse are used, respectively. Students learn about how these animals are similar, but different, and the role digestion and absorption have in digestive systems. Worksheets help students walk through the different components of each animals digestive system and how they are different.

Activity #4 - Ruminating on the Digestive System, Continued:

Now that the students have learned about the digestive system in ruminants and non-ruminants, they will head outside or to the gym with their teacher to learn just how large these digestive systems are. Students will use chalk to draw out the stomach, small intestine, cecum, and large intestine for both the cow and the horse, but instead of drawing them all curled up on the inside of the animal like they are on the worksheet, students will uses paces to pace out the entire length of each organ - helping students to connect to how complex and large the digestive system really is!

Activity #5 - Classroom Assessment Technique:

Students will be asked to complete a 1 minute paper where they write down 2-4 things they learned about the digestive systems of hooved mammals. Students will have the opportunity to share their findings through a think-pair-share with a neighbor.

Module 4 - Soil

curriculum

Proposed Farmers/Ranchers:

Actual Farmers/Ranchers:

Proposed Ag Educators:

Actual Ag Educators:

Proposed Completion Date:

October 31, 2023

Accomplishments:

Module 4 - Soil V3 FINAL

Available on the SDSU Extension website: https://extension.sdstate.edu/investigating-rangeland-systems-and-practices

Module 4 has been developed and teaches students about soil through the following activities:

Activity #1 - Soil Formation Factors and Soil Profiles:

Students are introduced to CLORPT - short for the factors that influence soil formation (climate, organisms, relief, parent material, and time). The teacher goes over a short PowerPoint presentation to assist in his/her teaching this material. Then, groups of students are assigned one of the 5 soil formation factors and use flip chart paper to communicate to other students (flipped classroom idea), what their soil formation factor was. A handout is provided to students that helps them critically think about their own development over time - where they have lived (i.e. climate), what they eat (i.e. organisms), where on the landscape they live (i.e. relief/topography), parents (i.e. parent material), and how old they are (i.e. time). Students also discuss the difference between climate and weather, what organisms help soil develop, and how nature moves material around. Students also learn about soil profiles using a PowerPoint presentation, and then create a mnemonic device to remember the soil horizon orders.

Activity #2 - South Dakota Soils:

Students use several handouts that were developed for this activity, to learn about the state soil of South Dakota - the Houdek soil. A handout is provided that gives an overview and characteristics about Houdek soil, where it is found in South Dakota, and the importance it has to agriculture. A corresponding handout walks students through several questions and the end result of this activity is that students create their own Houdek soil profile, combining what they've learned about soil formation factors, the state soil, and soil horizons.

Activity #3 - Soil Glue and Soil Food Web:

In this activity, students dive deeper into one of the soil formation factors - organisms, specifically, fungi. Fungi produce a protein called glomalin, which acts as s soil glue. Using a demonstration of two different clods of soil - for example, one from a well-managed rangeland versus a field that has experienced tillage - the teacher and students walk through putting each soil in a large mason jar, on a piece of wire that is lowered into water in the jar. Students take notes and record their observations of differences they observe - which soil type has more "glue"? Why is soil glue important? Next, the teacher has a discussion with the students about different types of organisms - primary producers, decomposers, predators - and asks students to create their own soil food web. The soil food web exercise brings together ideas from Modules 1, 2, and 3 - students will draw a food web in rangeland, consider other animals that are present, and refer back to how plants use photosynthesis to create their own food.

Activity #4 - Classroom Assessment Technique:

There are two available classroom assessments for this Module. The 3-2-1 format is used for Activities #1 and #2 - students write down 3 ideas that were presented, 2 examples of how they can use their knowledge of soils, and 1 unresolved/"muddiest" point that they didn't quite understand. The teacher can review the "muddiest" point with students, to help clarify their understanding. The Focused Listening format is used for Activity #3, and has teachers select an important topic or concept that was covered. Students are asked to list important words and phases about the selected topic. Review of the findings allows the teacher to fill in any key concepts that students missed.

Pilot Meetings - Mobridge

Mobridge Pilot - In person classroom assistance

Mobridge Pilot - Fall field day

Module 5 - Foraging

Rancher Video Blogs

curriculum

Proposed Farmers/Ranchers:

Actual Farmers/Ranchers:

Proposed Completion Date:

October 31, 2023

Accomplishments:

Available on the SDSU Extension website: https://extension.sdstate.edu/investigating-rangeland-systems-and-practices

We developed 15 video blogs ("vlogs") that feature ranchers in the NRC across a variety of timepoints in the ranching and beef cattle world.

We relied on a contractor to conduct short vlogs with producers in the NCR. This avenue allowed us to have control over the consistency of the video footage - the quality, sound, etc. Moreover, vlogs served as a “day in the life” for students to see and hear what a rancher does and allows students to be exposed to different ways of knowing, ultimately challenging their way of thinking and demonstrating multi-faceted problem solving.

A description of each vlog episode is below and includes a note about compatible modules.

Episode 1: Winter Feeding Cattle

Episode 1 teaches students how beef cattle producers feed cattle during the winter, and the video also discusses livestock nutrition.

Compatible with Module 3: Animals

Episode 2: Foraging

Episode 2 teaches students about several rangeland plants that can be foraged for in SD, including how to identify the plant and what part of the plant is edible.

Compatible with Module 5: Foraging

Episode 3: Native American Uses

Episode 3 explains how Native Americans historically used rangeland plants in everyday life.

Compatible with Module 5: Foraging

Episode 4: Branding

Episode 4 discusses how beef calves are vaccinated, castrated, and branded.

Compatible with Module 3: Animals

Episode 5: Direct Marketing

Episode 5 explains several products that can be produced on farms and ranches, and how they can be marketed directly to the consumer.

Compatible with Module 3: Animals

Episode 6: Horsepower on the Ranch

Episode 6 shows students how horses are trained to be used on cattle ranches for work purposes.

Compatible with Module 3: Animals

Episode 7: Cow-Calf Production Cycle

Episode 7 explains what the production cycle is for a common cow-calf producer.

Compatible with Module 3: Animals

Episode 8: Everyday Ranching

Episode 8 describes what a typical day is like for a rancher.

Compatible with Module 3: Animals

Episode 9: Making Hay

Episode 9 explains why and how hay is used for livestock.

Compatible with Module 2: Plants

Episode 10: Farming with Irrigation

Episode 10 covers how farmers use irrigation to grow different kinds of crops.

Compatible with Module 2: Plants

Episode 11: Farming 101

Episode 11 teaches students how crops are grown and harvested in a dryland setting (without irrigation).

Compatible with Module 4: Soils

Episode 12: Grazing on Federal Lands

Episode 12 shows how ranchers utilize federal land for grazing, along with how rangelands are used for a multitude of uses – recreation such as hunting and hiking, and also livestock production.

Compatible with Module 1: Overview of Rangelands

Episode 13: Problems in Range Management

Episode 13 explains some common problems on rangelands that ranchers experience, such as invasive species and lack of water.

Compatible with Module 1: Overview of Rangelands

Episode 14: Grazing Management

Episode 12 teaches students about a grazing management system that is used to promote rangeland health.

Compatible with Module 2: Plants

Episode 15: Types of Rangelands

Episode 11 teaches students about the different types of rangelands that can be found across South Dakota including prairies, badlands, and the Black Hills.

Compatible with Module 1: Overview of Rangelands

Educational & Outreach Activities

1 Consultations

20 Curricula, factsheets or educational tools

1 Published press articles, newsletters

2 Webinars / talks / presentations

10 Workshop field days

Participation Summary:

8 Farmers participated

81 Ag professionals participated

Education/outreach description:

-Consultations

Ehlert K and J Bachler. Mobridge Pilot Meeting. 2021 August 30. Mobridge Middle School. Mobridge, SD.

-Curricula, Fact Sheets, or Educational Tools

All are available on SDSU Extension's website: https://extension.sdstate.edu/investigating-rangeland-systems-and-practices

Ehlert K, J Bachler and C Wood. 2020. Module 1: Overview of Rangelands.
Ehlert K, J Bachler, and C Wood. 2020. Module 2: Rangeland Plants.
Ehlert K, J Bachler, and C Wood. 2021. Module 3: Rangeland Animals.
Ehlert K, J Bachler, and C Wood. 2021. Module 4: Soil.
Ehlert K, J Bachler, and C Wood. 2022. Module 5: Foraging.

PLUS 15 video blogs with 5 ranchers.

Episode 1: Winter Feeding Cattle
Episode 2: Foraging
Episode 3: Native American Uses
Episode 4: Branding
Episode 5: Direct Marketing
Episode 6: Horsepower on the Ranch
Episode 7: Cow-Calf Production Cycle
Episode 8: Everyday Ranching
Episode 9: Making Hay
Episode 10: Farming with Irrigation
Episode 11: Farming 101
Episode 12: Grazing on Federal Lands
Episode 13: Problems in Range Management
Episode 14: Grazing Management
Episode 15: Types of Rangelands

-Published press articles

Ehlert K and E Rohrer. 10/2023. Range Roundup: Opportunities for Youth. https://extension.sdstate.edu/range-roundup-opportunities-youth

-Webinars, talks, and presentations

Ehlert K and C Wood. 2/16/2021. Investigating rangeland systems and practices: Enhancing sustainable agriculture curriculum in South Dakota. Society for Range Management 2021 Annual Meeting. Virtual. Unknown participant number. SRM 2021 Poster.
Ehlert K. 11/30/2023. Investigating rangeland systems and practices. National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Annual Conference. Phoenix, AZ. 25 adult participants. Ehlert - SARE_NAAE 2023.11

-Workshops and field days

2021-2022 school year, Pilot of the curriculum conducted with Mobridge Middle School, 2 adults, approximately 40 youth; Mobridge, SD
1. Bachler J. 10/20/2021. Mobridge Pilot - in-classroom assistance. Mobridge Middle School. Mobridge, SD.
  - Direct contacts: 2 adults, approximately 25 youth.
10/15/2021. Mobridge Pilot field day. Mobridge, SD.
- Direct contacts: 3 adults, approximately 25 youth.
- Synopsis: Students were exposed to plant identification through hands-on learning in the field (Module 2: Plants), we discussed why rangelands are important for both livestock and wildlife (Module 1: Overview of Rangelands; Module 3: Animals), and how ranchers are good stewards of the land. We also had a demonstration of a cattle dog herding cattle, and further discussed nutrient cycling in relation to "where the dung piles are" on the landscape (Module 4: Soil).
- No formal evaluation conducted.
10/27/2021, 19 adult participants, SDSU Extension Fall Conference; Brookings, SD
- No formal evaluation conducted.
2/4/2022, 4 adult participants, SD STEM Teaching Association Conference; Huron, SD
- No formal evaluation conducted.
5/12/2022, 24 adult participants, SD 4-H Professionals’ Spring Training; Yankton, SD
- Direct contacts: 26 adults.
- Synopsis: Module 5: Foraging was used as a demonstration along with the presentation of the rest of the curriculum.
- Evaluation
  - General comments
    - "All of the materials are very helpful/useful."
    - "I like the variety of hands-on programming options."
    - "At this point, I feel there will be a select set of activities I definitely use. Our schools are hard to get into but also want to share with teachers."
    - "Love that the modules can be used all together or in parts! Pieces of this will work great in an existing program I have."
    - "Thank you! This was so much fun and very informational. I am looking forward to utilizing this curriculum."
  - Average score of 4.9 for the evaluation question: How would you rate your attitude toward agriculture and helping youth understand it, specifically from a sustainable lens? Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = I don't think this is important at all; 5 = I think it is very important.
  - Average score of 4.2 for the evaluation question: How would you rate your personal understanding of agriculture – from the role that plants and animals have to the importance of soil health? Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = I know very little; 5 = I live it - I farm/ranch with my family.
  - Average score of 3.5 for the evaluation question: Do you plan to incorporate one or more of either the modules or an activity from a module into your 4-H programming? Scale of 1 to 4: 1 = Not going to because I'm not interested or don't feel it is important; 4 = I am very interested and feel it is important to incorporate.
7/26/2022, 5 adult participants, SD Career and Technical Education (CTE) Conference; Sioux Falls, SD
- Synopsis: Module 5: Foraging was used as a demonstration along with the presentation of the rest of the curriculum.
- Evaluation
  - General comments
    - "I like the foraging concept and would like to add that."
    - "The modules will be great to integrate to build literacy and grow interest."
    - "I will incorporate much of this into my 7th grade ag class."
    - "I like the hands-on activity provided. It would be great to provide more resources to get teachers in the range."
  - Average score of 4.8 for the evaluation question: How would you rate your attitude toward agriculture and helping youth understand it, specifically from a sustainable lens? Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = I don't think this is important at all; 5 = I think it is very important.
  - Average score of 3.8 for the evaluation question: How would you rate your personal understanding of agriculture – from the role that plants and animals have to the importance of soil health? Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = I know very little; 5 = I live it - I farm/ranch with my family.
  - Average score of 4 for the evaluation question: Do you plan to incorporate one or more of either the modules or an activity from a module into your 4-H programming? Scale of 1 to 4: 1 = Not going to because I'm not interested or don't feel it is important; 4 = I am very interested and feel it is important to incorporate.
7/27/2022 and 7/28/2022, 2 adult participants, 95 youth participants, Dakota Dreams Camp; Brookings, SD
- Synopsis: Students listened to a presentation about rangelands - where we find them, why they are important (Module 1: Overview of Rangelands) for both livestock and wildlife (Module 3: Animals), learned a few different rangeland plants (Module 2: Plants), and had fun learning about rangeland foraging (Module 5: Foraging).
- Evaluation
  - General comments
    - "You guys did a great job, hope to join your class later in life!"
    - "Thank you! I am Native American so it was really fun."
  - Average score of 4.1 for the evaluation question: The people teaching us were engaging. Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = Strongly disagree; 5 = Strongly agree.
  - Average score of 3.6 for the evaluation question: I liked learning about rangeland and the Native American historic uses of rangeland plants. Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = Strongly disagree; 5 = Strongly agree.
  - Average score of 4.2 for the evaluation question: I learned about rangelands in South Dakota and how important they are. Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = Strongly disagree; 5 = Strongly agree.
1 event, 6/14/2022 and 6/15/2022, 3 adult participants, 15 youth participants, SD Rangeland and Soils Days; Murdo, SD
1 event, 6/14/2023 and 6/15/2023, 6 adult participants, 15 youth participants, SD Rangeland and Soils Days; Watertown, SD
- The SD Rangeland and Soils Days is held annually in June in South Dakota. PI Ehlert helps lead Rangeland and Soils Days and at the event in June 2022, some components of the SARE modules were woven into working with the “New Rangers” group of 8-10 year old kids.
- Participant support costs were used in June 2023 to fund travel and supplies for the New Rangers group of students to attend Rangeland and Soils Days.
- Synopsis: Students learned plant identification through hands-on learning in the field (Module 2: Plants), we discussed why rangelands are important (Module 1: Overview of Rangelands), and how ranchers are good stewards of the land. We also spent time talking about how rangelands provide multiple uses, including wildlife habitat (Module 3: Animals). Further, students learned a little bit about soil and how soil is living (Module 4: Soil).
- No formal evaluation conducted.
11/30/2023, 25 adult participants, National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Annual Conference; Phoenix, AZ
1. Synopsis: PI Ehlert conducted a 30 minute workshop/presentation on the developed rangeland curriculum. Information about SARE grant opportunities that are relevant to educators was provided, and workshop attendees were provided with SARE materials.
  1. General comments on "What was the best thing about this workshop?"
    1. "Unique topic."
    2. "Ready made curriculum and grants!"
    3. "Modules, videos, GRANTS!"
  2. Average score of 4.3 out of 5 for "I gained knowledge from this presentation." Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = Strongly disagree; 5 = Strongly agree.
  3. Average score of 4.5 out of 5 for "The content was relevant to my teaching responsibilities." Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = Strongly disagree; 5 = Strongly agree.
  4. Average score of 4.4 out of 5 for "The presented concepts were easy to understand." Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = Strongly disagree; 5 = Strongly agree.
  5. Average score of 4.5 out of 5 for an overall evaluation of the workshop. Scale of 1 to 5: 1 = Low quality; 5 = High quality.

-Ongoing Outreach due to this Project

PI Ehlert is involved in a NRCS CCCA grant, "Planning for Grasslands Education in South Dakota" that was awarded July 2023. The purpose of this grant is to bring together partners, including SDSU Extension and others, to discuss and uncover gaps in K-12 education that exist in South Dakota as they pertain to grasslands. This is a planning grant; outputs will be leveraged for future grant opportunities to develop an entire K-12 curriculum. The SARE curriculum that this project has developed, is likely to be a "jumping off" point for the CCCA grant.
The SD Grasslands Initiative, started in summer 2023 and is being led by the SD Grassland Coalition. Several partners such as SDSU Extension and NRCS are involved, as well as other stakeholder groups like Pheasants Forever, etc. The group developed resource bags for teachers - including homeschool groups - that were distributed to approximately 100 teachers across South Dakota in early December 2023. These bags were developed for the 9-12th grade Conservation Speech Contest in South Dakota, with the 2024 theme of "Working Grasslands, Why should we care?" The SARE curriculum was included in the bags - an overview of the modules, as well as QR codes to access the materials on the SDSU Extension website.

-Upcoming Outreach

1 Journal Article
- To be submitted to a journal such as the Journal of Agricultural Education.
1 Conference Presentation
- 1/29/2024, Society for Range Management Annual Meeting; Sparks, NV

Learning Outcomes

5 Farmers reported changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills and/or awareness as a result of their participation

90 Agricultural service providers reported changes in knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes as a result of their participation

Key areas taught:

Overview of Rangelands - where they are in the world, why they are important
Rangeland Plants
Rangeland Animals
Rangeland Soils
Rangeland Foraging

Project Outcomes

Key practices changed:

1 Grant applied for that built upon this project

1 Grant received that built upon this project

3 New working collaborations

Recommendations:

Future projects associated with developing a curriculum for sustainable agriculture should consider hiring a project manager, if possible in the budget. This person can help organize and facilitate workshops for educators and youth. In hindsight, the team size we had was too small for this project (2 co-PIs and an additional field specialist who left the organization after 1 year). A project manager taking on these responsibilities would allow the PIs to invest further time and effort into curriculum development and meeting with partners to increase awareness.

An additional reflection from our project is that future projects should provide a consulting fee to a part-time teacher who would be able to liaise with other educators and approach professional societies that they are already a member of. Again, this would further facilitate this work, and some feedback we learned during our project is that teachers like to be taught by other teachers - someone who has also "been in the trenches" with them, and has a direct understanding of the needs of students.

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Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.