Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Animal Production: grazing management
- Education and Training: extension, mentoring, youth education
- Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity
- Soil Management: soil quality/health
- Sustainable Communities: urban/rural integration
Abstract:
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.