The Tree-mendous Benefits of Trees - Teacher Guide

16 Oct 2020

Trees are a critical component of our ecosystem: They can produce the food we eat, oxygen that we breathe, shade from the sun, and so much more. Trees are an important and recognizable part of landscapes and forests, but most people don't think about the importance of trees and their value to the...

The Tree-mendous Benefits of Trees - Mentor Guide

16 Oct 2020

Trees are a critical component of our ecosystem: They can produce the food we eat, oxygen that we breathe, shade from the sun, and so much more. Trees are an important and recognizable part of landscapes and forests, but most people don't think about the importance of trees and their value to the...

Agronomy Feeds the World - Mentor's Guide

30 Aug 2018

The purpose of this tip sheet is to help you as a scientist mentor anticipate and respond to students as they post online about their agronomy-related investigations. After initial inquiries – such as watching purple Kool-Aid run through 3+ types of soil, evaluating water-holding capacity of...

Mentor Tip Sheet - Pollen and Pollination

30 Aug 2018 | Contributor(s): plantingscience

The purpose of this tip sheet is to help you as a scientist mentor anticipate and respond to students as they post online about their pollen and pollinator investigations.

Agronomy Feeds the World - Experimental Design for Guided Inquiry

27 Dec 2016

This guide will help teachers walk their students through the guided inquiry that is part of the Agronomy Feeds the World module.

Agronomy Feeds the World - Soil Nutrition and Fertility Resources

27 Dec 2016

Goals, purposes and objectives centered around a core concept (big idea):The goal of this project is to allow students to understand the roles of soil nutrients and how they affect plant growth and plant nutritional status.Objectives:Understand the roles of macronutrients...

Agronomy Feeds the World - Field to Table Discussion Items

27 Dec 2016

Goals, purposes and objectives centered around a core concept (big idea):Where exactly does my food come from: Field to table?Objectives:Understand the connection between our food and farmsDetermine the infrastructure necessary to transport foodUnderstand the costs...

Agronomy Feeds the World - Plant Stresses

27 Dec 2016

OverviewThis investigation introduces students to sources/types of plant stress and how plants deal/combat with stress.Also include emphasis on how plant stresses reduce yield quantity/quality; how does this affect the food supply?Talk about how growers help plants...

Agronomy Feeds the World - Plant Measurements

27 Dec 2016

This is a brief resource to assist students in deciding how best to measure plants and record data in their experiments. 

Agronomy Feeds the World - Geography and Water

27 Dec 2016

Goal: To understand how geography and water quantity and quality impact food and fiber production.Objectives:To understand what an ecoregion is and how crops are impacted by weather, climate, and geography among various ecoregions.To understand how water stress impacts crop production.To conduct...

Agronomy Feeds the World - Teacher's Guide

27 Dec 2016

Premise: One in nine people in the world are hungry, and as the population expands to 9 billion by 2050, food production must rapidly rise to the challenge to reduce hunger. Although food is a basic need for mankind, fewer citizens today are aware of the process of food production and its...

Pollen Module - Table of Contents

16 Jun 2016 | Contributor(s): plantingscience

Please review the topics covered in this module via the Table of Contents.

Pollen Module Overview

16 Jun 2016 | Contributor(s): plantingscience

Abstract: This module provides great flexibility. You can choose some or all of the activities. Each section is posted in separate pdf files on the PlantingScience website, on the Plant Themes / Pollen page. Activity Set A is a basic orientation to plant anatomy in relation to where pollen is...

The Power of Sunlight - Student's Guide

25 May 2016

In this module, you will join a research team to ask questions about photosynthesis and cellular respiration, then carry out experiments to help answer these questions. You’ll create a team blog where you’ll post your ideas and share your data with a plant biologist, and share what...

The Power of Sunlight - Mentor Tip Sheet

25 May 2016

The purpose of this tip sheet is to help you as a scientist mentor anticipate and respond to students as they post online about their photosynthesis &/or respiration investigations.

Activity Set C: Field Study of Flowers and Pollinators

24 May 2016 | Contributor(s): plantingscience

Summary: In outdoor field settings, students investigate animal pollinators, most likely insects and hummingbirds. Student inquiry questions will be explored by collecting data on pollinator visits to flowers. Students count the number of pollinator visits to flowers during timed observation...

Activity Set B: Exploring Pollen in the Atmosphere

24 May 2016 | Contributor(s): plantingscience

Summary: Students explore wind-pollination through investigating pollen in the atmosphere. They construct simple pollen traps and set them outdoors. Using a staining technique to distinguish pollen from other material on microscope slides, students conduct pollen counts from the collected...

Activity Set A: Background for Inquiries Investigating Pollen in Plant Reproduction

24 May 2016 | Contributor(s): plantingscience

Summary: Students gain background knowledge for inquiry investigations through dissecting flowers and/or cones and observing pollen grains through compound microscopes. In addition, students conduct either a guided or open inquiry investigation by growing pollen tubes. Through these activities,...