Life science
Biology is taught to every high school student in the United States.
Only 1–2% of the US population is involved in farming. Most students have no direct experience with farming or modern food production techniques. Current biology standards focus on the study of photosynthesis and respiration at the cellular level; studying plants used for crops allows students to apply that knowledge to the real world. These activities will engage students in hands-on labs to help them to better understand where their food comes from.
unit
unit
AFNR plant systems
How do we develop and manage plant systems? Each plant is classified according to broad categories based on characteristics they share. New DNA technology has allowed us to be more specific in determining the “relatives” of plants. This …
Video
Video
A student’s guide to careers in agronomy
Agronomy is key to helping produce more food for a growing world population. Learn about the educational path to this agriscience career and what an agronomist does. Do your interests fit with this field? Thanks to the Mississippi Soybean Promotion …
External link
External link
Cover crop benefits and the soybean microbiome
The soil microbiome can be defined as a community of living organisms in the soil which includes the combination of bacterial and fungal life. “We are studying the effects of cover crop termination on bacterial and fungal communities in the soil …
External link
External link
Cover crops and weed control
Some herbicides have residual carryover that can negatively impact the establishment of cover crops. An alternative method of weed control may be the actual use of cover crops to suppress weeds.
External link
External link
Cover crops benefit wildlife
Cover crops provide many species of wildlife with food and shelter. If you want to maximize wildlife benefits, avoid cover crop monocultures. Cover crop diversity and interspersion are keys to improving wildlife habitat.
student research project
student research project
Freeze Seed
For this experiment, we conducted a trial to find out what would happen if we grew seeds that were frozen versus seeds that were left at room temperature. Our hypothesis was that the frozen seeds would grow at a slower pace than the normal seeds. To …
student research project
student research project
It’s a drought: time for soybeans
In this project, five different types of soybeans were tested in three sequentially staged droughts with one control group. My hypothesis was that soybean P24T05R would do best in drought, and soybean R2C2450 would do the worst. The materials used …
External link
External link
Keeping crops healthy
Soil microbes live in the water films around roots, using water to travel around and to process nutrients. Unfortunately, either too much rain or not enough, greatly slows down plant nutrient acquisition.
article
article
Learning and using gel electrophoresis in class
After attending last summer’s Ag Biotech Academy workshop, Catherine Ledford-Jones used the gel electrophoresis lesson with her biology class at Dixie High School. The workshop provided an opportunity to go through the lab in order to be familiar …
unit
unit
Maintaining our yield: assessing biotic and abiotic factors
How do biotic and abiotic factors affect populations? Create experiments to test how abiotic factors impact soybean germination, go into the field and laboratory to determine the impact of aphid populations on soybeans, and experiment with aphid …
unit
unit
Meet the bean: soybeans are everywhere!
What is a soybean? Why are soybeans such a valuable crop? Here are some activities that are perfect for agriculture days, county fairs, after-school programming or summer camps! Recipes for soy plastic and soy lip balm …
unit
unit
Photoperiod: the floral initiator
What drives plants to flower and reproduce? In this lesson students will plant and care for soybeans under one of three different photoperiod regimes: First month: 16 hours; Second month: 14 hours; third month: 12 hours (control) 16 hours for …
Career pathway
Career pathway
Plant systems and plant science
They help farmers and field specialists improve their crop yield and productivity. While it is difficult to say exactly how much demand will increase for plant systems specialists, job outlook for workers in this field is expected to grow faster …
e-learning
e-learning
Soybeans 101
What do you know about soybeans? This course provides an overview of soybeans. Students learn about the parts of the soybean plant and the many uses of soybeans. Information is also provided about the process of growing and exporting soybeans.
student research project
student research project
The effect of soil on plant growth
Have you ever been curious if the type of soil used affects how plants grow? Five soybean seeds were planted 2.5 cm deep, in separate pots of each type of soil. After seeds were planted, all 10 plants were placed by a long window so that each …
External link
External link
Vegetative and reproductive plant growth
There are certain nutrients which promote mainly vegetative growth and others that promote reproductive growth. A basic understanding of these nutrient relationships can help homeowners, gardeners, and farmers maximize their harvest.
External link
External link
What is soil health?
Soil Health is a term that everyone seems to be confused about or have their own opinion. Soil health is about three things: soil organic matter (SOM), soil microbes and organisms, and plants. Good soil and soil health are dependent upon the …
article
article
What keeps a plant from growing?
Some plants grow, and others don’t. A variety of biochemical signals can disrupt normal function or inhibit the synthesis of essential molecules needed for plant growth. Karen Dillon at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Livonia, Michigan used the …
article
article
Who’s your daddy? DNA investigations with gel electrophoresis
Samantha Williams of Bethel Tate High School came up with an attention-grabbing strategy for the use of gel electrophoresis in her science classroom. Students used dyes to solve the problem of whether any of these samples could be the father in a …
article
article
Whole body learning for DNA lesson
Want to move beyond the sedentary science lesson? Melissa Abrams at Hillsdale High School did just that with her grade 9/10 Biology classes. Using an activity from the Ag Biotech workshop, she got her students out of their seats and into a human DNA …