one has a layer of straw mulch; one has a living “cover crop” of peas, buckwheat, oats, and radish; and one is left bare. To perform the demonstration, students pour a significant amount of water into the uphill end of each of the three com- partments, simulating an erosion event such as a heavy storm. Students then compare what happens as the water makes its way through (or over) the soil and ultimately drains into white buckets placed under the three sets of drainage holes. The bare soil will erode significantly, the soil with live plants will largely be held in place by the plants’ roots, and the soil under mulch will not noticeably erode. In the context of the class, the erosion table activity


demonstrates the importance of having a soil cover, whether living or dead, over agricultural land, and serves as a starting point for a theme revisited throughout the students’ time on the farm: that sustainable practices of human design mimic natural systems. Students see the management practices — cover crop and sheet mulch — in practice in the farm’s production field and teaching garden, and they compare the managed soil in the garden with that in the adjacent forest, illustrating the soil-building benefit of using these techniques. Students also explore how these practices fit into biodiverse food webs on the farm by identifying cover crop as potential forage food for livestock whose manure in turn increases soil fertility and by identifying mulch as a valuable habitat and food source for soil-dwelling decomposers such as earth- worms, fungi, and beneficial bacteria. The Erosion Table activity can be adapted in many


ways. It can be offered as a stand-alone demonstration that is already constructed and with which students interact once, as described — a good fit for a program where students are only on-site for a limited time. Alternately, it could be expanded into a year-long inquiry-based project. This cross-disci- plinary undertaking could incorporate research about agricul- tural land management practices; comparisons of land man- agement practices in different regions, eras, or cultures; and the history of human land use. This research could in turn inform students’ development of the demonstration, namely in engineering of the box, selecting and installing the soil and covers, and managing the cover crop. The project could involve creation of written instructions about how the demon- stration works, it could incorporate collection and analysis of quantitative data about how much water soil can hold when managed in different ways, or it could serve as a foundation for student advocacy work around sustainable management of agricultural land. Built on an initial connection to food pro- duction, this activity has enormous — and highly flexible — potential for connecting concepts and practices of science and engineering to students’ lives. Though the initial activity was designed for a fourth- and fifth-grade class, it could be easily adapted to meet the needs of students through the middle and high school years.


High school programming For two years the farm served as a focal point for 40-hour courses in biology, environmental science, geology, and agricultural science, offered in partnership with the local public high school collaborative for students with severe social, emotional, and/or behavioral disorders. These students


Next Generation Science Standards


The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) comprise a set of education frameworks for students ages 5–18 that were developed by a team of educators and researchers from all over the United States. They were released in 2013. The standards are meant to guide educators to teach dynamic and applicable science. NGSS’s three dimensions are as follows:


Disciplinary Core Ideas: These key ideas in science build on each other from one year to the next, and are grouped into four domains: physical science, life science, earth and space science, and engineering.


Crosscutting Concepts: These big ideas, such as “patterns,” “cause and effect,” and “structure and function,” help stu- dents draw connections between scientific domains and across years of education.


Science and Engineering Practices: These practices, such as “asking questions and defining problems,” “analyzing and interpreting data,” and “engaging in argument from evidence,” include a range of cognitive, social, and physi- cal practices that scientists and engineers do — and that students use as they establish and apply their scientific content knowledge.


Today, 19 of 50 U.S. states have adopted NGSS and 18


have adapted NGSS. Another six states are in the process of creating new multidimensional science standards. For more information about NGSS, visit www.nextgenscience.org.


spent a full week out of each academic quarter on-site at the outdoor education facility, guided by a team of formal and informal educators, working both indoors and out, using a curriculum written to take advantage of the facility’s natural resources, while addressing NGSS standards and, in the case of the biology course, preparing students for their state-man- dated standardized biology test. The Agricultural Science class engaged with a year-long


cross-disciplinary project that incorporated plant science with product development, while also addressing education frame- works in science and engineering. Students began their school year preparing outdoor gar-


den beds for the winter by clearing the current season’s crops, spreading compost, and laying mulch. As the weather cooled, students chose an herb or spice-blend to produce and market. They discussed their taste preferences, debated recipes, and browsed seed catalogs. They also brainstormed how to com- plete their project within the nine-month school year, most of which did not overlap with the region’s growing season. The students then started growing seedlings indoors, comparing how the seeds fared under different conditions: sitting on heat mats and under grow lights, or beside a sunny window. Stu- dents transplanted some of the seedlings into a larger indoor grow system in the early spring, and transplanted others into outdoor beds as the season warmed. They compared growth rates in the indoor and outdoor systems, identifying some of the factors that may have contributed to the plants’ dif- ferences. Finally, students harvested and dried their herbs,


Green Teacher 119 Page 17


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