Participants are given several options, resources, and tutorials needed for the completion of their final project. They are encouraged to continue to explore the resources available to them to create a project which incorporates problem based learning, imagery, and agriculture.
Suggested National Standards:
ISTE National Educational Technology Standards
Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology. Teachers: identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability. Plan for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.
Teachers implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning. Teachers use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students.
NSES National Science Education Teaching Standards
Students (professional educators) in the course are in project development. All of these standards need to be considered in working with the professional educators enrolled in the farm class.
TEACHING STANDARD A: Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students. Teachers: Select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development of student understanding.
TEACHING STANDARD B: Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning. Teachers: 1) Focus and support inquiries while interacting with students, 2) Orchestrate discourse among students about scientific ideas, and 3) Encourage and model the skills of scientific inquiry, as well as the curiosity, openness to new ideas and data, and skepticism that characterize science.
TEACHING STANDARD C: Teachers of science engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching and of student learning. Teachers: 1) Use multiple methods and systematically gather data about student understanding and ability, 2) Analyze assessment data to guide teaching, 3) Use student data, observations of teaching, and interactions with colleagues to reflect on and improve teaching practice.
TEACHING STANDARD D: Teachers of science design and manage learning environments that provide students with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science. Teachers: 1) Structure the time available so that students are able to engage in extended investigations, 2) Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry, 3) Ensure a safe working environment, 4) Make the available science tools, materials, media, and technological resources accessible to students, and 5) Identify and use resources outside the school.
TEACHING STANDARD E: Teachers of science develop communities of science learners that reflect the intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and social values conducive to science learning. Teachers: 1) Nurture collaboration among students, 2) Structure and facilitate ongoing formal and informal discussion based on a shared understanding of rules of scientific discourse, and 3) Model and emphasize the skills, attitudes, and values of scientific inquiry.
ITEA Standards for Technical Literacy
Standard 1: Students will develop an understanding of the characteristics and scope of technology.
Standard 3: Students will develop an understanding of the relationships among technologies and the connections between technology and other fields of study.
Standard 8: Students will develop an understanding of the attributes of design.
Standard 11: Students will develop abilities to apply the design process.
Standard 15: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select and use agricultural and related biotechnologies.
Standard 17: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select and use information and communication technologies.
National Science Education Standards: Science Content Standards: 5-8
Students (professional educators) in the course are in project development. All of these standards need to be considered in developing their project for their classroom. Their final project can be utilized to address any/all of the content standards.
CONTENT STANDARD A: (Science as Inquiry) As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop: 1) Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry and 2) Understandings about scientific inquiry.
CONTENT STANDARD B: (Physical Science) As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of: 1) Transfer of energy: Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction), absorption, or scattering (including reflection). To see an object, light from that object--emitted by or scattered from it--must enter the eye.
CONTENT STANDARD C: (Life Science) As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of: 1) Structure and function in living systems, 2) Reproduction and heredity, 3) Regulation and behavior, 4) Populations and ecosystems, and 5) Diversity and adaptations of organisms.
CONTENT STANDARD D: (Earth and Space Science) As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of: 1) Structure of the earth system.
CONTENT STANDARD E: (Science and Technology) As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop: 1) Understandings about science and technology.
CONTENT STANDARD F: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives) As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of: 1) Populations, resources, and environments, 2) Natural hazards, and 3) Risks and benefits, and 4) Science and technology in society.
CONTENT STANDARD G: (History and Nature of Science) As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of:1) Science as a human endeavor, 2) Nature of science, and 3) History of science.