Protect Our Farms & Food

What is the future for farms and the food grown on them? Construct a display that shows how a rural landscape can change and suggest solutions.

• 1.

  All around the globe, farmland is rapidly being converted to build houses, roads, and other uses. Find out how this loss of land will affect water supplies, the world’s food supply, and other issues. Interview leaders to find out what is happening to agricultural land in your area. Then show what you are learning in a graphic format such as this triarama.

• 2.

  <STRONG>Cut a "today" triarama</STRONG>. To make a display like the one in the picture, cut a recycled file folder into a large square with Crayola® Scissors. Fold the square in half, point to point, both ways. Cut along one of these new folds to the center of the square. Slide one of the sides along the cut under the other piece to stand up your triarama.

• 3.

  <STRONG>Depict a farm.</STRONG> Unfold the triarama. Draw a farm scene with Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils. You might show a bank barn, cozy farmhouse, grazing cows, fruit-laden orchard, or waving fields of grain. Color the scene with Crayola Oil Pastels.

• 4.

  With Crayola Model Magic, create farm animals or other 3-D features. Glue the pieces of the triarama together with Crayola School Glue. Air-dry the glue.

• 5.

  <STRONG>Make a "future" flap!</STRONG> Turn the triarama face down on an open file folder. Trace around the triangle with Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils. Cut out the triangle. On this triangle, draw your vision of what this farmland might look like afte

• 6.

  <STRONG>Speak up!</STRONG> Display your "today" and "future" scene. Speak or write to decision makers in your community about what you have learned. Suggest ways to solve the problem.

Benefits

• Students address important issues concerning land conservancy and farmland preservation and development through research and first-person observations.
• Students express their understanding of the issues with an illustration of land used for farming and land developed for other uses.
• Students share their concerns and solutions with decision makers in their communities.

Adaptations

• One half of what people in the U.S. eat is grown on 4% of farms in the country. One third of the food comes from a few enormous farms, many owned by multinational corporations. Delve deeper into this subject. Find out what is happening in other countries.
• Try this activity to get a real sense of how much food-producing land is on the planet. Cut an apple into quarters. Put aside three of these pieces to represent the Earth’s oceans. Cut the remaining quarter in half. Put one piece aside to represent the pa
• Invite someone who has lived in your area for at least 50 years into your classroom. Ask questions to find out the ways that your area has changed in their lifetime.
• Go to your local library or historical society to review past newspapers. Look for clues about to role that farmland played in your community 10, 20, and 50 years ago through photos, advertisements, notices, and real estate sales.
• Assessment: Students present their triaramas to leaders and accurately explain what they have learned about agricultural land conservation and preservation.