A curriculum for 5th and 6th grade students
By Katherine Daniels, retired Farm/Forest Lands Specialist at the Department of Land Conservation and Development
Katherine Daniels with map of the Portland Metro Area
Oregon's Outdoor School Program has for years provided 5th and 6th grade students an outdoor educational experience over several days at participating sites across the State. There, students have enjoyed hands-on learning about soil, water, plants and animals. In 2017, the Oregon Legislature added agriculture, forestry and other natural resources to the topics to be studied by students at the Outdoor School. This provided an opportunity for the development of new curricula, which Oregon's Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation enthusiastically pursued.
The result is a curriculum that challenges students to plan for future growth and development while still protecting agricultural land and other important resource values they have learned about. Students work in teams using large raised relief maps representing different parts of the State (the greater Portland, Medford or Pendleton areas) and small colored blocks to choose locations that best protect important resource lands.The two-part lesson allows students to brainstorm creative solutions using critical thinking, math, teamwork and problem solving skills. Importantly, there are no single "correct" solutions to the lesson and all perspectives are valuable.
Students thinking through planning options
One of the benefits of the curriculum is to familiarize students with Oregon's land use planning program and its natural resource protections. Students have the opportunity to play the "planner" and experience how land use decisions are made, the trade-offs that are often involved, and how citizens can participate.
To date, the activity has been presented at three conferences (two in Oregon and the National Agriculture in the Classroom conference) and 125 educators have been trained in the use of this resource. The materials have been used by more than 40 Oregon teachers, reaching an estimated 4,250 students. “It’s truly a great exercise for students and adults!” says Jessica Jansen of Oregon’s Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation, “In fact, the Stafford Hamlet community group borrowed it for a meeting to help them wrestle with land use designations in their community.”
Students brainstorming creative solutions as a team
If you know of any 5th or 6th grade teachers (or higher grade levels) potentially interested in using this curriculum, it is available free of charge through Oregon Ag in the Classroom, using one of the links below. The curriculum may be used in conjunction with the Outdoor School or not. For any questions about the curriculum, contact Jessica Jansen at 541-737-1318 or Jessica.Jansen@oregonstate.edu.
https://oregonaitc.org/resource/where-should-development-go-medford/
https://oregonaitc.org/resource/where-should-development-go-pendleton/
https://oregonaitc.org/resource/where-should-development-go-portland-metro-area/