It’s no secret, the beef life cycle is complex. For classroom educators, especially those with little to no agricultural background, breaking down concepts such as cattle production, sustainability and nutrient upcycling can be challenging. Yet, it is crucial for students to understand where their food comes from, how beef is raised and the important role it plays in different ecosystems. With the right resources, teachers can bridge this knowledge gap, making the beef industry accessible and engaging for students of all ages.
Olathe, Kan., middle school science teacher Jessica Sadler has taken a special interest in ensuring her fellow educators are properly equipped to help students explore and comprehend agricultural topics while also meeting the important Next Generation Science Standards used in many states to set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do. Partnering with the Kansas Beef Council, she created a series of “Sizzling Discoveries” readers that provide students an opportunity to uncover the connections between beef production and sustainability in a fun and classroom-friendly format.
“My role as a curriculum developer allows me to combine evidence-based facts about the beef life cycle with science education standards and make these resources accessible and appropriate for students to take on this kind of knowledge,” says Sadler, who has previously worked with both KBC and Kansas Corn on other curriculum projects. “Developing this type of educational content helps nurture critical observation and analytical thinking skills for students while also combating misinformation in the classroom.”
The series, spearheaded by KBC and jointly funded with the Oklahoma and Nebraska Beef Councils, currently includes three readers for grade levels six to eight and nine to 12. Each reader focuses on a scientific topic specific to beef production — sustainability, nutrient upcycling and water and land use — and includes a teacher guide and supplementary teaching resources to enhance the learning experience.
In developing the curriculum, Sadler said she designed the cover of each reader to include a phenomena-based storyline, which uses a real-world circumstance as the starting point for learning and encourages students to explore, investigate and make sense of the world around them through inquiry and problem-solving. For example, the upcycling reader cover draws a similarity between shopping for cool finds at a thrift store and the important role ruminant animals play in the ecosystem.
“That’s a really big thing in science education and specifically within the Next Generation Science Standards,” she says. “It’s all about drawing attention to the way we live our lives and making time to think about how something unfamiliar is actually impacting us.”
What the readers include
Inside the readers, students are introduced to vocabulary words, hands-on experiments and more in-depth information about the specific topic, including external links to resources such as maps, videos and handouts. Professional graphic designer Sue Schulte used vibrant colors and imagery to create a clean and engaging layout design that draws students in and keeps their attention as they work through the different sections.
Abby Heidari, KBC director of nutrition, says while students might be exposed to topics such as beef production and sustainability in agricultural education classes, many schools unfortunately lack these types of programs.
“Realizing not all students have access to ag education courses, this reader series helps to reshape how beef production is taught in middle school and high school STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and FACS (family and consumer sciences) classes,” she says.
Heidari added that one of KBC’s core strategies is to position beef as a go-to source of protein for modern households, and reaching students at the middle school and high school level is imperative to help foster a lifelong understanding of the beef life cycle and beef’s nutritional value.
“They are starting to get mixed information about whether or not beef is something they should or should not include in their diet,” she adds. “We want to ensure they have more context to some of the topics they might be seeing on social media to dispel some of the myths that might be out there.”
Providing beef sustainability information
During a 2022 KBC tour designed specifically for STEM teachers, Heidari and her team learned teachers desired more content specifically about beef sustainability topics to better educate themselves before introducing the concepts in their classrooms.
“If those topics came up, they didn’t feel knowledgeable or comfortable delving in,” she says. “The reader series helps empower educators so they can feel more confident talking about topics like greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient upcycling or ecosystem services within the context of agriculture and exploring these topics that aren’t necessarily typical in biology and natural science classes.”
Where can you find them?
The readers and accompanying resources are available for print or digital use on the KBC website, and other state beef councils across the U.S. have incorporated them into their outreach efforts as well. Recently, 2,300 classroom sets — enough to reach 69,000 students — were printed and distributed to nine different states, and Sadler plans to present sustainability workshops in several of these areas to help teachers incorporate the sustainability materials in their classrooms.
“Because a majority of states have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, the readers are a seamless resource for many educators across the country,” Sadler says. “But even if a state uses other educational markers, the applicable skills found in the readers, like claim evidence and reasoning writings, are commonly taught in most classrooms.”
Sadler adds that in most communities across the country, rural or urban, there is a growing disconnect between consumers and food production. As a curriculum developer, she wants to develop resources that make teachers excited and confident about introducing these types of important topics in their classrooms that help students develop a greater understanding of the world around them.
“In addition to helping students achieve specific education standards, it is equally important to many educators that these young adults are equipped with a broad understanding of how different ecosystems, life cycles and production practices can affect them on a personal level,” she says. “Educational resources like these readers are such a valuable tool in helping students identify facts and have logical conversations with their peers as they grow into responsible citizens.”
Article written by Macey Mueller on behalf of the KBC.
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