The First Farmers

Students interpret NASS data to determine loss or gain of farm land and compare land in production and crop production over a 50 year period.

Read to learn! Middle Schoolers read a short passage on Mesopotamia then answer seven comprehension questions. This would be ideal as homework or for early finishers.

Sixth graders discover the problems that early Mesototamian farmers faced while developing agriculture in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They design a working model that solves those unique challenges.

Students show how constant irrigation, with repeated evaporation of water that left salts in the soil, eventually ruined much farming land in southern Mesopotamia. They discuss the idea that with the development of irrigation people...

Ever wondered how an aquifer works? Introduce your class to the amazing way many people get water by exploring how underground aquifers work. Two fun hands-on activities are used to help kids understand what an aquifer is, how it works,...

Students write a letter.  In this irrigation lesson plan, students review how humans and the environment can interact with each other, learn new vocabulary words having to do with Mesopotamia, learn about irrigation and view maps of...

Using Google Earth, a vocabulary assignment, and map handout, your class members will outline the Fertile Crescent in Mesopotamia and identify the source of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They will then complete graphic organizers...

Students use historical aerial photographs and current aerial photographs to compare the change over time to the land. In this land changing lesson plan, students analyze, compare, contrast, and list the land change in their own community.

Second in a series of five lessons, this lesson encourages preteens to consider cities as urban ecosystems. First, they keep a food diary for a few days. They visit the Natrional Agricultural Statistics Service website for current data...

Sixth graders research how farmers irrigate, harvest, and keep high standards of rice. In this farming lesson, 6th graders discover how rice, wheat and soy beans are farmed. Students make a chart showing the similiarities and differences.