1. Animal, Plant & Soil Science
Lesson A1-1
Research Methods in Agriculture

2. Interest Approach
Write “Is history important?” on the board. Discuss with students why history is
studied in school. Lead the discussion to the history of agriculture and the role
research has played in the development of agriculture.

3. Objectives
Explain how the science of agriculture helped develop civilization.
Identify and define the various areas of science and agriscience.

4. Objectives Discuss advancements made through agriscience.
Identify leading research organizations and laboratories in the United States.

5. Terms agriscience agronomy animal science applied research aquaculture
arithmetic
basic research
biomass fuels
biotechnology
botany
chemistry
earth science
entomology
environmental
science

6. Terms forestry genetic engineering geology geometry horticulture
life science
mathematics
mathematics
matter
mechanical technology
meteorology
olericulture
ornamental horticulture

7. Terms physical science physics pomology poultry science
precision farming
remote sensing
science
social science
zoology

8. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
The science of agriculture is the basis on which all of civilization is built.
Before humans began to devise ways to produce their own food, most of their lives were devoted to finding enough to eat.
The only available food was the plants and animals that grew wild in the area.
Hunting and gathering food was a time-consuming process.

9. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
It also prevented early humans from settling in one place.
If a group stayed in one area too long, most of the wild game and wild plants that provided food would be exhausted.
Because gathering food took so much time, early humans had little time for such endeavors as building homes and cities and developing inventions that might make their lives better.

10. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
A. The very first science was agriculture.
Science is knowledge obtained through a systematic study of naturally occurring phenomena.
1. The first systematic study by humans was probably devising ways to obtain food, clothing, and shelter.
Most anthropologists agree that agriculture began about 10,000 years ago in what is now the Middle East.

11. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
2. When humans began to grow their own food, they no longer needed to wander about in search of edible plants and animals.
This allowed them to settle down in one place and to develop villages where they could live together as one society.

12. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
B. Humans began to search for better ways to produce food.
These ways were discovered through trial and error and were passed down from parents to children.
1. All modern agricultural crops and livestock were developed from the plants and animals humans tamed and cultured.

13. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
2. As more efficient ways of growing food developed, less time was needed to produce food.
3. As soon as people had enough food to feed themselves and their families, the surplus food was traded to other people.
Because food could be obtained through trading, time was spent developing skills in building, engineering, literature, and art that led to the great civilizations.

14. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
C. As people began to raise their own food, the necessity arose to invent implements to till the soil.
1. The first tools were very crude and made of wood or stone.
These tools later evolved into metal implements.
2. As tools made growing crops and animals more efficient, people had more time to work on inventing and making increasingly better tools.

15. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
D. Some scientists also believe that counting and writing developed from agriculture.
1. As people began to harvest crops and had surplus left over, bins and storage areas had to be built.
2. To indicate ownership, contents, and the amount in the containers, a system of markings had to be developed.

16. How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
3. As more and more containers had to be marked, a system of written language developed.
This allowed for the expansion of trade and barter so that the excess food could be traded to other people.

17. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
Today, scientific research is classified into two broad areas: basic research and applied research.
Basic research investigates why or how processes occur in plants and animals.
Applied research uses the discoveries made in basic research to help in practical ways.
Both types of research take place in all aspects of science.
Agriscience is the use of science in producing food, fiber, and shelter.

18. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
The four major areas of science are mathematics, physical science, life science, and social science.
Each area has many divisions.
Differences between them are not always clearly defined.
Most areas of science overlap.
1. Mathematics is the science of numbers.
It is important because it involves making and using observations.
Mathematics deals with how numbers can be measured and changed.

19. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
Two branches of mathematics used often in agriscience are arithmetic and geometry.
a. Arithmetic is the study of numbers and methods of calculating.
b. Geometry is a practical area of mathematics.
It involves showing mathematical relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids.
c. Mathematics has several other branches, including logic, algebra, calculus, probability, and statistics.

20. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
2. Physical science is the study of nonliving matter.
Physical science has three important areas for agriscience: earth science, geology, and meteorology.
a. Earth science is the study of the environment in which plants and animals grow.
This includes soil, water, and the atmosphere.
Earth science also has several major sections.

21. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
b. Geology is the study of the earth’s composition, structure, and history.
Study of the soil is a part of geology that is important in agriscience.
c. Meteorology is the study of the earth’s atmosphere.
It includes studying the weather and making predictions.
d. Other important areas of physical science are hydrology, oceanography, and astronomy.

22. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
e. Chemistry is the study of the makeup of materials or matter.
Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass.
f. Physics is the study of the physical nature of objects.
Areas of physics include the study of heat, light, electricity, and mechanics.

23. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
3. Life science is the study of living things.
It is sometimes called biological science, or simply biology. Major areas of life science are botany and zoology.
a. Botany is the study of plants.
b. Zoology is the study of animals.

24. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
4. Social science deals with human society.
It is sometimes known as behavioral science.
Anthropology, psychology, sociology, and education are areas of social science.

25. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
B. Agriscience is made up of several areas of applied science.
These relate to the organization of the agriculture industry and the crops and livestock that are produced.
Some areas deal with plants; others with animals.
In most cases, plant and animal areas overlap.
Several important areas of agriscience include:
1. Agronomy deals with the study of plants and how they relate to the soil.
Its purpose is to improve crop production and conserve natural resources.

26. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
2. Horticulture is the science of growing plants for food, comfort, and beauty.
The divisions of horticulture are ornamental horticulture, olericulture, and pomology.
a. Ornamental horticulture is growing and using plants for their beauty.
b. Olericulture deals with growing vegetables.
c. Pomology includes fruit and nut production, harvesting, and marketing.

27. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
3. Forestry is the science of growing and using forests.
4. Entomology is a branch of zoology dealing with insects and related small animals.
5. Animal science deals with the production of animals for food.
6. Poultry science is concerned with raising chickens and related fowl.

28. What are the various areas of science and agriscience?
7. Aquaculture is the science of water farming.
8. Environmental science involves ways of wisely using and protecting the things around us.
9. Mechanical technology is the use of machines and equipment to do work.

29. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
Research in agriscience is providing exciting results for both consumers and producers.
It is allowing producers to raise more plants and animals with fewer inputs.
For consumers, this research helps to ensure that their needs for food, clothing, and shelter will be met.
Through research, many important discoveries have been made.

30. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
A. Biotechnology involves using biology to develop new products or processes.
Examples include new vaccines for the protection of animals and the development of “waste-eating” bacteria that protect the environment.

31. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
B. Genetic engineering is an advanced form of biotechnology.
It involves changing the nature of living organisms.
1. Canola, corn, soybeans, flax, and sugar beets are crops that have been genetically engineered to resist the effects of herbicides.
The result is fields can now be sprayed with herbicides without damaging the crops.

32. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
2. Corn, cotton, and potatoes have been modified to produce Bt toxins.
Caterpillars that feed on these modified crops ingest the toxin and die.
3. Squash have been engineered to resist yellow mosaics viruses, thus increasing yields.

33. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
C. Biomass fuels are fuels derived from plant and animal matter.
They are growing in importance.
1. Ethanol is an alcohol fuel produced from the fermentation and distillation of starch crops, such as corn, barley, trees, and grasses.
2. Methanol is an alcohol fuel made from wood.

34. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
3. Methane is an odorless natural gas that can be produced from animal waste and sewage treatment.
4. Biodiesel is a fuel that can be manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fat, and restaurant greases.

35. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
D. Fire-ant control
1. Fire ants infest 230 million acres in the southern areas of the United States.
Their presence in the warmer climates of the world is a constant threat to the health of humans and livestock.
2. A new synthetic control for fire ants increases the ratio of nonproductive drone ants to worker ants.
This ratio change gradually weakens the colony and causes it to die.

36. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
E. Precision farming is using cropping practices that improve yields based on the needs of the land.
It allows crop inputs to be more closely controlled.
F. Remote sensing allows data to be gathered and recorded from great distances.
This technology enables better detection of crop diseases and improved weather forecasting.

37. What advancements have been made through agriscience?
G. New areas of agriscience have raised issues that previously did not have to be debated.
Some of these issues include:
1. Food safety
2. Pollution
3. Human rights
4. Conservation of resources

38. What are the leading research organizations and laboratories in the United States?
Research is conducted throughout the United States by private corporations, universities, and the federal government.
A. Corporations such as John Deere, Monsanto, and Abbott Labs constantly look to develop new products for the consumer.
These and many other companies fund research and maintain labs to accomplish their objectives.

39. What are the leading research organizations and laboratories in the United States?
B. Universities conduct research.
Some of the greatest scientific minds are employed by universities to conduct research and to teach.
1. Usually, the research done at universities is funded by grants.
2. Most university research in agriculture takes place at the land-grant universities.

40. What are the leading research organizations and laboratories in the United States?
C. The federal government funds agricultural research.
A top research agency in the USDA is the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
1. ARS research is organized into 22 national programs that bring coordination, communication, and empowerment to more than 1,200 research projects.
2. Four main areas of research are nutrition, food safety, and quality; animal production and protection; natural resources and sustainable agricultural systems; and plant sciences.

41. Review How did the science of agriculture help develop civilization?
What are the various areas of science and agriscience?

42. Review What advancements have been made through agriscience?
What are the leading research organizations and laboratories in the United States?