1. INTEGRATION OF PRECISION AG INTO THE HIGH SCHOOL AGED CLASSROOM Shane CurryDavidson, OK

2. WARNING! Most of the information within this presentation is simply my personal opinions and beliefs

3. Why Do We Need Precision Ag in the High School Classroom? We have to solve the world’s hunger problems We need to create interest in agriculture to ensure its future We can reach a larger audience Create career opportunities Increase the knowledge of precision ag at a younger age It follows the core concepts model for successful teaching

4. Where Can It be Integrated? Ag 1 Ag 2 Plant Science Soil Science Horticulture Animal Science VIRTUALLY EVERWHERE!

5. Things to Consider When Designing Curriculum Students may be as young as 8 th grade An interest must be created to create relevancy Remember that there is diversity among students Not all students have the same knowledge of agriculture

6. Things to Consider When Designing Curriculum RESEARCH I contacted three agricultural education teachers Shawn Jeter- Pine Dale, WY Steve Gurley- Reydon, OK Bill Blankenship- Frederick, OK They asked their 8 th grade class 2 questions Do you come from a farming background? Have you ever heard of precision agriculture?

7. Things to Consider When Designing Curriculum

9. What Do We Teach? Start with the basics Begin with a unit covering conventional farming, ex. Use of tractors, implements, fertilizer, and different crops. Move on to more complex situations such as no-till and minimal till operations Once this basic understanding of farming has been accomplished, precision agriculture concepts and practices can be introduced

10. What Do We Teach? Start by creating interest 1.Population is growing, farmland is shrinking 2.Use the use the shocking facts 3.Wasted money and other problems with over- excessive N fertilizer usage

11. What Do We Teach? These kids are young, stick to the basics! 1.The N-Rich Strip 2.The Green seeker 3.The ramper 4.OSU variable rate applicators 5.GPS and GIS 6.Satellite imagery

12. Successful Teaching Ideas Make use of computer labs! 1.There are many good links to explore off of the http://nue.okstate.edu/ website 2.Let students work out scenarios with sensor based nitrogen rate calculator 3.Integrate some excel spreadsheets into coursework to prepare them for college

13. Successful Teaching Ideas Have extension agents as guest speakers Ask them to bring their greenseeker sensors for demonstrations

14. Successful Teaching Ideas Take field trips to OSU test sites across the state

15. Successful Teaching Ideas Arrange for students who are interested to visit the OSU soil science lab and bioengineering department

16. Conclusions K.I.S.S. Hands-on activities usually work better Practice lifelong learning, students aren't the only ones learning!

17. QUESTIONS?

18. References http://nue.okstate.edu http://www.thehungersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites http://aged.okstate.edu/