New York Agriculture in the Classroom

Science of Life Explorations through Agriculture

About SOLE

SOLE stands for Science of Life Explorations through Agriculture. It is a set of lesson plans, grouped into themed units, developed by NYAITC in conjunction with Cornell's Integrated Pest Management program. Each lesson ties key concepts of agriculture and natural resources into the classroom curriculum for grades four and five, and is aligned with New York State Learning Standards across subject areas.

Lessons feature:

• Fun, hands-on activities
• Ideas for school gardens
• Worksheets and quizzes
• Ties to good nutrition
• Helpful background information for teachers unfamiliar with agriculture and agricultural literacy
• Links to web sites and books for further research.

SOLE has been thoroughly reviewed and tested by educators at all levels, and new units will be added in the near future.

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Units

All units are in Adobe PDF format.

• Composting for Better Soil
• Corn You Believe It?
• Dairy Farms
• Earthworms on the Job
• Experimenting With Seeds
• Grow an Indoor Salad Garden
• Harvesting the Garden
• Insect Anatomy
• Learning about IPM
• Let's Explore Agriculture
• Many Types of Farms
• Metamorphosis
• Miss Moo and You
• Seed of Knowledge
• Simplified Floating Hydroponics
• Sugar Maple Days
• The Right Plants
• Vermiposting
• What's Living in my Soil?

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Feedback and Questions

We'd love to hear how you use SOLE in your classroom, and how it works for you and your students. Send your questions and feedback to Agricultural Literacy Specialist Vince Lalli at val2@cornell.edu or (607)255-9253.

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On this page:

• About SOLE
• Units
• Feedback and Questions