Unit Overview
This section of the course explores four themes: the origin and diffusion of agriculture; the characteristics and
processes of the world’s agricultural production systems and land use; the impact of agricultural change on quality of
life and the environment; and issues in contemporary agriculture. Students examine centers where domestication
originated and study the processes by which domesticated crops and animals spread. This diffusion process makes clear
why distinct regional patterns emerge in terms of diet, energy use, and the adaptation of biotechnology. The course also
covers the major agricultural production regions of the world, extensive activity (fishing, forestry, nomadic herding,
ranching, shifting cultivation) and intensive activity (plantation agriculture, mixed crop/livestock systems, market
gardening, horticulture, large-scale commercial agriculture) are examined, as are settlement patterns and landscapes
typical of each major agriculture type. Students learn about land survey systems, environmental conditions,
sustainability, global food supply problems, and the cultural values that shape agricultural patterns. In addition
this section presents the roles of women in agricultural production, particularly in subsistence farming and market
economies in the developing world. Explanations for patterns of rural land use and associated settlements (e.g., von
Thünen’s land use model) are major concerns. Also important are the impacts of large-scale agribusiness on food
production and consumption. The effects of economic and cultural globalization on agriculture and the need to increase
food supplies and production capacity conclude this section.
Key Concepts/Standards
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Development and diffusion of agriculture
o Agricultural Revolutions
Major agricultural production regions
Von Thunen’s Agricultural Model
Rural land use and settlement patterns
Organic farming
Global food distribution
Essential Questions
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What is agriculture and where did it begin?
What does the von Thunen Model show us? Is it applicable to modern-day agriculture
How did agriculture change with industrialization?
What are the current trends in dairy farming?
What impact does agriculture have on the cultural landscape?
What are the current trends in organic farming?
What does the global pattern of agriculture look like?
Formative Assessments
1) von Thunen Land Use Model development and application
2) Daily review of terms
Summative Assessments
1) Unit 5 Vocabulary Quiz
2) Unit 5 Test
3) von Thunen Land Use Model FRQ
4) AG/Grocery Store Field Study
Unit 5 Vocabulary
Agrarian
Agribusiness
Agricultural industrialization
Agricultural landscape
Agriculture
Animal domestication
Aquaculture
Biorevolution
Biotechnology
Collective farm
Commercial Agriculture/farming
Core/Periphery
Creative destruction
Crop rotation
Cultivation regions
Dairy farming
Desertification
Double cropping
Economic activity (primary, secondary, tertiary,
quaternary, quinary)
Environmental modification
Extensive subsistence agriculture
Farm crisis
Farming
Feedlot
Feedlots
First Agricultural Revolution
First agricultural revolution
Fishing
Food chain
Forestry
Forestry
Genetic engineering
Grain combines
Grain farming
Green Revolution
Intensive subsistence agriculture
Intertillage
Johann Heinrich von Thunen
Livestock farming
Livestock ranching
Long lot survey pattern
Market gardening activities
Mechanization
Mediterranean agriculture
Metes and bounds survey pattern
Mining
Mixed livestock with crop production
Pastoral nomadism
Planned economy
Plant domestication
Plantation agriculture
Renewable/nonrenewable
Rice sawahs
Rural settlement
Second Agricultural Revolution
Seed agriculture
Shifting cultivation
Slash-and-burn agriculture
Specialized fruit production
Staple grains
Subsistence farmers
Suitcase farms
Sustainable yield
Third Agricultural Revolution
Township and range survey pattern
“Tragedy of the Commons”
Transhumance
Truck farms
Vegetative planting
Weekly Agenda
Monday, November 2
Tuesday, November 3
Wednesday, November 4
Thursday, November 5
Activities:
1) Unit 5 Plan
2) PPT: Introduction to AG
3) Introduction to AG/Grocery
Store Field Study Project
4) Video: Grocery Store Wars
Activities:
1) Discuss The Green Revo
and the Worst Mistake in
History
2) von Thunen Model
Discussion
3) STATE Fate Round 6
4) Research AG products
Activities:
1) von Thunen Model
Application/Collaborative
Assignment (FRQ)
2) Truck Farming Connection to von
Thunen
*You must be in attendance for FRQ
Activities:
1) von Thunen Model
Application/Collaborative
Assignment (FRQ)
2) Truck Farming Connection to
von Thunen
*You must be in attendance for FRQ
Activities:
1) Video: Food Inc.
2) Video Analysis
Homework:
1) Article Critique: The Worst
Mistake in the History of the
Human Race-BLOG
2) Article Review: The Green
Revolution
3) Unit 5 Vocabulary
4) AG/Grocery Store Field Study
Homework:
1) Unit 5 Vocabulary
2) AG/Grocery Store Field
Study
Homework:
1) Work on Truck Farming
2) Grocery Store/AG Field Study
3) Article Review: Modern Day
Dairy Farming
4) PPT Outline: How did AG Change
with Industrialization
Homework:
1) Finish Truck Farming
2) Grocery Store/AG Field Study
3) Article Review: Modern Day
Dairy Farming
4) PPT Outline: How did AG Change
with Industrialization
Homework:
1) Article Review: The Future of
Fish Farming
2) Grocery Store/AG Field Study
3) BLOG Assignment: From Mocha
to Java
Assessment:
Formative article review
Assessment:
Assessment:
Summative Assessment-Group FRQ
Assessment:
Summative Assessment-Group
FRQ
Friday, November 6
Assessment:
Formative Review
Monday, November 9
Tuesday, November
10
Wednesday, November 11
Thursday, November 12
Friday, November 13
Activities:
1) PPT: How did AG change
with Industrialization
2) Video: Dairy Cow Midwife
3) Trends in Dairy Farming
Activities:
1) Unit 5 Vocabulary Quiz
2) Trends in Organic
Farming and Sustainable
AG
3) Organic Food: Facts and
Figures
4) Why Organic? Is it really
better?
5) Video: The Meatrix
Activities:
1) PPT: Global Pattern of
Agriculture
2) Agricultural Products from
Around the World
Activities:
1) Turn in AG/Grocery Store Field
Study
2) GMO Discussion
3) Food-Extra Credit Day
Activities:
1) Unit 5 Test-MCQs ONLY
Homework:
1) Article: Sustainable
Agriculture-BLOG
2) Organic Industry StatisticsBLOG
3) Organic Farms in GeorgiaBLOG assignment
4) AG/Grocery Store Field Study
Homework:
1) Healthiest Restaurants in
America-BLOG
2) Article: The Rise in
Urban Farming-BLOG
3) AG/Grocery Store Field
Study
Homework:
1) GMO Analysis-BLOG
2) Article Review: The Future of Fish
Farming-BLOG
3) AG/Grocery Store Field Study
Homework:
1) Unit 5 Test Preparation
Homework:
ENJOY YOUR SPRING BREAK!
Assessment:
Formative review
Assessment:
Summative-Vocabulary
Quiz
Assessment:
Formative review
Assessment:
Summative-AG/Grocery Store
Field Study
Assessment:
Summative-Unit 5 Test