Middle School Curriculum
Unit 9: Plant Science
Lesson 10:
New Technologies in Plant Science
Student Objectives
1. Identify five new technologies in plant science.
2. List three effects of plant science research on farmers.
3. List three effects of plant science research on consumers.
Agriculture QCC: ............................................................................................................13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 28
Language Arts QCC:……………………………………………………………………..6-17, 18, 19, 20, 21
7-17, 18, 19
8-17, 18, 19
Science QCC:……………………………………..………………………………………………………..6-1
7-1, 17
8-1, 16
References
Burton, L. DeVere. Agriscience and Technology. Albany: Delmar Publishers, Inc.
Cooper, Elmer. Agriscience: Fundamentals and Applications. Albany: Delmar Publishers, Inc.
Herren, Ray V. Exploring Agriscience. Albany, NY: Delmar Publishers, Inc.
Plant Your Future. (Video). Vocational Education Productions. San Luis Obispo: California
Polytechnic State University.
Reiley, H. Edward & Carroll L. Shry, Jr. Introductory Horticulture. Albany, NY: Delmar Publishers,
Inc.
Equipment, Supplies, Materials
video
filmstrip
magazines
agriscience books
agriscience models or kits
TV/VCR
overhead projector
Transparency 7GA 4.8.1
Teaching Procedure
Introduction and Mental Set
New technologies in plant science are emerging every day. Most of these technologies have to do
with producing plants faster, better, and with fewer chemicals and labor. Agriculturalists must keep
up with the latest developments in order to remain competitive.
Georgia Middle School Agricultural Education Curriculum, Unit 9 Lesson 10
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1. Discuss some new technologies in plant science that have been covered in agriscience class.
2. Show a video on new discoveries in plant science.
3. Explain a successful agriscience project that studied plants.
Assignment
1. Have students read a magazine article about a new development in plant science.
2. Have students research and report on a new technology in plant science.
3. Have students design an agriscience project that studies a new invention in plant science.
4. Have students write a paper about what agriculture might be like in 20 years.
Georgia Middle School Agricultural Education Curriculum, Unit 9 Lesson 10
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Discussion
1. Question: What are some new technologies in plant science?
Answer:
 tissue culturing
 hydroponics
 ice-minus bacteria
 integrated pest management
 tissue analysis
2. Question: What are the effects of these new developments on farmers? Display and Discuss
Transparency 7GA 4.8.1.
Answer:
 Tissue culturing
Farmers can have quick access to superior plants because thousands of new plants
identical to the parent plant can be produced quickly.
 Hydroponics
Hydroponics involves the production of plants without soil. This process allows
farmers to produce crops even when the soil is unsuitable or when there is no soil.
 Ice-minus bacteria
The development of these bacteria allows plants to tolerate temperatures several
degrees below freezing. It reduces the chances of farmers losing their entire crops to
periods of freezing.
 Integrated pest management
This allows farmers to destroy harmful insects while providing some protection of
useful insects. It limits the amount of chemicals used to destroy insects by relying
more on natural insect enemies.
 Tissue analysis
This allows a farmer to determine nutrient problems in plants before they become
stressed and damaged. It helps to prevent reductions in crop yields.
3. Question: What are the effects of these developments on consumers?
Answer:
 reduction in food cost
 continued supply of food
 safer environment
 higher quality product
Other Activities
1. Make a bulletin board that shows new technologies in plant science.
2. Set up a small hydroponics system for display at a local library or school board office.
3. Set up a field trip to a research station, local farm or Agribusiness that is implementing new
forms of agriculture.
Georgia Middle School Agricultural Education Curriculum, Unit 9 Lesson 10
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ACADEMIC CONNECTIONS
Language Arts
Middle School Connections in Agriculture Education
Language Arts QCC: Grade 6-17, 18, 19, 20, 21
7-17, 18, 19
8-17, 18, 19
Name____________________________________ Period____ Date______________
Teacher’s Note: Bring in a current article related to new technologies in plant science and read it out loud to
your class. Encourage the students to listen carefully and take notes while you are reading. After reading the
article, pass out the exercise.
Your Agriculture Education teacher has just read an article about new technologies in plant science. Please
complete the questions below.
1. What was the title of the article?
________________________________________________
2. In what magazine or newspaper was the article published?
________________________________________________
3. What new technologies in plant science were discussed in the article?
________________________________________________
4. Provide a short summary of the article.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
5. What do you think were the main points of the article?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Georgia Middle School Agricultural Education Curriculum, Unit 9 Lesson 10
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ACADEMIC CONNECTIONS
Science
Middle School Connections in Agriculture Education
Science QCC: Grade 6-1
7-1, 17
8-1, 16
Name____________________________________ Period____ Date______________
Hydroponics is the growing of plants in water instead of soil. To do this successfully, the water must
be enriched with nutrients and sometimes oxygenated. Also, the plants must be placed in some type
of inert medium like sand or Perlite to anchor the roots.
Hydroponics has been around for over 70 years. One of the first scientists to experiment with
hydroponic culture was Jean Boussingault, who grew plants in containers with sand and coal, feeding
them with chemical solutions of known makeup. Around the beginning of the 1930's, Professor W. F.
Gericke saw commercial potential in Boussingault's techniques and began to use them to grow
vegetables, flowers, and other types of plants. Since then, hydroponically grown vegetables have
been very important in America's history. For example, in 1939 the American army and British Air
Force installed hydroponic units in their military bases, and Allied troops ate hydroponically grown
vegetables during World War II.
Scientists can use hydroponics to test how different nutrients affect a plant. With hydroponics, a
scientist can measure exactly how much nutrient the plant is getting and can give the plant a
deficiency or overabundance of a certain macro or micronutrient and determine precisely how it
affects the plant's growth.
Hydroponics can be very important to farmers and gardeners who want complete control over their
plants. Many factors can affect plants that are grown in soil out in the fields. For a plant to receive a
well balanced diet, everything in the soil must be in perfect balance. Rarely, if ever, can you find such
ideal conditions in soil due to contamination and biological imbalances. But with hydroponics, water is
enriched with these very same nutrient salts, creating a hydroponic nutrient solution that is perfectly
balanced. And since this hydroponic nutrient solution is contained, it does not harm our environment
as does runoff from fertilized soil. Also, very little water is lost to evaporation in a hydroponic system,
making hydroponics very useful in drought stricken areas. Additionally, plants can be grown
hydroponically inside greenhouses to protect them from pests; this makes harmful pesticides
unnecessary.
Even if you are neither a scientist nor a gardener, hydroponics can be important to you. There are so
many benefits to hydroponics that it will probably become the agriculture of the future. Each day,
more facts are learned about this type of farming, and soon we will know enough to make it the most
efficient and effective way to grow plants. You, too, can benefit from the knowledge of hydroponics
and could even start an amateur flower garden or vegetable garden from the information in our web
page. Someday the fruits and vegetables you buy at the supermarket may come from a hydroponic
garden!
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1. Define hydroponics.
2. How has hydroponics been used in the past?
3. Why is hydroponics useful to scientists?
4. Why is hydroponics useful in agriculture?
5. How might hydroponics someday affect you?
6. Do you believe that hydroponics has been around longer than the article states? If you think it
has, then explain?
Article and questions found at http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110342/index.html
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Summary
Conclusion
In order to protect the fragile environment and to meet the needs of a changing world, the science of
agriculture must also change. Agri scientists must continue to research and develop new techniques
of producing food and fiber for a growing planet.
Evaluation
Written quiz
Georgia Middle School Agricultural Education Curriculum, Unit 9 Lesson 10
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7GA 4.8.1
NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN
PLANT SCIENCE
Tissue Culturing
Hydroponics
Ice-minus Bacteria
Integrated Pest Management
Tissue Analysis
Georgia Middle School Agricultural Education Curriculum, Unit 9 Lesson 10
Updated May 2004
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