Canadian Agriculture at a Glance 1999 Teacher's Kit

The 1999 version of Canadian Agriculture at a Glance is written at an average Grade 10 reading level, but the analysis and supporting graphs, tables, photographs and supplemental information broaden its usefulness for teachers of lower or higher grades. Its content was designed to be clear for students at a basic level of understanding, but stimulating enough to lead more senior students to related research and study. Although agriculture-themed, the exercises are wide-reaching in the subjects they touch: from eating habits, environmental issues and creative writing, to mathematics, computer spreadsheets, history and global economics.

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A variety of activities at four levels

Canadian Agriculture at a Glance has 42 articles under five broad chapter themes: introductory material to help understand the book and the agriculture sector; farm profiles; agriculture and the environment; the business of farming; and people in agriculture. Samples of articles from the book are available for viewing.

The lessons in this Teacher's kit are categorized in two ways: according to curriculum (based on SchoolNet subjects) and by level of difficulty. For most exercises, teachers require only one article from Canadian Agriculture at a Glance as reference material for the class. In many cases, one article has exercises at several levels. The level of difficulty ascribed to each exercise is based on these criteria:

I.
A lower level challenge, requiring students to read the article or section and record the answers.

II.
Students examine the graph and interpret the numbers, using one or two pieces of information, and make comparisons.

III.
A more comprehensive exercise, requiring more thought and often more research than what is in the text.

IV.
Requires students to put together material and formulate ideas and identify patterns or trends.