UNIT X 110 | UNIT 3 Instructional Routine: Science p. Txxx Industrial Agriculture A • Activate prior knowledge Show pictures of industrial farms and ask students to describe them. Say: We have been talking about saving a small community farm. What is different about the farms in these pictures? Make a list of responses on the board. • Share experiences Students who have lived in rural settings may have experience on a farm. Invite students to describe their experiences. • Understand genre Ask: What do you remember about informational texts? Write information on the board and discuss its meaning as a noun. Then add –al and talk about its meaning as an adjective. Say: Informational texts share information with the reader. • Preview the text Read the title aloud and have students skim the text for words in bold type. Ask volunteers to describe the pictures. Remind students to refer to these text features while they listen to aid their comprehension. • Listen for understanding Play the audio once. Ask students to listen the first time for a general understanding. • Listen actively Play the audio a second time, asking students to follow the text closely as the audio plays. Essential Question: How does modern farming harm the environment? Cite text evidence Ask students to read and discuss the Essential Question in pairs. Remind students to look for evidence in the text to support answers. Elicit and write ideas on the board. ANSWERS Sample answer: Modern farming harms the environment because it causes deforestation, water pollution, and air pollution. EXPLORE AND LEARN DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION Scaffold Students can use their dictionaries to learn the meaning of the boldfaced words. Students can then make flash cards with a word on the front and the meaning on the back to help them memorize the definitions. Amplify Give students access to resources so they can research how small permaculture farms actually help the environment. Have students work in pairs to find photos and information. They need to highlight the differences between permaculture farms and industrial farms. Direct students to create short presentations using the photos and information they find. Remind them to make eye contact with the audience and speak with appropriate pace, volume, and intonation while they present. UNIT 3 / CONNECT TO SCIENCE Modern farming is hard on the environment. In the past, most farms were small. Farmers grew several crops and rotated them. This kept the soil healthy. In industrial agriculture, farmers grow one large crop in an area. This is bad for the soil. Industrial farming causes deforestation, water pollution, and air pollution. Deforestation is when people cut down a forest to use the land for farming. Deforestation causes trees to release carbon into the atmosphere. This increases global warming. Industrial agriculture uses 70 percent of the world’s fresh water supply. Industrial farmers use fertilizers and pesticides with chemicals. These chemicals get into the soil. Then, they get into nearby rivers. Machines on industrial farms release toxic materials into the air. Many people are returning to smaller farms. When you buy food from a local organic farm, you help the environment. On organic farms, farmers do not use chemicals that harm the environment. For example, they use natural pesticides or rotate crops to control pests. Small home farms are not hard on the environment, either. These types of farms are not only better for the environment, but they also produce healthier food. Big Farms, Small Farms Industrial Agriculture A Read the informational text. How does modern farming harm the environment? ? ESSENTIAL QUESTION UNIT 3 110 CONNECT TO Science
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