Free Classroom Curriculum Resources from GrowNextGen

(GrowNextGen) Explore, download and share these proven real-world educational resources to help bring science and agriculture to life in your classroom. Relevant and engaging, you’ll find useful, easy-to-implement lesson plans and activities.

GrowNextGen was launched in 2014 with funding from the Ohio Soybean Council and Ohio soybean farmers. These farmer-contributed funds, known as the soybean checkoff, are invested in areas that will help expand markets, drive innovation, and build understanding to ensure the future success of the soybean industry.

We provide teachers with free, high quality STEM units and lessons that bring agriculture principles and practices into the science classroom. With a primary focus on biology, chemistry, food science and environmental science standards, the site includes e-learning courses and a network of educators and industry leaders to answer questions and provide resources to support the lessons. Our goal is to increase student interest in careers related to food production. Career videos and discussion guides describing career pathways allow teachers to give students a look into multiple careers they might not have considered. READ MORE includes VIDEOs

How much do you know about GMOs? There is a lot of misinformation about what a GMO is and what foods are genetically modified. Use this unit as a review or a compelling way to engage students in the topic of GMOs using a “breakout,” …

What is a bioeconomy? What is the role of soybeans in the development of bioeconomies in Spanish-speaking countries? International markets are very important to soybean farmers across the globe. In this unit, students in a Spanish language class will ...

Smart farming: using data to make decisions

What kind of data do farmers use to make decisions? Where does that data come from? Become a "farmer" on a journey from pre-planting to harvest to see what decisions farmers are making every year as they farm. Growers across the country are gaining access to more and more data about …

Healthy soils

What makes soil healthy? What methods might farmers use to maintain healthy soil? “Soil” doesn’t just mean “dirt.” It is a mixture of minerals like rocks and clay, organic material like dead leaves, living organisms like worms, microbes, and...

Making biodiesel from soybeans

How might we make and use renewable fuel? Make biodiesel and create a scale model of an anaerobic digester, while investigating bioenergy and how it is produced.

AFNR biotechnology

What are the current issues in biotechnology? There is a lot of resistance to genetic modification and the use of genetically modified crops. What is the science? This unit helps to provide some background in cell function and DNA properties, …

Henry Ford and George Washington Carver team up to make bio-based products

How do scientists and engineers work together to solve problems? Scientists and engineers work together to “industrialize” the use of agriculture products. Oil and protein from plants can be turned into many products. Design some new products using items from …

Biochar: producing bioenergy from waste

How can a waste stream become part of a cyclical system? Make biochar, a soil amendment, by making and using a model top light updraft (TLUD) pyrolysis kiln or oven.

Soil health and microbes

What do we need to know about soil to determine its productivity? How can we be better stewards of soil health? Soil is an ecosystem, full of both living organisms and nonliving factors. These factors interact within the ecosystem to support one another. Find out what methods are used by soil scientists and ...

Boosting the chemistry of soil: A data analysis unit

Which soil or nutrient inputs provide a return on investment? What data can help you find out? This case study helps students see how soil or nutrient inputs affect soil chemistry, the importance of controlling variables, and how to analyze yield data to determine if an agriculture treatment …