I BUILT A STUDENT PRECISION AGRICULTURE CURRICULUM & KIT
Introduction to sensors, data, AI, machine learning and responsible AI in the context of food production
The program combines an affordable hardware kit with curriculum and activities to give students hands-on experience applying precision agriculture techniques to food production. Using an array of sensors, students stream and analyze data in Excel. With Lobe.ai, they build, train, and apply machine learning models to track and inform plant health. There are activities where students set up an agent and others where they work with a curated big data set. The learning progression enables students to easily see the connections between these modern agriculture tools and the opportunities they afford. It also includes a rich set of lesson plans on topics in Responsible AI.
INTEGRATING NEW CONCEPTS INTO EXISTING PEDAGOGY
EXPERIENCES WITH PRECISION AGRICULTURE
The FarmBeats for Students curriculum is aligned to AI4K12’s AI education guidelines that define what every student should know about AI. The curriculum is also aligned to these standards, agricultural concepts, and performance objectives:
- CSTA Standards
- National AFNR Common Career Technical Core Standards
- Next Generation Science Standards
- Common Core State Standards for high school math
DEVELOPED A LOW COST SENSOR KIT
EXPLORE THE FFA's AG SCIENCE LESSON PLANS
crop selection
agriscience research
agriscience research
Students use IoT technology to define the environmental conditions of a garden. The data they collect aid their selection of crops to grow in their gardens. Students research and select companion plants to grow in their gardens and then plant.
agriscience research
agriscience research
agriscience research
Students develop parameters for an experiment as a class. They conduct the experience with the FBFS kit. Student groups monitor and collect data from their respective plants during a five day experiment.
relayed outputs
agriscience research
relayed outputs
Students design a relay-controlled irrigation system. The relay will turn on the power to a pump or a solenoid valve to deliver water to a plant or garden.
animals iot
agriscience research
relayed outputs
The IoT applications leading up to this student project have been plant-focused. Animal agriculture utilizes IoT technology as well. Students brainstorm an IoT system for animal agriculture and create a flowchart depicting the system.