Month: July 2021

These pages introduce the book as a whole, including information for 4-H educators or volunteers.

This set of activities introduces the function of plant structures, with a key activity being an Alstroemeria flower dissection.

This set of activities examines what it means to be a cover crop. It also introduces pennycress as an exemplar for how cover crops fit in between cash crop growing seasons.

This lesson explores engineering, with learners developing methods for sorting seeds during harvest.

This set of activities explores how plants change over time: in nature through natural selection and in agriculture through artificial selection and gene editing.

These activities explore the problems of weed growth and low seed oil content. Solutions come in a variety of forms, from timing and agricultural practices to chemical and gene treatments.

Learners work directly with soil to explore the problem of soil erosion and how cover crops help minimize erosion.

This set of activities explores the problem of nutrient retention and examines available data on how pennycress retains nutrients.

This set of activities explores another benefit of cover crops: as a source of food for pollinators of all types!

This set of activities explores how different products can be formulated from cover crops, in this case different formulations of ink from vegetable oils.

This set of activities explores the role of crops, cover crops, and petrochemicals in fuels for transportation or cooking.

The vast majority of images used in this book were in the public domain or created by the authors. Images and sources of information are listed here.