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Ag Educator Resources

Teaching agriculture safety and health is an important topic for the next generation of farmers and related agriculture professions.

To assist teachers incorporating agricultural safety and health, UMASH has compiled a list of resources that can be used during the academic school year, such as: lesson plans, awareness events and additional resources to integrate health and safety topics into the classroom in a teacher friendly format. While not an exhaustive list, these resources cover many safety aspects related to agriculture and include tips on how to use the material in the classroom.

If you have questions or suggestions for additional teaching resources, please contact us:

Email: umash@umn.edu

 

Phone: 612-625-8836

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

 

FARM SAFETY BINGO

Here’s a fun activity for students of all ages. What safety practices have you completed in the past year? Can you get five in a row? Share your card on social media, tagging @UMASHcenter

 

SAMMY THE SAFETY CAN ACTIVITY BOOKLET

Join Sammy the Safety Can on an exciting adventure to teach youth about gasoline safety with this fun coloring and activity booklet! Funded by Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health NIOSH and The Legacy of Christopher Allsup Foundation, Inc.

 

Planning TemplatePLANNING TEMPLATE

Get started now on organizing your lesson plans for the school year using our curriculum planning template! 

The template has space for you to plan ag health and safety topics, awareness events, and other ways to highlight ag health and safety throughout the school year.  Some of the “other ideas” could include: guest speakers, field trips, research projects and social media campaigns!

Use this planning template in conjunction with our 10 Ways to Incorporate Agricultural Health and Safety Into the Classroom to prepare a comprehensive ag health and safety lesson plan.

AG SAFETY AND HEALTH TOPICS

AGRITOURISM
ANIMAL HANDLING / STOCKMANSHIP
ATV SAFETY
CHEMICAL SAFETY
CHILD SAFETY / YOUTH WORKERS
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND EXTREME WEATHER
ELECTRICAL SAFETY
GRAIN BIN SAFETY
MANURE PIT / SILO SAFETY
NEEDLESTICK PREVENTION
OPIOID EDUCATION AND RESOURCES
ROADWAY SAFETY - RURAL AND URBAN
SKID STEER SAFETY
STRESS AND MENTAL WELL-BEING
STORYTELLING
TRACTOR SAFETY
TRAIN / RAIL SAFETY
ZOONOTIC DISEASES (Also see AGRITOURISM)

 

AWARENESS EVENTS

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

  • UV Safety and Heat Illness Month

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

10 WAYS TO INCORPORATE AG HEALTH AND SAFETY INTO THE CLASSROOM

These 10 suggestions are just a starting point and meant to spark ideas for ways to bring more agricultural health and safety awareness and education into your classroom!

DOWNLOAD PDF

 

1

Highlight Awareness

Awareness events allow for a relevant, quick discussion about safety and health while opening the space to share students own stories!

Example: Have students break into daily themes and participate in National Farm Safety and Health Week on social media.

2

Bring in a Guest Speaker

Guest speakers allow students to hear from adults, often in their community, about their experiences and advice that the speaker has to offer.

Example: Feature a health or safety leader from a local cooperative, farm, clinic, or agribusiness.

3

Take a Field Trip

Get out of the classroom and discuss yourself, your students, and see what others are doing!

Example: Get boots-on-the ground experience on a farm, manufacturing or processing facility, or business to change the classroom scenery.

4

Offer a Research Project

Using our resources, along with other safety organizations, gives students an in-depth approach to understand safety and health practices.

Example: Have students practice with handwashing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) best-practices.

5

Partner with Teachers

Agricultural health and safety is a very expansive topic. Partner with another teacher and tag-team a lesson plan to generate conversation among faculty!

Example: Partner with a science or biology teacher for a unit on zoonotic diseases.

6

Share Farm Safety Pictures

Using social media to share lessons and photos of safe practices is a great way to encourage conversation. Use the Agriculture Media Guidelines.

Example: Encourage students to take photos on the farm, work, or school demonstrating a class lesson.

7

Generate Discussion

Many students have similar questions and concerns. This allows them to reflect as a class and individually about safety practices.

Example: Use “Telling the Story” testimonies and guides to discuss students’ personal experiences.

8

Show a Video

Video resources are a great way to stimulate critical thinking and generate group discussion in and out of the classroom environment.

Example: Show students 4-H Biosecurity video and ask them how the video will change their own practices.

9

Timing is Everything

With agriculture, much of the work that is being done is seasonal and often depends on the weather. Make sure your lesson is adapted to that!

Example: Discuss agritourism near spring due to high traffic agritourism events in spring, summer, and fall!

10

Make it Fun with Tech

Use technology to give students creativity and a space to share, and to implement a continual conversation about health and safety in agriculture.

Example: PollEverywhere allows you to ask questions, generates content from responses, and can be anonymous. Quiz with Kahoots or Jeopardy to engage students!

 

 

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

 

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Student

  • Contact your local and state agriculture association for information and dates regarding FFA conferences and other student safety and health events!
  • Share the UMASH website when assigning a research project or participating in a developmental competition to find resources about agricultural health and safety.

 

Teachers/Professional

  • Contact local agricultural associations for updates and information on professional development events and agriculture education conference updates. Examples of events to attend:
  • National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Conventions
  • International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH) Conferences
  • Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) Institute Conferences
  • Local and regional state agricultural association conferences

 

ORGANIZATIONS

The resources provided on this page were compiled from the following organizations.