How many of us remember why mono-cropping can be a problem, and how it could impact our health, and the health of generations to come?
Reading: “Growing the same crop on a field year after year can cause crop yields to decline as the soil becomes depleted and insect populations become firmly established. Crop rotation, or growing different crops in different years, is one way to avoid these problems. However, discovering the most effective rotation of a number of different crops is difficult, because there are so many possible orders in which to grow them and testing any given crop rotation takes several years.”
This might take some math, huh?
For example, what might a percentage increase in one year be for a bunch of bugs that have made themselves snuggly at home in a potato field, versus the percentage increase of those bugs if that potato field were planted with soy beans next year, do you think?
You might get some help on the mathematics for that in the lesson below…
Middle of week 13/18
| Day 48, Week 13 |
| Grammar: Dangling modifiers |
| Math: Percent Increase |
| Where is mono-cropping still used today? |
| Day 48 Exit Ticket |
|
Don’t forget to look up the history of some of your math topics, like Algebra… |
Action Items: What Would You Do??
1.) Search for two different sources explaining what mono-cropping is,
2.) Does either source discuss Terminator Seeds, and what point of view does each source prefer? Is there an obvious benefit that either source (or the authors or funders of the source article) has to gain from that point of view?
3.) Write a book, story, blog post or tweet that uses your findings, and then, please tell us about it! If you write a book, once it is published please consider donating a copy to your local public library. This lesson plan is part of my personal contribution to Project Do Better.
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Click here to read, if you like:
Narrative and Prose Nonfiction,
or Holistic High School Lessons,
Shira
Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Inspiring Critical Thinking and Community via Books, Lessons, and Story 
Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.
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Well done
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I heard of “terminator seeds but never knew what it meant. My great grandfather had a farm but most livestock, with the only exception of growing cotton. This was in England, Arkansas, the 1940s.
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Wow, that must have been an ‘interesting’ place -did you get to meet/spend any time with him?
Oh, and thanks: glad to share the word on the problems with certain companies in Big Ag.
This is why I tried so hard to become a locavore, but here in the US it is really difficult to locally source food, at least I find here in San Diego.
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I only met papa when he was in his early 90s. I had to lean over to hear him talk because his voice was almost gone. I still remember that day. Long time ago.
Interesting. Learning a lot from your posts
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Excellent, both items: it is a treasure to be able to learn from our elders, especially those of that generation, I believe. Sounds like it is a beautiful memory of a very special day, and I thank you for sharing it. May his memory always be for a blessing.
And I am very glad that my posts are informative for you, too! They are part of my personal contribution to Project Do Better (and my personal ‘up yours’ to the retiring prof. who’d promised me her lesson plans in a meeting with the Dean, then turned around and refused them later, in private, saying how she’d drawn up plans and worksheets “for pennies an hour” and wasn’t about to give them away!)
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Oh wow
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Sorry, I should have stayed focused on your great grandfather’s memory. Like my adoptive great gandma Marie (in my background pic on my main blog page), a lifelong member of Mt. Zion UMC.
Blessings,
Shira
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You’re fine. I didn’t take any offense.
I know you miss her a lot. She gives off a kind spirit.
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Right?
She was a saint, if ever DC knew one!
Wikitree, with all of its faults, is not on a paywall, although I have more complete info. on her and Grandpa Johnson on Ancestry, unfortunately. If your great grandfather fought in WWI, please check to see if he might be of interest to Prof. Springler/y (I’ll get you his name if you want) at Howard U, who is doing a study on uncited Medal of Honor winners in Black units of WWI. Turns out we have documentation on alot of Black men who should have been decorated, and that story needs telling.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Nash-3390
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Hmm that’s interesting. He actually fought in WW2.
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Actually, alot of men seemed to have both fought in WWI, and registered for the draft in WWII, despite their ages! That might be just my family, our our families, because Black men wanted to show their patriotism, maybe, but it’s worth looking up, if you like family history at all.
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Thanks. I will check it out. Who knows.
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Cool: remind me to find that prof’s name, if you find his unit info.
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No worries. It will take awhile. I will have to check with my uncle
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Cool, take your time. I think this prof is working on enlarging the study to WWII as well, but not sure.
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Cool!
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Which reminds me that I need to find my grandmother’s info. at Howard. Not too many women attended back then, unless I’m mistaken. Both of my grandfathers did, but my paternal side was a scalywag: sold essays to his classmates!!
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Cool. I hope you find the info
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Hey. Sent a message on Twitter
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Will check in a sec…
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