Amber Horton, Agriculture educator at Allen Consolidated Schools in Allen, recently attended a Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education professional development institute at Greeley West High School in Greeley, Colorado to teach the Natural Resources and Ecology CASE curriculum.
CASE 4 Learning is committed to designing an inquiry-based agricultural curriculum that meets the current demands of teachers, students, and industry. CASE 4 Learning provides comprehensive professional development and workshops for new and seasoned teachers to achieve lifetime certification, learn new coursework, and build a community of support.
Upon certification, all CASE 4 Learning teachers have access to course updates, training, and support for the remainder of their career. The curriculum is designed to spiral and scaffold course concepts, incorporate APP (Activity, Project, or Problem) modalities, and meet core standards to equip teachers and schools to help students become lifelong learners and prepare them for college or careers. The curriculum was written by CASE 4 Learning. CASE is an acronym for Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education and is an initiative of the National Council for Agricultural Education (The Council.)
During the CASE Institute, Ms. Horton spent 5, eight-hour days in Greeley working through nearly every lesson in the year-long curriculum and learning how to deliver lessons in an inquiry-based way that will shift focus in the classroom from teacher-led to student-directed learning.
“This curriculum will help boost engagement for students and bring the science element which was missing in the Natural Resources course,” said Ms. Horton.
For more information about CASE 4 Learning, visit www.case4learning.org
Ms. Horton completed this STEM-based CASE (Curriculum for AgriScience Education) training. The CASE 4 training provided a curriculum to agricultural education teachers.
Through a scholarship provided by the Nebraska FFA Foundation and funded by the Nebraska Soybean Board, Ms. Horton is supplementing this STEM-based curriculum by using soybeans as a model, focus, and method for learning. This fall, she will be implementing this curriculum in their classroom by utilizing soybeans in various segments of the Natural Resources and Ecology CASE curriculum.
Through this curriculum, Ms. Horton will be teaching their students about the process, benefits, and challenges related to the use of soybeans in agriculture.
For more information about CASE and other Nebraska Agriculture Education teachers who have developed soybean curriculum for their agricultural education programs, contact Stacey Agnew, Nebraska FFA Executive Director, at Stacey@neffafoundation.org.
