Introduction

What implications, then, does this fact have on the daily efforts of ranchers and farmers as they go about their work? In what ways must they manage the resources on their lands in order to accommodate the wildlife, maintain the quality of the environment, earn a living, and provide enough food for America and the world? Sound new practices in Agriculture and Ecology are making this unusual balance a compatible reality.

Agriculture is an integral part of everyone's life, whether they realize it or not. Our food and clothing generally are the products of someone's life work. In our evolving and rapidly changing society, though, students are not as aware today as they used to be of agriculture's importance to them. Yet students will need an understanding of this profession, its relevance to individuals and the environment, and the cooperation necessary for a cohesive relationship between different jobs and the nature around us in order for them to be educated consumers and participants in society.

The book Amazing Grazing by Cris Peterson provides an excellent introduction to grazing practices, how they impact the environment, how they impact humans, and how the people who live and work this way accomplish an important balance between all the parts of an ecosystem. Amazing Grazing is flexibly adaptable to multiple grade levels and a variety of community types in which students live. Whatever their background, the book offers something for everyone. This unit of supplementary lessons was developed for use in class rooms along with the Amazing Grazing book.

The intent of this Ecology unit is to provide teachers with compatible lessons they can in corporate into their content and materials. All of the included lessons meet a variety of Montana's education standards (view standards), connect to multiple areas of the curriculum (science, math, language arts, etc.), and are adaptable to more than one grade level. Teachers are encouraged to take the intent and idea of each lesson as presented here and make whatever adjustments are necessary to accommodate their particular population of students.

Among the basic principles guiding this unit are the following:

• Each ecosystem hosts a variety of plants and animals that are uniquely suited to that environment.
• Sustainability, or a renewable balance between man and nature, is necessary for a healthy ecosystem.
• People interact with and impact their environment in both positive and negative ways.
• Healthy rangelands depend on maintaining the water, soil, plant, and animal resources.
• Active management by ranchers maintains healthy ecosystems.

Fundamental concepts woven through the lessons are:

The lessons in this unit are written in the format of the Multiple Menu Model. Based on constructivist learning theory, it presents practical menus that lead to lessons developed for an understanding of a discipline and its content and methodologies. The lessons use a variety of instructional techniques and instructional sequences. Multiple Menu Model lessons can be used to successfully challenge students on all levels and to make learning more meaningful, relevant, and engaging.

A part of this unit is the Knowledge Tree, which shows teachers and students the Branches of Knowledge from which the lessons stem. Rather than lessons that have no connectivity, the Knowledge Tree is a reference which ties them directly to the Foundations of Knowledge and the appropriate disciplines (in this case, Ecology and related fields).

Another key factor to the included lessons is the philosophy of having students take the role of "practicing professionals." Unlike lessons that simply teach and recall information, the lessons of this unit place the students in the position of learning the skills and methodologies that the people in the field use. With this type of lesson, students are more engaged in their learning, are developing real-life skills, and get a taste of what that career is actually like. The plant identific - ation lessons and the mock Coordinated Re - source Management discussion are two examples of how students will be immersed into the skills and work of Ecology during this unit.

If you have any questions or comments about this unit or the Multiple Menu Model, please feel free to contact any of the unit's authors at the numbers listed on the Contact Us page.