Mapping to MN State Standards
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The resources on this page have been selected by eLibraryMN and Minnesota Digital Library librarians and curators to support the MN English Language Arts and the Social Studies standards, both current and pending, specifically related to agriculture, that are relevant to students. Resources in eLibraryMN and EbooksMN have unlimited simultaneous user access and are freely available to anyone geolocated in Minnesota. The primary source resources detailed are available to all, regardless of location.
Please reach out with questions or suggestions about linking to, using, or sharing these resources.
Academic Research
Below is a collection of available topic overviews that link to many related articles and resources within ELM.
Britannica is a great place to start for an overview and introduction to Agriculture. This article is broken out for young readers to be able to digest content at their own speed. Additionally, Britannica has all the features you know and love for accessibility: text to speech, translation, font size adjustment, and citation tools.
PebbleGo is the perfect resource to use with students who love animals and want to learn about raising farm creatures. Their farm animals section is rich with content that has a word by word read aloud option, printable activity worksheets, and more.
Once students have their overview of agriculture and farm animals, bring them to Explora to find longer text articles about their topics of interest, including Farm Animals and Agriculture and Farming research
Ebooks
This is a curated group of fiction and nonfiction ebooks, Grade Interest Level K-8. All titles are available to students geolocated in MN without login. Linking directly to chapters is also possible. To link directly to the titles and share in your LMS or libguides, copy the link to the title(s) you want from our persistent link spreadsheet (if you are not accessing through the MackinVia app). Reach out to us with questions about linking.
Explains for young readers our dependence on farmers and compares farming in the past to farming today. Includes color photographs and diagrams.
John Deere’s powerful idea: the perfect plow
This book describes the life of John Deere and the invention of his famous plow.
Local farms and sustainable foods
Outlines the characteristics of organic farming and examines how local farms can benefit the environment. Includes full-color photographs, a glossary, a hands-on activity, and further reading sources.
Explores how drone technology is making farming easier by allowing farmers to better monitor their fields and livestock
Primary Sources
Resources below are recommended by MDL curators from partners in primary source history.
Barn raising on the Stapf farm, Empire, c. 1890
Barns are symbols of agriculture in Minnesota. Families and neighbors would gather to build these large structures.
Field work on the Holland Farm, Elk Township, 1900
These farmers prepared their field for planting crops with two hitches of horses.
Covered wagon with baskets of produce, Roseau, c. 1905
This farm family showed off a large harvest of fresh produce in front of their covered wagon and porch.
Advertisement for poultry food, c. 1905
The International Stock Food Company sold many types of food for farm animals, including the chickens seen here.
Harvesting wheat on Mr. Bean's farm near Nicollet, c. 1910
Mr. Bean harvested wheat on his farm using a horse-drawn reaper and sent it to a flour mill.
Sunny Side Farm, Nobles County, 1913
Farmers were often photographed with their animals, farm equipment, and barns to show off their prosperity.
Dairy cows in stalls, Duluth, c. 1920
Many farmers turned to dairy farming after several years of crop failure, particularly wheat.
4H Bull Demonstration by Sandra Hallstrom, Mora, 1950s
Farm children participated in agriculture through youth organizations like 4H.
Curated Resources:
- Mechanization of Farming
Learn about new technologies in farm machinery and the impact on Minnesota agriculture in this primary source set - Farm to Table: Food History in Minnesota
Explore the history of growing and raising food and agriculture's related industries in this online exhibit. - Minnesota Apples
Discover the history of apple growing in Minnesota and trace the impact of early fruit breeding to today.
Interlibrary Loan/Resource Sharing
For in depth research into these topics, sometimes you need to request materials from other libraries. These can be digital or they can sometimes be printed books. There are two main options for requesting these materials. One, MNLINK, allows you to search all Minnesota libraries for the requires the use of a public library card and PIN. While many educators use their own library card to help students, it is recommended that students use their own. However, this is not always possible, so there is a second option: Minitex Resource sharing for schools. This allows one staff member per school to request items on behalf of students and have the items sent directly to the school building. If you have questions about which option is better for you and your students, reach out to us and we can help.