Ag in the Classroom K-8 Projects

Getting Started

We would like to welcome you to the Montana Noxious Weed Education project. This educational project has many components, including posters, noxious weed identification and fact cards, common core aligned lesson plans, illustrations, and resource documents.

Lesson Plans for Grades K-9

All lessons are Common Core Aligned.

• 3 Ways to Know Montana Noxious Weeds (Grades K-2)
• Life and the Noxious Weed Web (Grades 2-3)
• Allelopathy and Invasion (Grades 6-9)
• Human Interactions and Noxious Weeds (Grades 5-8)
• Unwanted Neighbors (Grades 5-7)
• Final Vocabulary for Montana Noxious Weed Education

Also refer to the What Plants Talk About documentary, available on YouTube .

Learning & Bulletin Board Resources

One way we can communicate educational materials to a wide variety of learners on subjects as important as noxious weeds is to create school bulletin boards. This information packet has illustrations on all of the 32 noxious weeds in Montana. Please have students color the illustrations according to the correct colors of the noxious weeds, paying attention to the plant details.

Photos for all weeds are on the illustration pages and also on each of the 32 cards. Photos of each noxious weed can also be seen on the accompanying poster for this educational unit.

The 3 Ways to Know Montana Noxious Weeds lesson plan for grades K-2 and Unwanted Neighbors lesson plan for grades 5-7 both include activities for preparing a bulletin board.

We invite you to PLEASE share photos of your bulletin boards with us and other classrooms on Facebook. Our Facebook site is Montana Agriculture in the Classroom. Thank you for your educational help in the fight against noxious weeds in Montana

Additional Educational Curriculum & Resources

• Montana Noxious Weed Education Campaign: Information about the Montana Noxious Weed Education Campaign.
• Montana Weed Control Association: Contact information for all of the county weed coordinators throughout the state of Montana, and a library that contains information about noxious weed research.
• Missoula County Extension & Weed District: Program information for the 'Leave No Weeds' outdoor field trip.
• Missoula County Extension & Weed District: Lesson plans included in the 'kNOweeds' curriculum developed by Missoula County.
• Invasive Species Council of British Columbia: Many great resources available for educators and youth to learn about invasive species in BC.

Links for More Information

• Montana State University Extension: In-depth publications on specific noxious weeds
• Montana State University Extension:Plant Identification Basics
• USDA APHIS: Attack of the Invasive Species Factsheet
• Montana State University Extension: Invasive Plant Extension Projects

For more information on classroom integration of this project, please contact:

Shantell Frame-Martin: shantell.frame@montana.edu

Getting Started

We would like to welcome you to the Montana Invasive Species Education project (MISE). This educational project has many components, including posters, invasive species ID cards, lesson plans, and resource documents.

The project was a collaborative effort between the following organizations in order to combine resources into one comprehensive educational unit: DNRC, NRCS, the Montana Department of Agriculture, Fish Wildlife and Parks, Montana Noxious Weed Education Campaign, and other agencies who supplied time and funding. Many photographers donated their photos so that students could see actual exceptional photos of pollinators, and to them we give a huge thanks!

Reference Materials

Note: All materials listed below are in PDF format.

• Montana Invasive Species Education Introduction
• Montana Invasive Species Education Identification Guides:
  • Download All Guides as a Single PDF File (4.5MB)
  • Fruit Pests
  • Wood-Boring Beetles
  • Defoliators
  • Plant Diseases
  • Nematodes
  • Terrestrial Snail
  • Aquatic Snails and Clams
  • Mollusks
  • Crustaceans
  • Reptiles and Amphibians
  • Fish
  • Aquatic Plants
  • Terrestrial Plants
• Montana Invasive Species Education Poster (web resolution, 8.7MB)
• Montana Invasive Species Education Poster (high quality print resolution, 16MB)

Lesson Plans

Note: All lesson plans listed below are in PDF format.

• Invasive Species Awareness - PSA (0.8MB | Grade Level: 4-12 | Duration: 3 50-minute class periods)
• Hungry Pests Invade Middle School from USDA (9.5MB | Grade Level: 6-8 | complete standards-based curriculum with 4 lessons)

Recommended Reading List

For Students:

• What is the Threat of Invasive Species? by Eve Hartman
• Alien Invaders: Species That Threaten Our World by Jane Drake

For Teachers:

• Teaching About Invasive Species by Tim Grant

Extended Online Resources

Download Extended Online Resources List as a Single PDF File (.8MB)

Montana Resources:

• Aquatic Invasive Species from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: Providing comprehensive information on invasive fish species.
• Montana Department of Agriculture Noxious Weed Program: Montana specific science and control information on invasive weed species.
• Invasive Species: State Resources - Montana from the USDA National Agricultural Library: Provides links to state-specific resources with an interest in the prevention, control, or eradication of invasive species.

National Resources:

• Invasive Species, Pests and Disease from the U.S. Forest Service: General information about invasive species and what you can do to help.
• National Invasive Species Information Center from the USDA National Agricultural Library: Gateway to invasive species information; covering Federal, State, local, and international sources.
• Invasive Species K-12 Educational Resources from the USDA National Agricultural Library: Provides general educational resources for students K-12 for invasive species.
• HungryPests.com from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: Public information site on the many ways to help protect your state from the threat of Hungry Pests.
• Invasive Species & Pests from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: NRCS works internally through its Plant Materials Centers and with many other partners to address the spread of plants that have been classified as noxious or invasive.
• Asian Longhorned Beetle Info from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
• Pest Tracker Exotic Pest Reporting from the CAPS Program: The Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) program is sponsored by the Plant Protection and Quarantine division of USDA Animal and Plant Inspection Service with Purdue University and other partners. Surveys to detect and prevent the spread of invasive pests are being supported in highlighted states.
  • Asian Longhorned Beetle from Pest Tracker: Includes videos and other detailed information on this invasive beetle.
• An Educator's Guide for Invasive Species - Emerald Ash Borer in Indiana from Purdue University: This site is specific to the Emerald Ash Borer and has good research materials to accompany the Montana Invasive Species Education lesson plan, along with many additional lesson plans and resources.
• PlayCleanGo.org: Working with a group of interagency partners, including the University of Minnesota Extension, Minnesota departments of Agriculture and Transportation, and Explore Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has launched PlayCleanGo, an education and outreach campaign for outdoor recreation. The goal is to encourage outdoor recreation while protecting valuable natural resources. The objective is to slow or stop the spread of terrestrial invasive species (those that occur on land) through changes in public behavior.
• Invasive and Noxious Weeds from the US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management: Information on invasive weed species.
• Spotted Knapweed Information from the North Dakota State University Extension Service: (PDF format, .4MB): Detailed information on invasive Spotted Knapweed.
• Spotted Knapweed Information from the USDA National Agricultural Library: A species profile for Spotted Knapweed from USDA's National Invasive Species Information Center.
• Sudden Oak Death Overview from the California Oak Mortality Task Force: Information about a specific case of an invasive species causing widespread forest diebacks.
  • Pest Alert - Sudden Oak Death from the USDA Forest Service
  • Sudden Oak Death Species Profile from the USDA National Agricultural Library

Montana Rangelands, Getting to Know the Pieces

Download a Montana Rangelands Poster
Download a Montana Rangelands Poster: Vocabulary List

Montana Rangelands Lesson Plans

• Recommended Reading List for Rangelands Project! (grades K-5)
• A Slice of Soil! (grades 4-6)
  Montana Content Standards: Science 3, 4; Math 1, 2
• Rangelands Mystery Box: Observe, Classify, and Recall! (grades 2-6)
  Montana Content Standards: Science 3, 5; Social Studies 3
• Montana's Rangeland Grasses Discovery Kit and Lesson! (grades 4-6)
  Montana Content Standards: Science 3; Benchmarks 1 and 3A
• Bison, Grazing, and the Great Plains (grades 4-6)
  Montana Content Standards: Communication Arts Reading 2; Social Studies 3, 4; IEFA Essential Understanding 4
• Montana Fact Fun Quiz! Test your knowledge about Montana:
  Quiz
  Answer key
• NRCS: At Work on the Range. A student workbook about rangelands.
• NRCS: Soil is Alive. A student workbook all about soils.
• NRCS: I Dig Dirt! A student workbook about plants, soils, erosion, and more!
• The Scoop on Soil! Educational games and puzzles about soils from USDA, NRCS and University of Illinois Extension
• Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Lesson Plans, based on the book "Amazing Grazing". (grades K-12)

Grow and Know with Montana Agriculture

Science, Math, Reading, Communication Arts, and Art integrated lessons. (Listings by Grade Level, Title, and Montana Standards)

• A Grow and Know with Montana Agriculture Primary Reading List (recommended books listed within primary grade level lesson plans)
• Grades K-2, Let Me Give You a HAND Planting - Math
• Grades 1-2, Tops and Bottoms - Science, Math
• Grades 2-3, My Tiny Seed - Communication Arts, Math, Science, Art
• My Tiny Seed Student Book (a student journal to accompany My Tiny Seed Lesson Plan)
• Grades 3-4, Pulse of the United States - Art, Science
• Grades 3-4, "Sense"able Plants - Art, Science
• Grades 4-6, Let's Get Growing - Science, Math
• Grades 4-6, In the Zone - Science, Communication Arts, Math
• Grades 4-6, Slice of Soil - Science, Math
• Grades 4-6, Stored Seed Energy - Science, Math
• Grades 4-6, Roots to the Center of the Earth - Geotropism - Science
• Grades 5-7, DNA Extraction - Science
• Grades 6-8, Potato Roots Shoots and Colored Containers - Science

Additional Gardening Curriculum Resources

• Nancy's Garden Teacher's Guide
• A poster set with examples of foods made from fresh ingredients grown on Montana farms
• Classroom gardening box assembly instructions