The youth organization, Future Farmers of America (FFA), prepares school-age children with leadership skills, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. The National FFA Organization in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education has developed numerous middle and high-school level educational materials for teachers and parents. 

The FFA Blue 365 lesson series is intended to bring innovative technology, science, research and entrepreneurship to students. The lessons were designed to highlight the innovations and technologies transforming agriculture.

Free Lesson Plans

Each 90-minute lesson plan lists the learning objectives, resources, and alignment to various educational standards. To teach each lesson, access to the internet is needed, along with colored pens/markers and blank paper. If educators don’t have internet access they can request offline material.

The FFA Blue 365 website also provides related lessons, Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE) connections, FFA connections, videos, and career connection resources for each individual lesson plan.

Lessons Include

1. The Future of Agriculture – Critical Challenges

Learning Objectives:

• Describe critical challenges facing the agriculture industry by the year 2050.
• Identify two to three statistics facing agriculture sustainability.
• Design an infographic illustrating ways to respect our planet.
• Create an innovation or product to improve lives and feed the world.
• Analyze current challenges faced by the agriculture industry and develop potential solutions.

2. Four Stages of Innovation

Lesson Objectives:

• Define innovation.
• Identify prominent innovations in agriculture in the 21st century.
• Describe the four stages of innovation.
• Apply the four stages of innovation to an existing innovation, productor technology.
• Analyze a current product or movement using the four stages of innovation.
• Design a new product for or solution to a global issue using the four stages of innovation.

3. Feeding the World

(Broken up into two parts, 90 minutes each)

Part One Lesson Objectives:

• Define the following concepts: feeding the world and food insecurity.
• Illustrate the concept of feeding the world.
• Examine four key elements to food insecurity and food consumption. 
• Investigate the impact of food insecurity and food consumption at the global, national and local levels.
• Compare and contrast food insecurity issues in global, state and local regions.

Part Two Lesson Objectives:

• Inspect the concepts of feeding the world and hunger awareness.
• Determine local issues regarding hunger.
• Develop a hunger awareness campaign.

4. Respecting Our Planet

(Broken up into two parts, 90 minutes each)

Part One Lesson Objectives:

• Describe the need to respect the planet.
• Determine global, national and local issues related to respecting the planet.
• Identify the challenges to respecting the planet at the local level.

Part Two Lesson Objectives:

• Identify multiple purposes for various items in a classroom to build creative thinking.
• Describe the influence the companySealed Air has on respecting the planet.
• Evaluate how food waste impacts sustainability.
• Determine local issues about respecting the planet. 
• Develop a campaign to respect the planet in the community.

5. Improving Lives

(Broken up into two parts, 90 minutes each)

Part One Lesson Objectives:

• Identify ways the agriculture industry improves lives through the food, fiber and natural resources systems.
• Summarize common challenges facing food security in the United States.
• Illustrate food groups that make up the United States Department of Agriculture’sMyPlate initiative.
• Analyze strategies to gain access to an adequate food supply and nutritional plan.
• Determine steps for food product safety.
• Evaluate factors influencing the food environment

Part Two Lesson Objectives:

• Identify common precautions to take when working in the agriculture industry.
• Summarize common challenges facing farm safety in the United States.
• Outline the basics of farm safety.
• Evaluate strategies to help maintain a safe and secure working environment around the farm.
• Facilitate a presentation regarding a farm safety issue.
• List and strengthen safety strategies in the local classroom and/or shop.

6. The Food Chain

Lesson Objectives

• Describe the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (AFNR) Value Chain. 
• Identify key stakeholders involved in the AFNR Value Chain.
• Analyze opportunities to strengthen sustainability in the AFNR Value Chain.
• Design an innovative solution to a challenge facing the AFNR Value Chain

The Agricultural Education Mission

FFA assists educators in developing the three-component model in agriculture education. Agricultural education prepares students for successful careers and a lifetime of informed choices in the global agriculture, food, fiber and natural resources systems.

Through agricultural education, students are provided opportunities for leadership development, personal growth and career success. Agricultural education instruction is delivered through three major components:

1. Instruction: Classroom/Laboratory instruction (contextual learning)
2. Project-Based Activities: Supervised Agricultural Experience programs (work-based learning)
3. Leadership: Student leadership organizations (National FFA Organization, National Young Farmer Educational Association and National Post-secondary Agricultural Student Organization).

Because it is a formal educational program, FFA starts at the middle school level and continues into high school. It is not solely focused on agriculture but has expanded their educational resources to cover a variety of STEM topics.