Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix

In this game, students determine how much money to invest in their bean crop and then roll dice to determine what happens to their crop during the planting, growing, harvesting, and marketing phases. Will their farms make money this year?

• 1 Bean Game Card per student
• Bean Game Card for teacher
• Plant Panel (Project or print big enough for the class to see or hand out a copy to each student)
• Grow Panel (Project or print big enough for the class to see or hand out a copy to each student)
• Harvest Panel (Project or print big enough for the class to see or hand out a copy to each student)
• Marketing Panel (Project or print big enough for the class to see or hand out a copy to each student)
• Dice (Use a large dice that students can see or provide one per student)

1. Hand out a Bean Game Card to each student. 
2. Read the script to the class, pausing when students need to mark their cards:
   1. Today we will pretend to be bean farmers.
   2. Before we begin farming, we are going to answer the questions on the side of your game card. (Point to the questions.)
   3. There is no right or wrong answer.
   4. Farmers invest a lot of money into their business. This includes their equipment; things like combines, tractors, and planters. Please mark your game card YES or NO if you think it's important to take good care of your equipment.
   5. Fertilizer is food for beans. Please mark your game card YES or NO if you will buy fertilizer for your beans.
   6. Bugs and weeds can become a problem in farm fields. Please mark your game card YES or NO if you will try to control bugs and weeds in your farm fields.
   7. We are almost ready to farm, but we need to spend some money first.
   8. Every YES you chose costs $10,000. If you have 1 YES, put a mark on -$10,000. If you chose 2 YES's, put a mark on -$20,000, etc. That means you have spent that money before you have even begun planting. 
   9. Now we are ready to plant our beans and try to make a profit.
   10. Roll your dice. (Refer to the Plant Panel) Read the sentence that corresponds with the number on the die. (Show the students how to move up or down the game card.)
   11. The beans are in the ground. Let's see what happens during the growing season. Roll your dice again. (Refer to the Grow Panel) Read the sentence that corresponds with the number on the die.
   12. Now we are ready to harvest our bean crop. Roll your dice a third time. (Refer to the Harvest Panel) Read the sentence that corresponds with the number on the die.
   13. Now that we've harvested our beans, let's see what's happening in the bean market. Roll your dice one more time. (Refer to the Marketing Panel)
   14. Did you make any money this year?
3. If the students made money, explain that in good years you should save money for bad years. If the kids lost money, explain that farming is a gamble and there are many factors outside of a farmer's control.