Agriculture and Water
You already know that agriculture provides our food, fiber, and so much more.
All plant and animal agriculture depends on water.
How do today’s farmers protect our water? They:
a.Learn safest ways to use and handle crop-protection chemicals.
b.Plant crops in strips, alternating row crops (such as corn) with hay or pasture crops.
c. Plan and time crop irrigation.
d.Keep livestock away from rivers, wetlands, and lakes.
e. Keep manure contained.
f.Leave plant remnants (stalks, leaves) on fields after harvesting instead of plowing them under.
g.Apply just the right amount of fertilizer at the right time to feed the crops and reduce the risk of runoff.
h. Use grass waterways, terraces, water retention basins, and other structures to reduce erosion and runoff.
Strip Cropping
Buffer Strip
Crop Irrigation
Photos Courtesy University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station
Why do farmers do these things?
Some good reasons are listed below. Write the letter from the list above
next to one or more reasons that match it.
Help keep pollution out of water supplies.
Help reduce loss of soil to wind or water erosion.
Conserve and protect water.
Help keep animal manure out of rivers, wetlands, and lakes.
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Celebrate Minnesota Water
Minnesota’s waters flow outward in three directions:
North to Hudson Bay in Canada, east to the Atlantic Ocean,
and south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Match each number from the map to the river it names.
2
1
3
4
6
5
7
Minnesota
Mississippi
Rainy
Red
Root Rum
St. Croix
St. Louis
8
List 4 ways that YOU can help protect our rivers:
1._________________________________________________________________________________________________
2._________________________________________________________________________________________________
3._________________________________________________________________________________________________
4._________________________________________________________________________________________________
1
Are You Water Wise?
1.
Across
BONUS
2.Forms of precipitation include hail, sleet,
snow, and _____
5. The _____ in Minnesota eons ago affected
our state’s terrain, soils, and water supplies.
8.Underground spaces in rock, sand, or gravel
where water is caught and held are called
_____.
Check a m
ap.
What Minn
esota
borders co
nsist
of water or
waterways
?
2.
3.
1.
4.
5.
9. Water located in underground cracks and
spaces is called _____.
6.
Down
1. Material used to improve the soil and
grow better plants is called _____. It can
contaminate water.
7.
8.
3. Water in lakes, streams, rivers, and wetlands
is called _____.
4.The three forms of water are liquid, solid
(ice), and _____ (vapor).
6.Water _____happens when things like
gasoline, chemicals, garbage, and animal
waste get into the water, making it unsafe for
human use.
7.This food-producing industry depends on
Minnesota’s groundwater.
9.
Kids can take care of groundwater, too!
Groundwater is a big part of our high quality of life in Minnesota. Let’s all take care of it!
Little things add up to big differences!
1.Investigate your home for products (paints, motor
oil, cleaners, old medicines, etc.) that could
pollute groundwater if poured down the drain or
dumped on the ground. Mark all these containers
as dangerous. Better yet, set them aside for
donation at the next “household hazardous waste
collection day” in your community.
2.Tell others how hazardous products can
contaminate the groundwater when thrown into
the trash.
3.Use environmentally friendly products instead
of hazardous ones. Find recipes for homemade
cleaners using less toxic ingredients like vinegar
and baking soda.
4.Design posters to spread the word about
groundwater protection. Ask a local grocery store,
library, school, or department store to display
them.
5.Host a schoolwide groundwater education day.
Cause and Effect
Do you know what cause and effect are?
That is when something happens (cause), and that causes
something else to happen in response (effect).
Read the text on pages 4 and 5 again. Then list 3 examples
of cause and effect that are described in the text.
Example: Drip irrigation delivers water to the root of the plant (cause).
That way, less water evaporates into the air (effect).
1.Cause:
Effect:
2.Cause:
Effect:
3.Cause:
Effect:
Your Plate
Look at the MyPlate diagram below. Then look at your
school’s lunch menus. How does your lunch fit into MyPlate?
1
For 7 Generations
When making an important decision, an ages-old Native American
question was, “How will this affect the people seven generations from now?”
What do you think this meant?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
How would thinking like this make a difference in what we do to the environment today?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
1
Compost Essentials
Label the following compost items as “Browns” or “Greens”:
twigs ________________________________
apple core ________________________________
dried leaves ________________________________
straw or hay ________________________________
grass clippings ________________________________
wood chips ________________________________
potato peels ________________________________
melon rind ________________________________
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