Breaking Them Down
Careers in Agriculture
Objective
Students will explore some agriculture-related careers while decoding words
with common suffixes.
Background
The average person works 2,000 hours a year and 80,000 hours in
a lifetime. That means the average person works from age 20 to 60, for an
average of 40 hours a week and 50 weeks a year. Since you will spend most
of your adult life working, you might want to learn about all kinds of career
possibilities.
One of the largest industries in Oklahoma and the US is agriculture.
When people think about agriculture, they usually think about farming, or
production agriculture—growing crops and livestock on the farm or ranch. But
agriculture is much more than that. When you talk about agriculture, you’re
still talking about farming or ranching, but you’re also talking about all the
businesses that process, distribute and market agricultural products, all the
engineers that develop agricultural products, all the scientists that research new
methods for growing and processing food and fighting pests and disease, and
much more.
A few examples of jobs related to agriculture are:
agricultural machinery mechanic
forestry aide
agricultural supplies sales associate
dairy farmer
golf course grounds keeper
game farm manager
vocational agriculture instructor
plant genetics researcher
English Language Arts
1. Read and discuss background and vocabulary.
—Based on the background, students will list all the jobs they can think of
that relate to agriculture.
—Students will each select one of the jobs and use online or library
resources to research and report on the job. Reports should include what a
person in that job does, what education and training is necessary, how much
the job pays, what kinds of companies or organizations employ persons in
the job, etc.
2. Discuss the suffixes -er and -ist. Students will brainstorm to make separate
lists of words to which each of these the suffixes can be added. Add to the
list some of the agricultural careers included with this lesson.
www.agclassroom.org/ok
Oklahoma Academic
Standards
GRADE 3
COMMON CORE
English Language Arts—3.
RI.4,5,7; 3.RF.3ABCD,
4AC; 3.W.2,4,5,6,7,8,10;
3.SL.1A,B,C,D, 4;
3.L.4A,B,D
GRADE 4
COMMON CORE
English Language Arts—4.
RI.4,7,9; RF.3A, 4A,C;
4.W.2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10;
4.SL.1A,B,C,D, 4;
4.L.4A,B,C
GRADE 5
COMMON CORE
English Language Arts—5.
RI.4,7,9; 5.RF.3A, 4A,C;
5.W.2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10;
5.SL.1A,B,C,D, 4 ;
4.L.4A,B,C
Some Careers in
Agriculture
agriculturist
agronomist
arborist
auctioneer
baker
banker
botanist
conservationist
economist
educator
entomologist
farmer
florist
forester
gardener
geneticist
harvester
hydrologist
manager
miller
nutritionist
packer
pathologist
producer
rancher
reporter
trucker
scientist
zoologist
3. Students will discuss the differences between words ending in the “-er”
suffix and those ending in the “-ist” suffix. Both mean “a person who
does an action.”
—Students will look at the list and suggest what makes them different.
The “-er” suffix is most often (but not always) added to a root word that
is a verb, and the “-ist” suffix is most often (but not always) added to a
root word that is a noun.
4. Hand out copies of the student worksheets.
—Students will fill in the blanks by reading the description of the
agricultural career in the center column and adding “-er” or “-ist” to one
of the root words. Students will attempt to find the answers on their own
before working in groups to discuss possible answers and looking up
root words in the dictionary, if necessary.
Extra Reading
Baretta, Gene, Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Ben Franklin, Square
Fish, 2008.
Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie, A Farm of Her Own, Dutton, 2001.
Marsico, Katie, Working on a Farm (Junior 21st Century Library), Cherry
Lake, 2008.
Mayer, Cassie, Farming (Our Global Community), Heinemann, 2007.
Orr, Tamra B., Organic Farmer (Cool Careers), Cherry Lake, 2009.
Owen, Ruth, Growing and Eating Green: Careers in Farming, Marketing
and Producing Food (Green-Collar Careers), Crabtree, 2009.
Pohl, Dathleen, What Happens at a Dairy Farm? (Where People Work),
Weekly Reader, 2006.
Somervill, Barbara A., Food Scientist (Cool Careers), Cherry Lake, 2009.
List of agricultural careers with
clear explanations from Georgia
Agriculture Education
http://www.gaaged.org/Careers_
in_Agriculture/
www.agclassroom.org/ok
Name_________________________________________________________
Breaking Them Down
Job titles ending in “-er”
Many career titles end with the suffix “-er” or “ist.” The suffix “-er” is usually added to a verb to describe
someone who performs a specific action. The difference also has to do with the origin of the root word. If the
origin is Old English or Germanic the suffix -er is used.
Read the definition of the agricultural career in the center column. Add the suffix “-er” to one of the root words
in the column at right to name the the career that matches the definition. If you are stumped, try looking up the
root word in a dictionary.
JOB TITLE
1. farmer
2. _____________________________
3. _____________________________
4. _____________________________
5. _____________________________
6. _____________________________
7. _____________________________
8. _____________________________
9. _____________________________
10._____________________________
11._____________________________
12._____________________________
13._____________________________
DEFINITION
ROOT WORDS
1. a person who works on a farm
2. a person who owns or operates a
ranch
3. a person who works in, operates or
owns a mill
4. a person who manages forests.
5. a person who works in a garden
6. a person who grows or produces
goods or services for sale
7. a person who bakes
8. a person or machine that harvests a
crop
9. a person who drives a truck
10.a person who trains or instructs
11.someone who works for a newspaper,
magazine, blog, radio or TV station
to gather, write, and report news
12.a person who works in a business that
lends, exchanges, takes care of or
issues money
13.a person in charge of an auction
14.a person who looks after and makes
decisions about a farm, business, etc.
15.a person who processes food and
distributes it to retailers
auction
bake
bank
educate
farm
forest
garden
harvest
manage
mill
pack
produce
ranch
report
truck
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Name_________________________________________________________
Breaking Them Down (answers)
Job titles ending in “-er”
Many career titles end with the suffix “-er” or “ist.” The suffix “-er” is usually added to a verb to describe
someone who performs a specific action. The difference also has to do with the origin of the root word. If the
origin is Old English or Germanic the suffix -er is used.
Read the definition of the agricultural career in the center column. Add the suffix “-er” to one of the root words
in the column at right to name the the career that matches the definition. If you are stumped, try looking up the
root word in a dictionary.
JOB TITLE
1. farmer
2. ranch
3. miller
4. forester
5. gardener
6. producer
7. baker
8. harvester
9. trucker
10.educator
11.reporter
12.banker
13.auctioneer
14.manager
15.packer
DEFINITION
ROOT WORDS
1. a person who works on a farm
2. a person who owns or operates a
ranch
3. a person who works in, operates or
owns a mill
4. a person who manages forests.
5. a person who works in a garden
6. a person who grows or produces
goods or services for sale
7. a person who bakes
8. a person or machine that harvests a
crop
9. a person who drives a truck
10.a person who trains or instructs
11.someone who works for a newspaper,
magazine, blog, radio or TV station
to gather, write, and report news
12.a person who works in a business that
lends, exchanges, takes care of or
issues money
13.a person in charge of an auction
14.a person who looks after and makes
decisions about a farm, business, etc.
15.a person who processes food and
distributes it to retailers
auction
bake
bank
educate
farm
forest
garden
harvest
manage
mill
pack
produce
ranch
report
truck
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Name____________________________________________
Breaking It Down
Job titles ending in “-ist”
The suffix “-ist” is usually added to a noun to describe someone who works in a particular field. The difference
also has to do with the origin of the root word. If the word origin is Greek or Latin the suffix -ist is used.
Read the definition of the agricultural career in the center column. Add the suffix “-ist.” to one of the root words
in the column at right to name the the career that matches the definition. If you are stumped, try looking up the
root word in a dictionary.
JOB TITLE
1. agriculturist
2. _____________________________
3. _____________________________
4. _____________________________
5. _____________________________
6. _____________________________
7. _____________________________
8. _____________________________
9. _____________________________
10._____________________________
11._____________________________
12._____________________________
13._____________________________
14._____________________________
15._____________________________
DEFINITION
ROOT WORDS
1. a person who works in the field of
agriculture
2. a person who studies the weather
3. a person who studies insects
4. a person who works with trees
5. a person who studies plants
6. a person who plans food and nutrition
programs and supervises the preparation
and serving of meals
7. a person skilled in science; a scientific
investigator
8. a person who studies diseases
9. a person who helps assess and protect
our water supply and water quality
10.a specialist in the system by which
goods and services are produced, sold,
and bought in a country or region
11.a person who works to protect animals,
plants, and natural resources or to
prevent the loss or waste of natural
resources
12.a person involved in the scientific study
of how genes control the characteristics
of plants and animals
13.a person who deals with the methods
used by farmers to raise crops and care
for the soil
14.a person who works with animal life
15.a person who studies fish and works to
solve problems with fish environments
agriculture
agronomy
arbor
botany
conservation
economy
entomology
genetics
hydrology
ichthyology
meteorology
nutrition
pathology
science
zoology
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Name____________________________________________
Breaking It Down (answers)
Job titles ending in “-ist”
The suffix “-ist” is usually added to a noun to describe someone who works in a particular field. The difference
also has to do with the origin of the root word. If the word origin is Greek or Latin the suffix -ist is used.
Read the definition of the agricultural career in the center column. Add the suffix “-ist.” to one of the root words
in the column at right to name the the career that matches the definition. If you are stumped, try looking up the
root word in a dictionary.
JOB TITLE
1. agriculturist
2. meteorologist
3. entomologist
4. arborist
5. botanist
6. nutritionist
7. scientist
8. pathologist
9. hydrologist
10.economist
11.conservationist
12.geneticist
13.agronomist
14.zoologist
15.ichthyologist
DEFINITION
ROOT WORDS
1. a person who works in the field of
agriculture
2. a person who studies the weather
3. a person who studies insects
4. a person who works with trees
5. a person who studies plants
6. a person who plans food and nutrition
programs and supervises the preparation
and serving of meals
7. a person skilled in science; a scientific
investigator
8. a person who studies diseases
9. a person who helps assess and protect
our water supply and water quality
10.a specialist in the system by which
goods and services are produced, sold,
and bought in a country or region
11.a person who works to protect animals,
plants, and natural resources or to
prevent the loss or waste of natural
resources
12.a person involved in the scientific study
of how genes control the characteristics
of plants and animals
13.a person who deals with the methods
used by farmers to raise crops and care
for the soil
14.a person who works with animal life
15.a person who studies fish and works to
solve problems with fish environments
agriculture
agronomy
arbor
botany
conservation
economy
entomology
genetics
hydrology
ichthyology
meteorology
nutrition
pathology
science
zoology
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.