Proceedings available at: www.extension.org/67593/ Many of today’s high school students have little insight into the basic day-to-day operational decisions and challenges faced by Agricultural producers. Therefore, there is a need for the development of ag-centric and dynamic educational material. Furthermore; there is an even greater need to provide high-school instructors with innovative classroom materials and instructional tools that are conducive to the structured conveyance of ag principles. Targeting the need for these innovative ag educational materials within Arkansas classrooms, this project presents an dynamic lab activity with emphasis on introductory level subject matter about Arkansas swine production systems and the related greenhouse gas emissions. Due to the particular nature of the subject matter, the activity materials were crafted into two complementary products for practicality. The first product is a compilation of swine production reference materials including: terminology and layman definitions of Arkansas swine management strategies and the basic dynamics of greenhouse gasses (CO2, N2O, CH4) as they relate to swine production. The second product is a scenario based critical thinking exercise, implemented from a manipulative decision-tree platform.

1. Szymanski “Rick” Fields II, Program Associate, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Extension
Karl VanDevender, Professor-Engineer, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Extension
Youth Ag. Greenhouse Gas Educational Lab Materials
via Pork Production Scenarios
Project objectives
1. Educate students within the state of Arkansas about the
various management systems intrinsic to swine
production operations within their state.
2. Provide students insight into the management obstacles
that Arkansas swine producers are challenged with
through balancing Carbon footprints, economic
resources, natural resources, and legal compliance with
production profitability
Introduction
Many of today’s high school students have little insight into
the basic day-to-day operational decisions and challenges
faced by Agricultural producers. Therefore, there is a need
for the development of ag-centric and dynamic educational
material. Furthermore; there is an even greater need to
provide high-school instructors with innovative classroom
materials and instructional tools that are conducive to the
structured conveyance of ag principles. Targeting the need
for these innovative ag educational materials within
Arkansas classrooms, this project presents an dynamic lab
activity with emphasis on introductory level subject matter
about Arkansas swine production systems and the related
greenhouse gas emissions.
A. Introduces basic ideas and practices
native to swine production and GHGs
B. Guides in the completion of the
second product (lab activity).
2. A scenario based critical thinking
exercise, implemented from a hierarchal and
manipulative decision-tree platform. (see
figure 1)
A. Categories, Components, and
Options. The “Categories” are the
designated ranking class and will
represent three major swine
production management systems:
I. Housing Management
II. Waste Management
III. Feed Management
B. The “Components” represent various
functions/considerations that
comprise each “Category” of
production system.
C. The “Options” class holds the lowest
position within the hierarchy and
represents the different
configurations/settings for the
individual “Components”.
For the context of this activity the students will act as
consultants hired by a producer to design the three
management systems (via the flashcards) to “best
match” the producer’s desired specifications, as
outlined by a supplied catalogue of unique swine
production scenarios
Project Outcomes
Feedback generated from implementation of initial student
trials indicated that the stated objectives were successfully
fulfilled. However, upon further review by project
collaborators the level of complexity and detail supplied by
this version of the lab-activity was deemed to be more
appropriate for college level and adult education settings.
Current work is focused on developing a complementary
and information oriented activity, which will be utilized as
both a preparatory mechanism and a stand alone activity.
Acknowledgements
This is a NIFA funded project (Proposal # 2010-04269; Title
of Proposal “Integrated Resource Management Tool to
Mitigate the Carbon Footprint of Swine Produced in the
U.S”)
Special thanks to Donna VanDevender (High School Science
Teacher-Bauxite, Arkansas) for her insight into the
development of the materials and for providing the
opportunity to conduct trial runs of the lab-activity.
Project Activities
The educational outputs of this effort were crafted into two
complementary products.
1. Swine production reference materials including:
terminology and layman definitions of Arkansas swine
management strategies and the basic-dynamics of
common greenhouse gasses (CO2, N2O, CH4) as they
relate to this activities scope of swine production.
Figure 1