Students will examine an aerial photograph of a terraced farm field. The clue questions will introduce students to the terms terrace, buffer strip and contour farming. In Iowa, terraces and buffer strips are used to prevent the run-off that destroys topsoil and pollutes streams and rivers.
During the follow-up activity students will be introduced to terracing as a farming practice throughout the world. In many locations and climates for thousands of years, people have farmed the slopes of mountains and hills by creating terraces.
As an application of these concepts, students will make observations of Stone City, an important and famous painting by Grant Wood. Students should apply sound principles of contour farming when observing the painting. Then they will draw their own version of the painting by adding contour farming with terraces and buffer strips.
CAUSE | EFFECT |
Heavy rains | Flooding along rivers and streams |
Choosing to smoke cigarettes | Increased risk of lung cancer |
Working hard on school assignments | Higher grades |
The Quality of Our Nation's Water
The EPA provides extensive information on the sources of pollution affecting our nation's rivers and streams.
Water Quality and Farming Practices in an Agricultural Watershed
Do Farming Practices Affect Water Quality?
National Water Quality Assessment Resources
Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey on Sources, Transport, and Fate of Agricultural Chemicals
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