AITC Canada Resource Listing

Celebrate the richness, diversity, and ingenuity of Canadian agriculture with this full anthology of the Great Canadian Farm Tour. This complete collection brings together every stop from coast to coast to coast, showcasing the people, practices, and stories that shape our nation’s food system. From innovative family farms to culturally rooted traditions and cutting‑edge sustainability, this series offers an inspiring, panoramic look at the farms and farmers who nourish Canada.

Celebrate Ontario Agriculture Week in your classroom with this new resource kit! This resource includes curriculum connections, lesson plans, and activities designed to help students explore Ontario agriculture and its connections to their everyday lives. Activities are adaptable for Grades 2–8 and can be used throughout Ontario Agriculture Week or anytime during the school year.

Dive into Soil Sustainability with this new activity that explores the importance of Canada's soil in regards to growing food! This resource includes curriculum connections, activity instructions and a reflection page. Great for grades 3-8 classes.

The #MyFoodChoice resource is an inquiry based resource where students will lead their own research, to answer the question of "How can I make informed food choices?" Through the five lessons students will develop critical thinking skills by utilizing interactive student sheets, engaging videos, and more.

This resource allows for grade 7-12 students to explore and learn about Ontario's aquaculture industry, potential careers available as well as how to start an aquaculture business. What is fish farming, why is it important and how are fish produced? Learn more about Aquaculture in Ontario with this Teacher Guide that was designed with the support of and in collaboration with the Ontario Aquaculture Association.

Take a look at our A to Z of Food and Farming Activity Kit! Explore all sorts of agriculture and food topics with students.

Joining us on this episode is Darren Anderson, who is co-founder and CEO of Vive Crop Protection. Darren talks to us about his path from science to agriculture and biotech business owner, and how students can prepare for a career in entrepreneurship. Vive Crop Protection makes more sustainable and effective pesticides for growers, enabling them to get the best results from the products they use. Darren wasn’t always on the path to agriculture and entrepreneurship, but while at university he was influenced by speakers at his school who would come and discuss how they used their science background for entrepreneurship. The most important thing is to not be afraid of failure. Failure is the only way to learn. To help spread this message, Darren began a tutoring business to aid students. As a business owner, Darren does need to hire, and he needs to hire people with a wide range of skills. Chemists in different specializations, regulatory scientists, and safety personnel are all sought-after roles that wouldn’t normally be thought of. Darren talks about the value of failure in building a career, building teams and the skillsets those teams need, and the soft people skills essential to running a modern company.

Joining us on this episode is Mike Schreiner, the Leader of the Green Party of Ontario and a member of the Provincial Parliament for Guelph. Mike is here not to talk politics, but to discuss his lifelong passion for food and agriculture. Before politics, Mike was an entrepreneur and advocate for the local food movement. Mike grew up on a cash crop farm, raising crops and cattle. He worked from 7 am to 7 pm almost every day, and to entertain himself he would practice political speeches by himself. This led to a lifelong interest in politics and brought him to the Green Party, along with his food-based entrepreneurship. He wanted to help build the sustainable food movement in Ontario and knew policy change could only come from within. Since he began his political journey, the perception of food and agriculture has shifted. Mike wants to spread the connection between farmers and consumers. There’s a greater appreciation for where food comes from and how it’s produced. Social media, for all its downsides, is a great tool for farmers and producers to show people how their environments operate. When it comes to bridging the rural/urban divide, a leader can help by educating. It’s about communicating why some farmers do things one way over the other and what the market needs. Even during the pandemic, projects like backyard gardens and community gardens were valuable tools to educate. It’s also important to publicize the loss of farmland and how important it is to protect it. With the disappearance of farmland comes food shortages and price increases. It’s something that needs to be preserved.

Joining us on this episode is Graham Hill from the non-profit Food for Life. The organization’s mission is to rescue food, impact lives, and give everyone access to healthy food. They aim to cut food waste, and Graham is here to discuss his career pathway and the organization's work to rescue and distribute fresh food to neighbours in need through community partnerships. Graham has a varied background, initially being a scuba diving instructor. He then became involved in charity before going to school to obtain a post-grad degree in Fundraising and Volunteer management. After working for various organizations involved with health, he came to work at the food bank, which evolved into his role at Food for Life. Staying true to your values is essential to working in the non-profit sector. Sometimes it means stepping out of your comfort zone to grow. For Graham, he wanted to create an impact on the world. What problems do you want to solve? Look for a culture that fits you. Billions of dollars worth of food go to waste every year. There is unavoidable food waste and avoidable food waste. Avoidable waste comes about with things like expiry dates, slightly misshapen, or discolored vegetables. Food for Life takes food that’s rejected and picks it up, sharing it with other charities and people. Just this last year they rescued 5 million pounds of food. If you are considering working for a non-profit but aren’t sure in what capacity, there are many aspects to an organization, from transport to accounting, and a wide range of skills are in demand. When it comes to the effects of the pandemic, it’s clear that it had a huge impact on organizations and recipients in the sector. Accessibility is key as life evolves.

Would you like to know about all the programs and resources AgScape has to offer? This document summarizes what we offer, where it can be located, what Specialist High Skills Major Program it relates to, as well as our many career-type related programs and resources.

These infographics will help students discover the various crops and livestock that are grown in Canada, define arable land and the various types of soil in Ontario as well as help students discover government influences on agriculture at all 3 levels. They will also help students learn about inputs that improve production, and the effect of climate on what we grow and food distribution.

Students will learn about and identify various products and by-products that come from different plants and animals. Students will further discuss the importance of biodiversity in plants and animals to humans.

Worms play a very important role in maintaining healthy soil so that we can grow healthy food. Get to know Alex the worm in this fun, educational book to learn all about this topic!

Learn all about the characteristics and applications of soil, and have your students plant a garden into nursery pots in your classroom. Then, watch your plants grow and make observations over the next six weeks.

This Activity Kit provides your students with some simple activities to help you learn All about Eggs!

Touching on various subject areas from health and physical education to social studies, science, careers, and technology this resource aims to provide an overview of the practices involved in the production of Beef in Ontario from farm to table.

Touching on various subject areas from health and physical education to social studies, science, geography, and careers, this resource aims to provide an overview of the practices involved in the production and distribution of dry beans in Ontario from farm to table.

This comprehensive resource includes a Teacher’s Guide, providing an overview of egg farming in Ontario, as well as three interdisciplinary lesson plans targeting grades K-3, grades 4-6 and grades 7-8. Many different and relevant themes such as the farm-to-table process of egg farming (K-3), the nutrients of eggs as a part of a healthy diet (4-6) and careers linked to the egg farming industry (7-8) are covered in the lesson plans provided.

This Teacher's Guide, for grades 7-12, allows students and teachers to explore the world of genomics in agriculture and food. Teachers can use the Teacher's Guide to expand their knowledge of genomics, then couple that with 3 interactive lesson plans that use coding, experiments, Ontario-focused case studies, career exploration and much more. These lesson plans also help students understand genomics in agriculture and food related to the context of animal welfare, food security and climate change. Pair this teachers's guide with a recording of a live event with Michael Dorrington, a geneticist at Ontario Genomics.

This comprehensive resource includes a Teacher’s Guide, providing an overview of pork farming in Ontario, as well as three interdisciplinary lesson plans targeting grades 5&6, grades 7 & 8 and grades 9 &10. Many different and relevant themes such as Animal Health & Welfare (Nutrition & Careers) (5-6), Animal Health & Welfare (Technology & Careers) (7-8) and Animal Health & Welfare (Sustainability & Careers) (9-10) are covered in the lesson plans provided.

These infographics provide an introduction to the elements of responsible animal care, statistics about livestock farming in Canada, and the methods used to keep farm animals healthy.

Students will identify the needs of animals and compare it to their own needs for shelter, food and water. Students will design and label a barn or home for a specific animal to ensure its survival. Students will create a collage illustrating the sections of Canada’s Food Guide to serve as a reminder of the need for a balanced diet for humans.

Download our printable activities to go along with the Virtual Field Trip! Pick and choose the activities work for your class and learn all about Ontario apples.

Take your students on a virtual trip to Ardent Mills! Download the activity kit and pick and choose from an assortment of activities that you can do with your class to learn more about flour milling and grains. There are activities appropriate for grades K-8.

Pair this virtual field trip with the activity kit to take a closer look at a beef farm in Ontario! Join Megan as she shows you around her cow-calf pair farm and tells you all about how she cares for the animals. This printable activity kit includes an assortment of activities that you can do with your class. There are activities appropriate for grades K-8, just pick the one you like and print it off!

In collaboration with Farm & Food Care Ontario, this is a compilation of commonly asked questions, answers and facts related to beekeeping.

Before the Plate is a documentary that attempts to close the gap between the urban consumer and farming in Canada. Follow young farmers and industry experts to learn what a modern Canadian farm operation looks like, and discuss the most pressing questions consumers have about their food. Be sure to check out the comprehensive, curriculum-linked Student Guide we have created to supplement the viewing of this documentary.

These infographics provide definitions of plant biotechnology and explores the research and assessment required to get a genetically engineered crop to market. Also included are stories, controversies, and breakthroughs in biotechnology.

Take your students on a virtual trip to a Bison Farm! Download the activity kit and pick and choose from an assortment of activities that you can do with your class to learn more about the bison and their history. There are activities appropriate for grades K-8.

Read this storybook and get to know Blossom, a busy honey bee who is on a mission to pollinate her flowers until they mature into fruit. Learn about the role bees play in environment, including collecting nectar for their hive and pollinating flowers.