Relearning Food: Agricultural Literacy in the Elementary School Science Curriculum of Nova Scotia

Abstract

This study uses manifest coding to review the Nova Scotia elementary school science curriculum guides for agricultural literacy content. The codes are derived from peer-reviewed definitions of agricultural literacy. Throughout the entire curriculum, twenty-four of the forty-eight codes emerge at least once. Agricultural literacy connections peak in grade 3 before falling to almost negligible numbers in grade 6. The most common agricultural subject area was “agriculture’s relationship with the environment” followed by “the production of plant products.” More complex issues such as the economic impact and marketing of agriculture are not present. The study concludes that students will attain enough information to know how to do basic gardening but rarely is the connection made to agriculture or food and fiber production.