At the National Science Teachers Association annual conference and tradeshow, teachers sample hands-on activities they can use to teach about soil science. The free curriculum was developed by the Nutrients for Life Foundation. > eighth-grade kids walk through my door who have never grown a plant from a seed, even in rural Iowa in a school with only 900 kids,” says Meggers. “We take it for granted that everybody knows how to plant a plant.” Like Meggers, Bridge fi nds that most of her Florida school’s 3,000 students have little connection with the land. “We do not have an agriculture program,” she says. “Even though we live in what used to be the heart of a citrus growing area, in a survey at the beginning of the year my students responded that food comes from the grocery store. If pushed, they will clarify that answer with an explanation that food is delivered to the back of the store in trucks and then put on shelves.” To reach as many students as possible, the NFLF partnered with Discovery Education a year ago to create new digital content around soil science. Called “From the Ground Up: The Science of Soil,” the new digital curriculum includes its own website with videos, interactive lesson plans and other content that can work alone or in tandem with other NFLF materials in middle school classrooms. “Discovery has 2 million teachers in its network and its 5,000-acre corn and soybean operation, as well as the farm’s seasonal Christmas tree and pumpkin production businesses. “Not everybody has the opportunity to visit a farm,” says Fertilizer use effi ciency in U.S. corn production is at an all-time high. In 2010, farmers nearly doubled production while using fewer nutrients for each bushel than in 1980. Source: National Agriculture Statistics Service, USDA credibility is off the charts,” says Wegmeyer. “Our partnership is reaching more urban teachers than our Nutrient for Life resources had been reaching. We are suburban and rural; we have some urban reach, but not nearly to the extent that Discovery does.” Year two of the Discovery partnership will include a spring virtual fi eld trip to Bomke’s Patch, a farm near Springfi eld, Ill., where students will learn about the Wegmeyer. “But because it’s a virtual fi eld trip, anybody can go. The kids can sit in a classroom and go to the farm.” Three new videos will be produced for the program, along with three new family activities. A Fight for the Future In a world with a growing population, food production and food security will become increasingly important economic and political issues in coming decades. The NFLF’s mission is to “foster an understanding and appreciation of fertilizer’s vital role in raising healthy crops to feed a hungry world.” With its newest segment just released, “Feeding the World and Protecting the Environment,” the NFLF worked with teachers across the country to develop a complex, rigorous curriculum to be used in high school advanced placement (AP) environmental science classrooms. As with its other NFLF curriculum, it went through a review to meet high standards, including review from an AP College Board educator. Like previous NFLF off erings, the curriculum is free to teachers, helping to fi ll a need in schools. It makes no apologies for fertilizer, and it’s helping to shape attitudes and open minds about what fertilizer is and what it isn’t. “In AP environmental science, fertilizer is a huge component of biogeochemical cycles,” says Wegmeyer. “In the educational environment, we need to discuss fertilizer based on facts and science. In this piece, we’re talking about the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework — the importance of the right product at the right time in the right place at the right rate. Students need to understand that, too.” Such a message isn’t always easily received. In March 2011, Nancy Bridge was invited to speak about earlier curriculum to teachers at a San Francisco conference. The atmosphere became tense when the subject of fertilizer came up. “It was like a giant tornado sucked the air out of the room,” she recalls. “My job then was to recover and bring them back.” Bridge began to discuss nutrition and healthy soils for healthy plants and healthy 14 MAY/JUNE 2015 CHSINC.COM