Educational Resources

The Iowa Beef Industry Council is pleased to offer highly qualified peer-reviewed educational materials to Iowa teachers. These materials are made available by the beef checkoff, which is paid by Iowa cattle producers to fund beef education, promotion, and research programs.

These materials are free for Iowa teachers.  Some materials may be downloaded and reproduced.  Educators living outside Iowa may contact their State Beef Council.

The Iowa Beef Industry Council has developed a resource to help teach about where our food comes from. Two PowerPoint presentations and accompanying activities may be downloaded to teach students about cattle and the beef we get from them. Teachers have asked for photos of cattle, so the presentations contain many photos. While not all classrooms have technology to show PowerPoint presentations, the presentations can each be printed on a color printer and be read as a booklet.

This entire disc may be ordered from the Iowa Beef Industry Council by emailing your name and mailing address to beef@iabeef.org.

A Letter to the Educator (Word doc) – how to use the PowerPoint presentations; science and social studies standards; objectives; list of activities included.

Wow That Cow! (PowerPoint) … a lesson on Cows for lower elementary students.

My Cheeseburger Came from the Farm! (PowerPoint) … a lesson on where cheeseburgers come from for upper elementary students.

Activities and Lessons (zip file of Word docs) … for lower and upper elementary, and secondary students

Helpful Information (zip file of Word docs) … Beef industry facts and figures; vocabulary; additional website resources.

General Agriculture Education Resources

From the Iowa Agricultural Awareness Coalition (IAAC) an alliance of public and private organizations and individuals who work together to increase agricultural literacy among Iowa school children grades K-12.

IAAC's members include commodity organizations, agricultural educators, and public institutions interested in increasing Iowans' understanding of the importance of agriculture to our economy and our everyday life.

• Agricultural Issue Fact Sheets - these booklets explain how Iowa farmers produce grain and livestock. They may be downloaded from a pdf file at www.agaware.org click on the Free Lessons link and then at the bottom of the page you will find Fact Sheets for 6th-12th Grades.
• Animal Care
• Water Quality
• Pest Management
• Soil Conservation
• Check out the IAAC website for education resources and lesson plans.

Iowa Resources - available from the Iowa Beef Industry Council

Resource Order Forms -

• Educational Resources Order Form (PDF)

Grade Level:	Title	Description
K-1	Power Up with Lean Beef! coloring page	Coloring page that teaches about MyPyramid for kids and beef's nutrients; has take-home recipe to share with parents.   One per student or youth; free. Click to download PDF.
2-3	Wow that Cow!	Coloring page with maze about the farm-to-table story of raising beef cattle. Has information on beef by-products. One per student or youth; free. Click to download PDF.
Lower elementary Upper elementary	Wow that Cow! My Cheeseburger Came from a Farm! (see Beef. From Our Farm to Your Table  to download the PowerPoint)	Computer disc containing two PowerPoint presentations that can be used by individual students, shown to the class with an LCD projector or television screen, or printed off to form a booklet to read. Contains classroom activity handouts, lesson plans, volunteer presentation outline. Both presentations focus on cattle and their role in our environment, and the beef farm-to-table story. One disc free per teacher or can be dowloaded as described above.
Elementary	Power Up with Lean Beef!	Great beef recipes just for kids in this leaflet geared to elementary children. Easy step-by-step directions teach kids basic cooking skills and safe food handling. Includes easy recipes, nutrition information related to MyPyramid for kids, fun educational activities and a food diary encouraging healthy food choices.