Through the Adopt-A-Cow: Beef lessons, youth in grades 3-5 will embark on an adventure to learn about raising beef in South Dakota. Youth will travel back in time to the Dakota Territory and explore a time when beef cattle were first becoming a part of the landscape. From there, youth will create their own cattle brand, learn about cattle traits, and discover how to care for livestock. They will also explore the value that these animals provide to the South Dakota workforce and economy as they dive into how beef arrives at the grocery store and the many byproducts produced. Throughout the program, youth will also engage with a South Dakota beef calf and its mother through videos.
Lessons are designed to be approximately fifty minutes in length; however, each lesson has extra content for youth to explore. This extra content is designed to help youth further explore beef production, but also further address education standards. These extras can be utilized in conjunction with the lesson, or at a later time. A list of books about beef production has also been provided to encourage additional exploration of beef.
Each lesson can serve as stand-alone activity, or the lessons can be utilized chronologically. If lessons are being utilized in chronological order, youth engagement can be enhanced by establishing teams of youth. Teams as small as two or as large as five would work depending on class size. These teams will work together for the entirety of the program to create their own ranch. As a ranch they will:
- Create a name for their ranch
- Design a ranch brand and/or several brands (each ranch hand may have their own brand)
- Identify the genetics of their calves
- Create ear tags for their cattle
- Manage the health of their herd
- Mix up nutritious feed rations for their herd
Beef to School FAQ
Explore our Frequently Asked Questions About Beef to School in South Dakota guide to learn how to integrate locally sourced beef into school nutrition programs.