FarmBeats for Students in action

  • 3 minutes

FarmBeats for Students program is a fantastic way to introduce students to precision agriculture while integrating technology, data analysis, and AI into their learning. The program equips students with valuable, long-term skills that extend beyond the classroom and into future careers in agriculture, technology, data science, and more.

"With this Microsoft program, my students are learning a strong base of analyzing data and using technology to make decisions. It's preparing them for what's next."

Patrick Desire, Computer Science Teacher, Chicago High School

Extend the learning

Once students complete the FarmBeats for Students curriculum, educators can extend learning by applying their newfound data science, AI, and STEM skills to deeper projects and real-world applications. Consider these examples.

Project based learning

  • Partner with local farms or create your own school garden to monitor soil health and optimize irrigation using sensors.
  • Conduct climate impact studies on regional agriculture using weather data.

Advanced AI applications

  • Have students build AI models to predict crop yields based on historical data.
  • Introduce computer vision techniques to detect plant diseases using Azure AI.

Cross-curricular connections

  • Integrate FarmBeats into geography, exploring how different climates affect food production.
  • Use economics to analyze the cost-benefit of precision farming.

Hackathons and competitions

  • Host school-wide coding competitions where students develop innovative agriculture solutions.
  • Participate in global challenges like the Microsoft Imagine Cup, where students showcase AI-driven farming tech.

Entrepreneurship and career development

  • Have students develop business plans for smart farming startups.
  • Explore careers in agriculture, technology, sustainability, and environmental science.

These extensions keep students engaged while reinforcing AI, coding, and sustainability concepts in real-world applications.

Agricultural education

Through FFA and Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE), Students have many opportunities to learn and develop real-world skills outside of the classroom and beyond the school day.

  • Ownership/entrepreneurship
  • Placement/internship
  • Research
  • Service learning
  • School based enterprise

More information on the guiding principles for implementing SAE for All can be found at this website.

Additional resources

FarmBeats for primary school: Microsoft Dream Space TV Code Green is the latest series from the Dream Space TV crew! This free hands-on educational resource uses FarmBeats for Students and is designed to empower students to take charge of sustainability in their schools using the micro:bit, MakeCode, and basic classroom supplies. Suitable for grades 3rd-6th / ages 8-11. Learn more.

Integrate other hands-on STEM projects into your classroom: Try projects such as analyzing windspeed, increasing power with wind turbines, or measuring water quality. Learn more.

Use the Excel workbook in Microsoft Teams: Create an assignment (FarmBeats for Students) in Microsoft Teams for Education and assign the Excel workbook to individual or small groups of students in a class. Groups turn in one copy of the assignment that is graded separately or together. Learn how.