The Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection contains resources for formal and non-formal agricultural educators working with middle school aged youth. Reference materials for facilitators introduce key concepts, youth-facing fact sheets present these concepts at a 6th grade level, and four hands-on activities integrate agriculture and cyberbiosecurity concepts.
Cyberbiosecurity is an emerging field that focuses on creating security measures for digital aspects of our food and agriculture systems, creating a structure and opportunity for a safe food system that can meet the large needs of a growing population and world. The Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection was developed through a project aimed at supporting formal and non-formal agricultural educators in integrating cyberbiosecurity topics and research-based strategies for engaging middle-school-aged girls in STEM into their educational programs. The project is an outreach effort of the Virginia Tech Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture and was supported, in part, by the CCI Southwest Virginia Node Cyberbiosecurity Seed Grant program and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields (WAMS) Grants Program, award #2020-38503-31950. The open educational resources in this collection were developed through partnerships with scientists, middle school teachers, and Extension agents.
Included Resources
1: Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Reference Guide, which includes background information on key topics in agricultural cyberbiosecurity (Fact Sheets), a glossary, and context for the overall project and contributors
2: Fact Sheets, which cover nine topics (Big Data, Bioeconomy, Biomanufacturing, Biosecurity, Biotechnology, Cyberbiosecurity, Data Literacy, Precision Agriculture, Sensor) with separate facilitator and youth versions
3: Activities, which includes a Facilitator Guide and a Youth Activity Guide that address vulnerabilities in agricultural systems, traceability in hydroponic greens production, cybersecurity concerns with technologies commonly used in the livestock industry, and data quality in automation of food production.
MS Word documents are available as an editable, customizable option for items 1-3.
Resources were developed for use with a middle school youth audience, can be used in formal or non-formal educational settings, and are aligned with Virginia Standards of Learning for science and computer science and Career and Technical Education Competencies for agricultural education.
Are you reviewing or adopting this book for a course? Please help us understand your use by filling out this form.
