How Turf Grass Lawns Became the Largest Irrigated Crop in the U.S.

• This video discusses the popularity and growth of lawns in the United States, showing clips of commercials and ads from many decades ago. 
• It highlights the large amount of land used for lawns and the water, pesticides, fertilizers, and gas-powered lawn equipment required to maintain them, making them polluting and sterile environments. 
• It also showcases examples of native plants, rain gardens, food gardens, and other grass-like options to use instead of a monoculture carpet of high-maintenance grass. 
  

Positives

• The historical context and examples in this video may help students understand the influence of media on society.
• There are a number of solutions presented that students could take action on in their communities.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• One of the historical ads presented in this video may be seen as disrespectful to women and/or religious individuals, so you may want to address this with students or skip to 0:26 in the video.
• There may be ads before the video.
• The link to the Metropolitan Integration Research Center and the link to "tips for what to do with your own lawn" do not work.

Differentiation

• Advanced students could use this video to supplement this topic and then write a paper persuading their school, city, county, or home owner's association to convert a percentage of their turf grass to edible plants, a garden, and/or native trees, bushes, and flowers.
• Pausing the video to explain concepts or review terminology may be helpful for some students.
• A discussion and reflection paper could be completed after the video to allow students to assess their feelings about the content presented and think critically about solutions.
• Other resources about this topic include this interactive media and data resource about nitrogen pollution, this video about biodiversity, and this mini-unit about water pollution.
  

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.