Improved Rice Production

• This article examines how current rice production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, different techniques that make rice production more sustainable, and the potential benefits of widespread improvements.
• Students will learn that flooded rice paddies lead to methane emissions, that mid-season drainage is one technique that could make rice production more sustainable, and that applying sustainable methods to worldwide rice production can sequester many gigatons of CO₂ equivalent emissions.

Positives

• This article accounts for the cultural implications associated with rice farming.
• This article is concise and easy to understand.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students need to understand how methane emissions impact the Earth's climate.
• Students need to understand the process of decomposition.
• Some students may need the terms hectare, anaerobic, microbe, smallholder, degraded, sequester, and others defined before reading the article.
• The link under References does not work.

Differentiation

• Students can use this article for a research project on how greenhouse gas emissions and food production are connected.
• Teachers can use this article as a conceptual introduction to different types of greenhouse gases and how each one contributes to climate change.
• Students can research the cultural history of rice production and discuss the complications associated with trying to change practices with strong cultural roots.
• This resource pairs well with another Project Drawdown article titled System of Rice Intensification.
• This article can support a lesson on the environmental impact of various agricultural processes.
  

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