Meat Science: Pork Unit Study (Flashcards & Printable PDF)

Explore the science behind pork—from anatomy to the dinner table—with this complete learning set for ages 9–13.

The Pork Meat Science & Cut Identification Learning Set combines our Basic Meat Science: Pork printable activity guide and Pork Meat Cut Identification Flashcards into one comprehensive educational resource. Designed around the Explore → Apply → Connect framework, this set helps learners understand how pigs are raised, processed, and used in food production by connecting anatomy, nutrition, and meat science.

Through guided lessons and detailed visuals, kids learn how pork anatomy relates to meat quality and how each cut connects to the animal’s structure. They’ll explore how muscle, bone, and fat composition affect flavor and cooking methods, gaining a deeper appreciation for pork’s role in our food systems. Perfect for home learning, 4-H swine projects, skillathons, or agriculture classrooms.

What’s Included

1) Basics of Meat Science: Pork Printable PDF Unit (40 Pages): instant download upon purchase

WHAT THEY'LL LEARN...

• Importance of Pork - Narrative (15 minutes)
• Pork Nutrition - Activity: Pork Nutrient Matching (30 minutes)
• External Pig Anatomy - Activity: Basic External Swine Anatomy Worksheet (20- 30 minutes)   
• Pork Conformation and Composition: Bone - Activity: Skeletal Bone Identification and Modeling (90 minutes); Activity: Review Leg Skeletal Conformation (15 minutes) 
• Pork Conformation and Composition: Muscle - Activity: Muscle Type and Primal Cut Identification (50 minutes); Activity: Muscle & Primal Cut Model (90 minutes)
• Pork Conformation and Composition: Fat - Activity: Fat Deposition Map (50 minutes) 
• Pork Primal and Retail Cut Identification - Activity: Primal/Retail Pork Cuts Identification (60+ minutes); Activity: Pork Meat Cut Identification Chart (45 minutes)
• Pork Quality - Basic Introduction (20 minutes)
• Pork Cooking Methods - Activity: Cooking Method Definition Cards (60 minutes)
• Basics of Pork Carcass Fabrication - Activity: Videos and Comprehension Worksheets (90+ minutes)   
• Pork Carcass Math - Activity: Worksheet (50 minutes)

Over 12+ hours of material

2) Flashcard Set (25 Cards): Shipped to you 

• Full-color, UV-coated 3” x 5” cards

• Images and descriptions of 4 primal and 17+ retail pork cuts

• Reverse side lists cut name, primal location, characteristics, and best cooking methods

• Durable, easy-to-read format designed for learners ages 9–18

• Images courtesy of the National Pork Board

What Kids Will Learn

• The relationship between pig anatomy, meat structure, and product quality

• How pork cuts are identified and categorized

• The role of pork in human nutrition and global agriculture

• How processing and fabrication connect animals to food systems

Why Educators & Families Love It

• Combines scientific understanding with hands-on learning.

• Perfect for home learning, ag classrooms, or 4-H livestock projects and skillathons.

• Encourages observation, classification, and reasoning skills.

• Designed for beginner and intermediate agriculture learners (ages 9–13).

This resource is also part of our Swine: Exploring Animal Science Bundle and the Animal Science Foundations Bundle, offering a complete path to explore animal agriculture from anatomy and nutrition to production and food systems.

This product is copyrighted and not to be shared, duplicated, or resold. The purchaser of this product has permission to print copies of these materials for immediate family, classroom or group use (ONE COPY). This resource can not be shared with other teachers, group leaders or families. Each is required to purchase this resource, just like if this resource were a physical product.