AGRICULTURAL GRAND CHALLENGES ARE "INTERTWINED WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES IN THE NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE" (NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, 2009A, P. 4). RECOGNIZING THE SYSTEM DYNAMICS, DEVELOPING SKILLS (E.G., 21ST CENTURY SKILLS) TO COPE WITH COMPLEXITY, AND MAKING SCIENTIFICALLY AND MATHEMATICALLY SOUNDED DECISIONS ARE IMPORTANT OUTCOMES TO SOLVE A REAL-WORLD PROBLEM IN A COMPLEX DESIGNED SYSTEM (DYM ET AL., 2005). TO SOLVE THE GRAND CHALLENGES FACING AGRICULTURE, INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION IS INEVITABLE. IN K-12 EDUCATION, PROFESSIONAL STEM SOCIETIES, SUCH AS THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION (ASEE), NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING (NAE), AND THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (NRC), CALL FOR USING INTEGRATED STEM (ISTEM) AS NEW EDUCATIONAL APPROACHES THAT FOCUS ON HANDS-ON, INTERDISCIPLINARY, AND SOCIALLY RELEVANT ASPECTS OF STEM TO IMPROVE K-12 STEM EDUCATION. INTEGRATED STEM TEACHING APPROACHES ATTEMPT TO MIRROR SOLVING A REAL-WORLD PROBLEM IN A COMPLEX DESIGNED SYSTEM AND HELP STUDENTS MAKE SENSE OUT OF THE FRAGMENTED AND DEPARTMENTALIZED KNOWLEDGE THAT IS TYPICALLY TAUGHT IN DISCIPLINARY SILOS.BY COLLABORATING HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS WITH PURDUE SCIENTISTS FROM THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, AND SCIENTISTS TO CO-DEVELOP ISTEM AND AFNR EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES THAT IS SOLIDLY GROUNDED IN AGRO-ECOSYSTEM THINKING, THE PROPOSED PROJECT AIMS TO INCREASE RURAL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS' STEM TEACHING CAPACITY, AND TO EQUIP HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' CRITICAL AND SYSTEM THINKING, AND DATA-BASED DECISION MAKING SKILLS BY SOLVING INDUSTRY-BASED REAL-WORLD AFNR DESIGN CHALLENGES FROM PRE-HARVEST TO POST-HARVEST THEMES. THE PROJECT IS NOVEL IN ITS FOCUS ON USING ISTEM IN A CONTEXT OF REAL-WORLD AFNR COMPLEX SYSTEM (E.G. HYDROPONICS AND FOOD SYSTEM), AND AGRO-ECOSYSTEMS THINKINGTO ENGAGE STUDENTS TO CONSIDER DESIGN TRADEOFFS TO DEVELOP AND PRACTICES DATA-BASED DECISION MAKING WHEN THEY SOLVE PROBLEMS. THE PROJECT IS GROUNDED IN AND WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THEORY AND RESEARCH ON TEACHING AND LEARNING IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STEM INTEGRATION, PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES OF DATA-BASED DECISION-MAKING, SYSTEMS THINKING, AND POTENTIALLY IMPACT ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' CAREER CHOSES. THESE NEW INSIGHTS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF FUTURE INTERDISCIPLINARY ISTEM PROJECTS INVOLVE DATA-BASED DECISION MAKING BY USING AGRO-ECOSYSTEMS THINKINGSITUATED IN AFNR REAL-WORLD DESIGN CHALLENGES THAT COULD BE ADAPTED IN ANY HIGH SCHOOL IN RURAL AMERICA.