Ideas for Agricultural Education Activities
Printer-friendly PDF version of
Ideas for Agricultural Education
Activities
Warren County teachers had the opportunity to attend a
Teacher In-Service session during the summers of 2006 and 2008. Listed below
are specific examples from teachers who are incorporating agriculture into
their classroom lessons.
These Teacher In-Service sessions were sponsored by the
Warren County Future of Agriculture Task Force, the Warren County
Conservation District, Penn State Cooperative Extension, and
Penn Soil RC&D.
The Warren County Conservation District and Penn State
Cooperative Extension are also available to help if you have a specific idea
you would like to incorporate into your classroom. We would also like your
input for future Teacher In-Service sessions. The Warren County Conservation
District can be reached at (814) 726-1441 or by email at
hwilcox@wcconservation.net and the Penn State Cooperative Extension can
be reached at (814) 563-9388.
Physical Education | Second Grade Social Studies and
Science | Physical Education and Health
Elementary School | Second Grade |
High School Biology
A Physical Education Teacher:
I hope
to use the GPS information with my Phys. Ed. Classes this spring and I try
to add information about buying local foods available during the nutrition
unit in Health 9. At this time I do not have any specific lesson plans
designated strictly for this information.
A Second Grade Social Studies and
Science Teacher:
I have used several of the things I learned during this
in-service in my classroom.
In Unit 5 of our Social Studies curriculum, Our Country Long
Ago, I teach about the Native Americans in our country as well as our own
area. I was able to use some of what we learned on our nature walk to
enhance my curriculum. In Unit 1, Where We Live, we discuss and compare
urban, suburban, and rural areas. I present to the students the
characteristics of the rural area and discuss the different farms and
agricultural businesses we visited. i.e. Sanford Tree Farm, Meldick Farms,
Hyma/Devore Lumber. Unit 2, Our Earth, also lends itself to further to
discussion of the many natural resources in our area. Much time is spent
discussing our landforms, crops, and what we produce in our area. I teach
about farmers such as Jared Lindell and Scott Wenzel.
I am also able to use or connect some of what we learned to
my science curriculum. I teach a unit about soils which ties directly to
all of the farms we visited, especially Pine-Ton Farms.
A Physical Education and Health
Teacher:
First
of all thank you for this opportunity to be a part of the Agriculture
in-service.
We can
use what we learned in conjunction with careers reinforcement. You brought
to our attention those agricultural careers/areas of interest from the 4
year degree to the high school diploma.
In
physical education we can use the GPS devises for orienteering and outdoor
education. Students would need to be in-serviced in how to use them which
would use spelling, graphing, writing and of course movement exploration.
In the
health areas, we could apply nutrition, recycling (taking care of the earth,
environment) and healthy foods exploration.
As of
now we have not developed a specific lesson plan but hope to do so with the
GPS when they are available
An Elementary School Teacher:
As I
was taught more and more environmental friendly ideas through our training I
became excited about applying this to my classroom and school. This is the
project we undertook.
Sugar
Grove Elementary school children have found a new way to give back to others
while being little environmentalists. When school began this year, we
purchased a piglet that lived at the VanOrd Farm. Each day some helpful
young men took the slop buckets filled with leftovers from the cafeteria and
the school lunches to Mrs. VanOrd’s truck where it went to help feed the
pigs. This cuts the amount of garbage going into the landfill and makes the
children aware of the amount of waste from their lunches.
On each
teachers desk was a little piggy bank that change was collected in to help
supplement the cost of the pig feed. When the pig was ready to leave the
farm the AMVETS of Sugar Grove agreed to sponsor the raffle tickets. A
family in the area won the pig. The proceeds were sent to Heifer Project
International an organization that works with families and communities in
the United States and places all around the globe to end hunger and poverty
while caring for the earth. Sugar Grove Elementary was able to purchase a
pig, a flock of chicks, a flock of ducks and three rabbits to help those in
need.
Thus,
the children are learning a valuable lesson about how giving in little ways
can impact others in many large ways.
We are
planning to continue this project next year. Money for a piglet was saved
from the proceeds.
A Second Grade Teacher:
Much of
what we learned at the teacher-in-service last summer can and has been
applied in the classroom. Some examples of how this has already been
accomplished are listed below.
Rotation of Crops and Rotational Grazing: At our visit to Meldick Farms
there was information shared and evidence of rotational grazing of the beef
cattle and of the chicken enclosure. This idea was introduced in our
reading curriculum with the story of George Washington Carver and his
progressive ideas of rotating cotton with sweet potatoes and peanuts. The
students were able to make the connection when I referred to fields they
have observed in our area that may have corn, hay, or oats rotated year
after year. We discussed how this makes for healthier crops and soil.
Native
Tree Identification: A presenter from Penn State took us on a nature walk
where he identified and shared how Native Americans used trees and plants in
our area. Our social studies curriculum had a unit on Native Americans and
the first settlers of our country. During this unit the students were
taught about the plants and crops that were sowed and harvested at that
time. Students also identified trees native to our area when studying
plants.
Soil:
We took a trip to Pine-Ton Farms where we observed the effects of soil too
cold for proper germination and soil too wet for proper growth of the corn
crop. We are just beginning an in-depth study of soil in our science
curriculum. First we will be learning about the make-up of soil. Then we
will be using information about soils to make observations, predictions, and
hypotheses about plant growth while watching our own seeds sprout and grow.
We will also be observing the changes that worms make to the soil by adding
live worms to individual “compost bags”.
This is
an example of the ways that the knowledge gained during the
teacher-in-service is being used in my classroom.
A High School Biology Teacher:
It’s
been two years, but everything that I learned during that workshop I can
apply in some way. I thinking the most important thing that was emphasized
was how much diversity there is in our county. I, myself, pay more
attention to consuming locally than I used to. Our farmers support a much
more organic way of life which leads to healthy lifestyle.
I apply
this experience in small ways in each of my classes. For example, when we
talk about bacterial antibiotic resistance, we discuss how cows and pigs are
fed and given antibiotics, hormones, etc. When we talk about pollutants, we
discuss farming techniques. Actually, I am teaching a forestry class for
the first time this year, and many of the lessons in the large binder we
received have been very helpful.
JUST
FOR TEACHERS
