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Students learned about automatic milking
machines...
grinding wheat into flour...
and what it takes to be a farmer.
"Obviously, the communications skills they
gain here are great and they also learn citizenship skills and just the
knowledge of dealing with products.”
Roy Turley
UK Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development in Clark County |
By Aimee Nielson
WINCHESTER, Ky., (Nov. 16, 2005) – Most elementary-age students put pizza on
their favorite foods list. A traveling hands-on learning program is teaching
students the importance of agriculture by starting with pizza’s first ingredient
– soil.
Organizers of “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” recently spent a week in Clark
County teaching the importance of agriculture to more than 2,600 students. The
program is presented by COSI on Wheels, of Columbus, Ohio.
“In the (beginning) assembly, we teach them that their food all comes from the
soil,” said Rori Preston, outreach demonstrator for COSI and Chef Parmesan to
students. “So we’re making pizza, but we start from the soil. It’s important to
teach them this because a lot of kids don’t realize they can’t just go to the
grocery store and pick up some food; it actually has to come from somewhere.
It’s a good thing to teach them that farms are important and all the things they
do for us.”
Roy Turley, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension agent for 4-H youth
development in Clark County, said one of his 4-H volunteer leaders heard about
the program and wanted to get Clark County involved. Turley and other 4-H
leaders applied for and were awarded a $5,000 grant through the Clark County
Community Foundation to carry out the program in the county’s schools.
“A lot of these young boys and girls do not have the exposure to or the
opportunity in agriculture,” he said. “We’re bringing them into a setting like
this, where they get to have their hands in the soil to test the Ph. They get to
look at the animals and food products that come from agriculture. They get to
imitate milking a cow. These are things they may not another opportunity to do
again in their lifetime, except book-wise in a middle school or high school
classroom.”
With assistance from Derby the Horse, the program mascot, Preston taught
students about every facet of agriculture that takes place before the students
can have a slice of pizza. Afterwards, the students rotated through six stations
for hands-on activities such as milking a cow, grinding wheat into flour,
testing soil, sowing seeds and learning where food products fit into the Food
Guide Pyramid.
“It’s very rewarding if you’re there that one moment when a child gets something
that maybe they didn’t know before – that ‘a-ha’ moment,” she said. “At each
station they are doing things hands-on. We want them to be questioning things
and figuring things out on their own.”
The program is aligned with Kentucky’s Core Content for Science Assessment,
which provides administrators, teachers and students with a structure on which
to build from year to year. It also provides a consistent curriculum so that all
students in a grade level will be learning the same topics. COSI also works to
ensure programs align with National Science Standards.
Turley believes the interactive program is not only a good tool for learning
about agriculture, but also for developing other traits in students.
“Reaching all boys and girls…what an opportunity for leadership,” he said.
“Hopefully some of these boys and girls will be our leaders in the future.
Obviously only 1 percent of the population is feeding all the others. A few of
these young boys and girls may consider becoming a farmer. Obviously, the
communications skills they gain here are great and they also learn citizenship
skills and just the knowledge of dealing with products.”
“Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” is reaching more than 25 Kentucky counties
during the 2005-2006 school year. It is funded by the Kentucky Department of
Agriculture, West Kentucky Growers Co-op, Kentucky Agriculture and Environment
in the Classroom Inc., Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association and the Kentucky Pork
Producers.
Writer:
Aimee Nielson
859-257-4736, ext. 267
Contact:
Roy Turley 859-744-4682
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