Classroom program helps kids connect the dots between the farm and their fork
by Sara Schafer | sschafer@ruralmissouri.coop
by Sara Schafer | sschafer@ruralmissouri.coop
Small hands grip plastic containers filled with cream and shake, shake, shake. Minutes later, eyes widen as the creamy liquid transforms into silky butter. “That’s how you make butter? I’m too scared to eat it,” a third grader squeals. After a little encouragement and the addition of a cracker, the same student says: “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten!”
That light bulb moment is just one of around 200,000 that have happened in Missouri classrooms over the past 15 years. Agriculture Education on the Move (Ag Moves) is a hands-on program from Missouri Farmers Care that brings agriculture lessons into elementary schools. Over 10 weeks, local educators help kids connect the dots between farms, food and the everyday products we all use.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m walking into a tiny classroom in High Point or a big one in Columbia or Kansas City — kids get excited,” says Heather Fletcher, program director for Ag Moves. “It also doesn’t matter whether they’re surrounded by agriculture every day or not, most have no idea where their food comes from.”
Each year, around 10,000 third graders in more than 200 schools spend time learning about everything from the importance of healthy soil to how many stomachs cows have to careers in agriculture. The lessons provide an overview of Missouri agriculture, Heather says, and are tailored to match learning objectives for state and national standards. Thanks to the support of partners across Missouri agriculture, the program is free to schools.
The instructors are local to the community. They can range from the school’s FFA members to retired teachers to farmers. Karson Calvin, who grew up in Troy and is currently studying agriculture education at the University of Missouri, is one of the instructors. He spent his summer with the Ag Moves program, primarily teaching students in Columbia’s summer school program.
“Third graders are curious and have a lot of questions,” Karson says. “I’ve seen so many kids have aha moments, with the first often being around the difference between sweet corn and field corn and why we don’t eat field corn. Once they understand that, sometimes they’ll ask, ‘Then why do we grow so much field corn?’ I explain we feed it to our animals and use it to make byproducts and ethanol. Them asking the why behind what farmers do is always very exciting for me.”
Each lesson is accompanied by an interactive activity. Beyond making butter during the dairy lesson, students make soybean germination necklaces, craft corn plastic with corn starch and learn how to candle eggs. Karson says the soybean necklace activity is always popular, as students can watch their tiny plant sprout and grow throughout the weeks of the program.
Kendra Hall is a third grade teacher at the elementary school in California, Missouri. She has worked with Ag Moves for three years and says even in her rural school, students love the program because it easily connects with their other subjects.
“In third grade we cover Missouri history,” she says. “We talk about Lewis and Clark and how they used meat, hides and fat from buffalo. They can apply that to how we use cattle today.”
The students with farming relatives also love to provide their firsthand experiences, Kendra says. “Since we do the program in the fall, kids are proud to share if their dad is out harvesting in a combine until bedtime,” she says.
In the end, Heather says, the program provides the opportunity for students to build their knowledge of agriculture — and have a little fun. “Those 9- and 10-year-olds are little sponges, and they are so excited to learn; that’s what makes it so rewarding,” she says. “What we love is we’re teaching kids that farmers and ranchers are caring for land and animals 365 days a year.”
To learn more about Missouri Farmers Care’s Agriculture Education on the Move program, visit www.agmoves.com.