How many of you conduct some sort of Ag in the Classroom event in your POA?
How many of you struggle to get your students to write a well organized lesson for said event?
If you are anything like my students and I, we loved to incorporate agricultural literacy into the elementary school! Since our building was K-12, it was extremely convenient to walk down the hall several times throughout the school year to implement an agricultural lesson in the elementary classrooms.
However, just like lesson planning is very time consuming for us teachers who have received professional training and years of experience to aid us in the art of teaching and lesson planning, it can be very overwhelming for high school students to compile a well organized, engaging lesson.
That’s where we come in!
In 2022, The Owl’s Nest teamed up with McCracken Consulting and the Tennessee Corn Growers Association to create a 6-lesson series called From Ear to Everything. This interactive curriculum, aligned to 4-6 grade science standards, helps students see how corn plays a role in their day-to-day lives - from the food they eat to the fuel in their parents’ cars!
The From Ear to Everything lesson series includes the following topics:
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Lesson 1 - All About Corn allows students to compare different varieties of corn and determine the uses for corn in agriculture and society.
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Lesson 2 - Watch It Grow has students determine how different seeds germinate to observe what seeds need to sprout and grow to provide the food we eat.
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Lesson 3 - Save the Soil focuses on students determining how farmers use fertilizers and management practices to conserve soil and increase the growth of corn plants.
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Lesson 4 - Stems & Leaves: Nutrient Highways teaches students about stems and leaves, and how they transport water, nutrients and sugar throughout the corn plant to maximize growth.
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Lesson 5 - How Corn Is Made helps students understand plant reproduction and how corn plants produce ears of corn.
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Lesson 6 - From Corn to Everything dives into how corn is harvested and how it is used after it leaves the field.
In addition to these hands-on lessons, which include instructor guides, instructor resources and student handouts, there is also The Corn League, an interactive game about corn’s uses and lifecycle, and a 7-video series on the lifecycle of corn and its uses in society.
This curriculum and resources are perfect for an ongoing Ag in the Classroom event to be incorporated into your chapter’s POA and National Chapter Application this year, and the best part is…there is zero lesson planning for you or your students!
Check out these resources here and allow The Owl’s Nest to support you and your students this school year!