Registration is now open for Chick it Out 2020!
Classrooms registered for Chick it Out will receive 1 dozen fertilized chicken eggs from University of Illinois campus and enough chicken feed to last the few days you have your chicks. Incubator, egg turner, candler and embryology curriculum are available for check-out from the University of Illinois Extension Office.
Challenge your students to defeat the dead zones!
In this challenge, students will learn about the impact of runoff in rural and urban areas and its effects on the environment as well as plan for solutions to this growing issue of dead zones, hypoxia, and overall water quality.
Students will research, students will design, test and demonstrate a solution to answer the question: How can we improve the quality of our runoff and, in turn, reduce dead zones in our water resources?
Get all the resources here: https://www.purpleplow.org/challenges/
Challenge deadline May 15!
Check out this opportunity to explore the great outdoors with a Biodiversity Field Trip Grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
A few options in our area include:
Click here for more ideas, lesson plans & application details.
A McLean County farmer has earned statewide recognition for his efforts to help others learn about agriculture and build connections from the farm to the plate.
John Olson has been named the 2020 Illinois Ag in the Classroom Volunteer of the Year. Olson and his family grow corn and soybeans near McLean, Ill.
“I first got involved in ag education as a member of the Young Farmer committee forty years ago,” Olson says. “I learned from others the importance of getting involved and sharing the story of what we do on the farm.”
In the 1980s, Olson and others hosted hundreds of local fourth graders for farm field trips. He was also involved with the development of an ag exhibit at the Children’s Discovery Museum starting in the mid 1990s.
Olson served as a founding member of the local ag education committee that created a fun, educational exhibit at the McLean County Fair called the Food & Farm Fun Zone. He designed and built several hands-on exhibits including a combine cab simulator that lets visitors see harvest from the driver’s seat and a grain bin kiosk with interactive videos and games.
“We appreciate all of the hard work and creativity John has contributed over the years,” says Bridget Caldwell, McLean County Ag in the Classroom coordinator. “He helped us put a lot of ideas into action and built some really neat exhibits to bring learning about agriculture to life.”
Olson has also served on the McLean County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and McLean County Fair board. He will be recognized at the Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Chicago in December.
Ten McLean County teachers will receive grant funding from Illinois Ag in the Classroom to add books and projects related to food and farming to their curriculum.
Recipients include:
The grants offer teachers the opportunity to expand their libraries with accurate ag books or purchase supplies for lesson plans related to food and farming. The 2019-2020 Teacher Book Grants are funded in part by The BRANDT Foundation.
The Illinois Ag in the Classroom teacher grants are offered annually thanks to funding from the IAA Foundation, the charitable arm of Illinois Farm Bureau.
