Tag: sustainability

National Ag in the Classroom Virtual Summit

Check out the line-up of virtual workshops from National Ag in the Classroom June 24-25!

Each workshop will have a separate Zoom link & you will can register for just one workshop or all of them! (Note: times listed below are central time)

  • 8 a.m. Feeding the World and Protecting the Environment (secondary)
  • 9:30 a.m. Integrating Agriculture through STEM (secondary)
  • 11 a.m. Virtual Field Trip: Discover the Cows, Community and Journey of Dairy in Your Classroom (all grades)
  • 12:30 p.m. Journey 2050: Engaging Students in World Food Sustainability (secondary)
  • 2 p.m.  Climate Change, Carbon Hoofprints, and Bananas in Our Breadbasket? (secondary)
  • 3:30 p.m. I Have a Plan! Developing Project-based Learning Plans for Agricultural Literacy (all grades)

Click here for complete descriptions & presenter bios.

Register here

IL AITC Virtual Teacher Training

Check out all that Illinois Ag in the Classroom has to offer with this line-up of virtual teacher training sessions!

McLean County teachers who complete at least one workshop will receive a FREE book & materials to implement the lessons in their classroom!!

All sessions are FREE and will be conducted via Zoom. Sessions will also be recorded & can be viewed on your own schedule.

Tuesdays from 9:00-10:00 AM

  • June 2: View From the Cab: An Overview of Illinois Ag in the Classroom
  • June 9: Legen-dairy Lessons about Milk and Moo-re
  • June 16: STEM and Leaves: Innovative STEM Lessons with an Ag Connection
  • June 24: Scrambled States of America: Ag-Themed Books for Every State (in conjunction with the National Ag in the Classroom Virtual Summit)
  • June 30: The 3-Legged Stool: Finding Classroom Connections with Ag Sustainability
  • July 7: Plowing Through Our Past: A Look at the History of Ag in Illinois
  • July 14: Don’t Be a Bad Apple: Tasty Apple-Themed Lessons That Pack a Crunch
  • July 21: Give ‘Em Pumpkin to Talk About: Engaging Pumpkin-Themed Texts and Lessons

Special 5-hour Mini-Conference:

  • July 30: The Cultures of Agriculture: Exploring the Diversities of Food and Farming (9:00-noon and 1:00-3:00 with help from Illinois Commodity Groups)

Register Here

Jr./Sr. High School Resources

Ag in the Classroom has great e-learning resources for junior & senior high school students! Check out some of these options:

Journey 2050 – A virtual farm simulation that explores world food sustainability. Students explore how to sustainably feed the world’s growing population by 2050. Once you register as a teacher, your students can enter your teacher code before playing each level and the game will generate a student report.

Hungry Planet – What the World Eats – explore the global food supply with portraits of 30 families from around the world showing what one week of groceries looks like for their family

Purple Plow Puzzlers – hands-on STEM activities. Some of these can be done with simple materials that students may have around the house.

Growing a Nation – an interactive timeline of the history of Agriculture in the United States

Ag Explorer – virtual field trips to explore ag careers. Each one has an educator guide with options for extension activities.

Journey of a Gene – explore biotechnology and the science of genetic engineering with step-by-step videos, computer based activities and quizzes

Farm Fresh Podcast: Double Time

Leave a comment

Jason Lay is exploring the use of cover crops on his farm in central Illinois. The green tops of tillage radishes are just starting to show in between rows of soybeans in the early fall.

Jason Lay is exploring the use of cover crops on his farm in central Illinois. The green tops of tillage radishes are just starting to show in between rows of soybeans in the early fall.

Harvest went by quickly on the Lay farm this year. In fact, the crops were out in about half the time compared to a typical year thanks to suitable crop conditions, good weather and cooperative machinery.

Hear how the corn and soybean yields turned out with Jason Lay plus check out one way farmers are working to farm smarter by exploring the use of cover cropsin this week’s Farm Fresh podcast, episode 11.18.15.

Tune in every Wednesday at 12:45 to hear the Farm to Table segment on WJBC radio.