December 4, 2006
Florida Ag In The Classroom Awards 22 Teacher Grants
Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, Inc., awarded 22 Florida teachers with grants totaling nearly $25,000 for the 2006-07 school year. These agricultural classroom projects will reach about 6,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
These grant projects incorporate agricultural concepts into science, history, language arts and math lessons, and include activities such as plant tissue culture propagation, hydroponics, and earth box gardening. Florida Ag in the Classroom curricula and materials will be used to complement these activities.
“It is essential that Florida teachers incorporate these agricultural concepts into their classrooms through an applied learning experience that Florida Ag in the Classroom makes possible,” said Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson, who is a former agriculture teacher. “Teachers that utilize the grant program are ensuring the future of the Florida agriculture industry by educating their students about the importance of the industry and the role it plays in providing them with food, fiber and other natural resources.”
Florida Ag in the Classroom can provide grant money for teachers because of the funding it receives from the agriculture specialty license plate also called the Ag Tag.
“Our teacher grant program gives us the chance to provide teachers with the resources they need in their classrooms to bring agricultural concepts to life,” said Heather Nedley, chairmen of Florida Ag in the Classroom and executive director of Polk County Farm Bureau. “The applied curriculum provides students with opportunities to learn about plants and other agriculture commodities, and see how these commodities fit into their daily lives.”
The 2006-07 teacher grants are:
Archer Community School from Alachua County “Discovering Florida: Our Land, Our Food, Our People.” Through agriculture-related literature, field trips to the University of Florida/ IFAS meats lab and fisheries and hands-on agriculture activities, third, fourth and fifth grade students experience 19th century agriculture.
Alachua Elementary School from Alachua County “Farming in Downtown Alachua Today.” Third-, fourth- and fifth-graders compare farming techniques used in their community today through their own farming experiences in a greenhouse, raised bed gardening and in the field.
Endeavour Elementary School in Brevard County “Plant Partners.” Students in kindergarten through third grade identify, plant, observe, experiment and sell plants through community development opportunities while utilizing sixth grade students as mentors for their agriculture experience.
Endeavour Elementary School in Brevard County “Urban Agriculture II.” Students in the entire elementary school will take part in and focus on Florida-specific commodities from a commercial and backyard farming perspective through comparison, applications and experiments with agriculture commodities.
Driftwood Middle School in Broward County “Whet Students’ Appetites for Gardening, Hydroponics and Traditional –Phase II.” Raised-bed gardening and hydro-stackers are the way sixth- and seventh-graders learn about Florida agriculture and natural resources by developing, planting and observing planting methods and visiting the a UF-IFAS research center.
Abess Park Elementary in Duval County “Ag Alley.” Kindergarteners use puppets, toys, books and agriculture-related activities to learn about products grown on the farm.
Oceanway Elementary School from Duval County “Florida Growing Power.” Third- and fourth-graders study plants, soils and insects and learn about commodities grown in Florida. They compete in an agriculture poster contest hosted by their local fair that advertises local and state commodities.
Southside Estates Elementary School from Duval County “Florida Grows the Best!” Growing kale, collards, radishes and much more gives third-graders the opportunity to experience agriculture practices while competing in an agriculture poster contest, visiting with a Master Gardener and learning about apiculture from a local beekeeper.
Pine Meadows Elementary School in Escambia County “Cow Days.” First-graders learn about the importance of the dairy industry by making ice cream, hot chocolate and butter and participating in lessons from Florida Ag in the Classroom curriculum.
W.G. Pierce Middle School from Hillsborough County “Adventures of Hydro Man and Soil Boy.” Using conventional agricultural methods and hydroponics gardening, students examine agricultural practices that are specific to Florida and increase students’ awareness of the process food goes through starting with seedlings and ending at the dinner table.
W.G. Pierce Middle School from Hillsborough County “Pizza on a Vine”- Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders grow ingredients used to make pizza such as onions, tomatoes and peppers. They later harvest the products from their container gardens and make pizzas using their home-grown ingredients at a local restaurant.
W.G. Pierce Middle School from Hillsborough County “Strawberry Jammin’.” Middle school students cultivate and harvest four varieties of strawberries using a hydroponics growing system. They then will participate in the Florida Strawberry Festival and make jam while incorporating agricultural concepts into classroom curriculum.
McLane Middle School from Hillsborough County “Viking Village.” Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders develop and construct a garden shaped like the state of Florida and plant commodities in the section of the state in which these commodities are grown.
Liberty County High School “LCHS ESE Square Foot Gardening.” Special-needs high school students plant square foot gardening beds, and use Florida Ag in the Classroom lessons to learn from about the commodities they grow.
Branden River Middle School from Manatee County “Earthbox Gardening and Raised Bed Gardening.” Using traditional raised bed gardening and Earthboxes, sixth-graders germinate and breed plants to collect data on growth, water usage and limitations of each type of agricultural practice.
Dr. N.H. Jones Elementary School from Marion County “Plant’ itEinstein.” The first through fifth grade gifted science program experiments with soil testing, vegetable garden cultivation, plant identification and hands-on curriculum and materials provided by Florida Ag in the Classroom.
Ponce De Leon Middle Community School from Miami-Dade County “ Biotechnology and Agriculture.” Sixth- and seventh-graders grow and experiment with a variety of plants, prepare tissue cultures from carrots, and analyze the rise of civilizations based on agricultural practices.
South Miami K-8 Center from Miami-Dade County “Strawberries to Shakes, Tomatoes to Hot Sauce.” Third-graders plant strawberries, herbs and vegetables, and cook and eat what they grow while reading “Strawberry Girl” by Lois Lenski.
North Sumter Intermediate School from Sumter County “Reading, Writing, ‘Rithmetic, and Rooting for Roses.” Using recycled coffee grounds as an experimental variable, the fifth-graders use asexual propagation to grow “old” roses” and other native flora of Florida.
Wellington Elementary School from Palm Beach County “Benefits of Recycling and Composting.” Using worm compost and a compost tumbler, third-, fourth- and fifth-graders analyze the benefits of compost materials on their agricultural raised bed gardens and in their own hydroponics experiments.
Elbridge Gale Elementary School from Palm Beach County “Sowing and Growing Great Literature.” The kindergarten through fifth-grade students construct a literature garden and pond area, and then write about their experiences. Their stories will be published and made available to other students in their school.
St. Paul Lutheran School from Polk County “Year Round Hydroponics Gardening.” Students learn about hydroponics gardening by planting a garden to be used for attracting native butterflies, feeding box turtles and providing vegetables for their community food pantry.
Florida Ag in the Classroom is a non-profit organization charged with educating students and teachers about the importance of Florida agriculture by providing them with curricula, materials, grant money and other programs. For more information about Florida Ag in the Classroom and the Ag Tag, visit www.agtag.org
For more information:
Lisa Gaskalla
(352) 846-1391
LBGaskalla@ifas.ufl.edu
