New York Agriculture in the Classroom | April 2024 | |
|
New York Agriculture in the Classroom
NEW! Ice Cream Challenge
| |
We all scream for ice cream! The sweetest treat is loved by many and is a New York specialty. From favorite local stands, to homemade delights, or eaten right out of the carton – ice cream is a staple treat, especially when the weather turns warm.
The Ice Cream Challenge allows your students to develop their own ice cream recipe, identify their target audience, create marketing materials for their flavor combination, and learn about the dairy processing industry in their community. This cross-curricular experience will reinforce core academic concepts in math, science, and ELA, while exposing students to career opportunities in our food system.
Pre-registered classrooms can be reimbursed up to $50 for cooking supplies and food supplies. If you are registering more than one class (multiple periods of different students) you are eligible for an additional $25 in reimbursed supplies and ingredients for each class.
| |
|
Upcoming Events and Important Dates |
|
|
APRIL 18
Christmas Tree Planting Virtual Field Trip
| |
|
MAY 06
Top Cut Beef Experience Submissions Due
| |
|
MAY 10
Ice Cream Challenge Pre-Registration Due
| |
|
NOV 21-22
NY Farm to School Summit 2024
| |
|
Christmas Tree Planting at Rocking Horse Farm Virtual Field Trip
Although peak harvest season can be the busiest time of year, there is very little "free time" on a farm. Throughout the year, farmers reflect, research, plan, imagine, prepare, create, test, and improve their farm and farming practices so that they might be more efficient and provide the highest quality products to consumers. In this 40-minute virtual field trip, participating classrooms will return to Rocking Horse Farm to learn how farmer Julie plans for future Christmas tree harvests by replanting her Christmas tree forest, improves and nurtures her orchard, and prepares her alpacas for spring shearing on her diversified farm.
The first 100 classrooms to register will receive an inquiry box.
| |
|
|
Spring Top Cut Beef Experience
The Top Cut: Beef Contest is an engaging cross-curricular educational and culinary experience for grades 6-12. Participating students will design a beef recipe focused on the theme of school lunch and then develop a creative marketing strategy for their product. New York Agriculture in the Classroom and New York Beef Council are excited to offer this experience for the seventh year.
NEW! New this year is an updated format. The Top Cut Beef Experience will be offered in both the fall and spring so that teachers with classes that switch out each semester may participate with all of their classes. The experience will no longer require pre-registration to participate and each teacher that has students submit a completed entry will receive a prize for their classroom.
| |
Find updated resources on our website that will help you implement this contest in your classroom. | |
|
Call for Proposals: NY Farm to School Summit 2024
The Inaugural NY Farm to School Summit will take place in Syracuse, NY on November 21st and 22nd, 2024 with optional pre-summit field trips on November 20th. The Summit will have sessions for all Farm to School stakeholders including farmers and producers, food service directors, educators, school administrators, and more!
They are seeking proposals for high-quality educational workshops that allow for information sharing and peer-to-peer learning opportunities. Workshops should be tangible, practical, and give attendees a call to action. They should also align with the summit theme: It Takes a Village: Cultivating Community in Farm to School. Please feel free to submit multiple proposals.
| |
Proposals must be submitted by May 1, 2024 and selections will be made June 18, 2024. | |
|
Become a Certified Agricultural Literacy Educator
Agriculture touches our daily existence through the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the environments we inhabit. Agriculture is so ubiquitous, it’s difficult to have a complete understanding of our modern existence without at least a basic understanding of agriculture.
In the Agricultural Literacy Certification (ALC) course, you will explore the diverse field of agriculture, learn about its pivotal role in society, and get a better understanding of how agriculture can be integrated into your curriculum to enhance your students’ understanding of the world around them.
To participate in the pilot, you must:
- Be a formal K-12 educator or volunteer K-12 educator currently working in a public school.
- Be able to complete the course and course evaluation between May 20th, 2024 and June 1st, 2024.
- Complete the pilot registration form on this page by May 1st, 2024.
| |
|
|
2024 Prototyping Hardware Accelerator
Over 10 weeks, Rev’s Prototyping Hardware Accelerator offers four tracks – Classic, AgTech, ClimateTech, and MedTech - to guide product teams to determine if their ideas are commercially desirable, technologically feasible, and economically viable. Upon completion of the program, participants are positioned to recruit team members, bring on partners, initiate work with contract manufacturers, and pitch to investors. Teams will receive a stipend of up to $2,000 to advance their prototype.
This program is open to high school seniors. Applications close April 7, 2024.
| |
|
|
New York Beef Council: Science Through the Lens of Agriculture
On The Farm STEM is an all-expense paid program tailored for science educators, providing in-depth exploration centered around food, agriculture, and beef production. Uncover avenues to inspire students through these themes, fostering empowerment and societal progress. Engage in hands-on experiences with agricultural phenomena, connect with industry professionals, align with NGSS design principles, and develop strategies to elevate the relevance of scientific content within classroom settings.
| |
| |
|
Grades K-2
A Taste of Leafy Greens
Students will explore a variety of greens to identify their structure and function in plant growth and prepare, cook, differentiate, and enjoy the health benefits leafy greens have to offer.
| |
|
Grades 3-5
Tropism Twist
In this lesson, students will investigate how light affects plant growth by observing changes in a plant’s growth and movement as light availability is altered through an experiment.
| |
|
Grades 6-8
The Quicker the Better? Food Processing
Students will explore different levels of food processing and the ways in which processed foods affect the health of our diets by looking at examples of foods from the grocery store and by closely examining food labels.
| | |
|
The Peach Pit Parade
When Polly's father goes overseas to fight in World War I, her whole world changes. Though the war is in Europe, its effects are felt on American soil. There are food, fuel, and other supply shortages everywhere. Even something as simple and enjoyable as a family Sunday car ride isn't possible anymore. Everyone must do their part to help the war effort. Victory gardens are planted and scrap metal is collected. "It's the biggest event in our history. And it involves every single adult, every single boy, and every single girl," says Polly's teacher. As Polly struggles to make sense of the war, she wonders how she can contribute. When the government puts out a notice requesting peach pits to be used in gas mask filters, Polly knows how she can help.
| |  |
|
Sheepology: The Ultimate Encyclopedia
Discover all there is to know about sheep in all their woolly glory in Sheepology, a delightfully illustrated guide ewe will flock to again and again. Did you know that sheep do not like to be alone and get along well with other animals? Or that a sheep was the first mammal to be cloned by humans? Have you ever wondered how sheep's milk turns into cheese? Or how sheep are shorn and wool is made into cloth? These and other intriguing and engaging facts can be found in Sheepology, a visual encyclopedia.
| | |
|
Stay Up To Date!
Want to stay up to date with NYAITC? Follow us on social media and never miss out on exciting news and opportunities!
| | | | |
