On Tuesday, April 25 all of the third grade students in Carbon School District were invited to attend the annual Farm Field Day hosted by the Carbon County Farm Bureau. Michele Barker has been hosting this event with help from the USUE Extension Office and formerly Carbon’s FCCLA for approximately 24 years; they’ve only missed about three years throughout that time. When asked the purpose of the event, Barker replied simply, “We want kids to learn where their food comes from.”
There were numerous stations for groups of students to rotate through to learn about different aspects of where food comes from. There was an activity that showed all of our food comes from farms and natural resources. Each student was provided with a slice of pizza and learned that cumulatively it takes 12 years to grow all of the ingredients needed to make a pizza. A germs station instructed students in the proper way to wash their hands to maximize cleanliness. There were sheep, a cow, a goat, a pig, and chickens where volunteers discussed each animal and their associated byproducts. And a cup of popcorn was provided for each student as they learned about corn and how popcorn is made.
At the end of each group’s visit, Barker provided a classroom pack to each teacher that included activity booklets from various agricultural companies, a “living necklace” that gets planted and grows, and other trinkets. Additionally, Barker does her best to spread the word about “Ag in the Classroom”, an online learning platform that provides lesson plans about agriculture for every grade level from Kindergarten to twelfth grade.
It was obvious that the students had an excellent time and loved learning about how important farmers and the agricultural business is.
*Photos feature Sally Mauro’s 3rd grade classes