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Program
Teaches Nitty-Gritty of Dirt
By Warisa
Chulindra
The
Wichita Eagle
Although
Kansas is known for its expansive farms and ranches, many Kansas
children may not truly understand how agriculture affects their
lives. In fact, there may be a whole generation of children who
avoid learning about or even touching dirt because it's, well,
too dirty.
"It's
amazing how many children have never touched soil," said
Bob Neier, Sedgwick County Extension Service agent for horticulture.
"That's sad because our food comes from the soil."
The Kansas
Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom wants to change that.
Every summer, the Manhattan-based group sponsors a program aimed
at raising children's awareness of the role and value of agriculture,
and they do it by educating teachers. As part of a two-week Agriculture
in the Classroom program, 17 area teachers are meeting in Wichita
to learn how to plow agriculture into their lesson plans.
"Our
kids are getting further and further away from agriculture,"
instructor Twyla Sherman said.
Even in
rural settings, many students know little about farming and ranching.
"We
take it for granted that they do know, and they don't,"
said Rochelle Rocheford, a fifth-grade teacher at Potwin Elementary
School in the Remington school district. "The younger we
start educating them about agriculture, the better."
The class
costs $125, and teachers earn three credits -- one from Kansas
State University and two from Wichita State University. Nearly
1,500 teachers have been through the class since it began in
1985. The course will be offered again at Kansas State in Manhattan
July 10-15. During the class in Wichita, teachers visit farms
and the Sedgwick County Zoo. On Monday, they toured the Sedgwick
County Extension Service, where they learned about soil through
hands-on experiments.
In one experiment,
teachers were given plastic bags with rocks and had to guess
what they were. The teachers diligently banged the rocks against
the table. They used them to write their names on paper plates,
put them in water and ground them into powder. They turned out
to be the components of soil -- shale, sand and silt.
Other ways
suggested for teachers to integrate agricultural concepts into
the classroom included hatching baby chickens in incubators,
planting gardens and composting. Agriculture also can be used
as examples in math and science. Lynne Ross, assistant to the
administrator at the foundation, said technology contributed
to the lack of agricultural awareness.
"It
used to be that everyone had a cow in their back yard because
they needed milk," Ross said. "Now we're losing touch
really fast. Our food and fiber doesn't come from the computer.
We shouldn't take it for granted."
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Seeds
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