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Notes from New Hampshire
Grant Opportunities:
The Captain Planet Foundation offers grants to encourage environmental stewardship opportunities in the classroom. Application deadlines are September 30th and January 31st. Click here for more information.
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Lesson Links
Below are links to some of our favorite lessons and activities.
Modules for elementary, middle and high school classrooms provide STEM activities and lessons to show how the challenge to feed our world's growing population can be solved with science.
The National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix is an online, searchable, and standards-based curriculum map for K-12 teachers.
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Calendar
Belknap County School-To-Farm Days
September 23rd & 24th
Ramblin' Vewe Farm
Gilford, NH
National Education Association - NHFall Instructional Conference
October 10th
Bow High School
New Hampshire Science Teachers Association
Fall Conference
November 2nd & 3rd
Mills Falls
Meredith, NH
New Hampshire Farm Bureau Annual Meeting
November 7th and 8th
Fireside Inn & Suites
West Lebanon, NH
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Contacts
Debbi Cox
State Coordinator
[email protected]
(603) 224-1934
295 Sheep Davis Road
Concord, NH 03301
Deb Robie,
Grafton County Coordinator
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Educator Resources
With the school year beginning anew, we thought this would be a great time to showcase the resources that NH Agriculture in the Classroom can offer educators across the state. Our mission is to increase agricultural literacy among NH youth, helping students to understand the important role that agriculture plays in their daily lives. To that end, we integrate agriculture across school curricula through interactive programs, educational resources, staff development workshops, school-to-farm field trips and more. Although we are a part-time staff of two, we are affiliated with the National Agriculture in the Classroom program which is a tremendous source of support and resources. Below are some examples of what is available.
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Curriculum
In most cases, we have elected to locate appropriate curriculum from other sources as opposed to creating it ourselves. Agriculture in the Classroom organizations in many states work with larger staffs and budgets allowing them to prepare some great lessons and activities. Common Core Standards and Next Generation Science Standards can create the occasional stumbling block for teachers, however agriculturally themed units can address multiple standards simultaneously while relating topics to everyday life.
For instance, dairy is a popular topic for New Hampshire students and the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program has developed a detailed curriculum for elementary and middle school classes. The website www.discoverdairy.com offers lesson plans with real-life videos, reading guides, activities and assessment-based worksheets aligned to their state standards. Students can learn about animal health, milk safety, environmental effects, economics and nutrition addressing standards in math, language arts, social studies, science and careers.
Now let's take a look at lessons developed by Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom centered on baseball. At first glance, baseball doesn't seem like a very agriculturally oriented topic, but it doesn't take much thought to realize that you really can't play the game without agriculture. For instance, the baseball itself is made of wool, rubber and leather, bats are made from wood, you generally play on grass, uniforms are frequently made of cotton and, of course, don't forget the hot dogs! The lesson "Ag in the Outfield" provides some background information on baseball, then offers Language Arts exercises, math activities, comprehension questions and word problems. The lesson in its entirety addresses Common Core standards for grades 2 - 4 in the areas of Math Practice, Math Content and Language Arts along with Social Studies, Visual Arts, Physical Education and Instructional Technology. You can find the lesson at AgInTheOutfield.
New Hampshire Agriculture in the Classroom can direct you to lessons and activities on most agricultural subjects for a variety of grades. Just let us know what you are looking for. A great place to start is the National Agriculture in the Classroom website where you can search lessons by a variety of criteria.
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Resource Library
Our Concord office provides a resource library. The shelves hold story books for early grades with accompanying lessons and activities, lesson packets on NH agricultural commodities, reference books, videos, models, incubators and other educational materials. Depending upon the item, they are available for loan to New Hampshire classrooms for up to a month. Contact the office to make arrangements.
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Agricultural Literacy Program
Each spring, NH Agriculture in the Classroom selects an agriculturally accurate book targeted to early elementary students. A lesson packet with educational materials and activities which supplement the reading are also provided to enhance the learning and integrate the topic into existing curriculum such as math, science, social studies, language arts, etc. Frequently, a volunteer can visit your school to
 read to the book and bring it to life with demonstrations and their own stories.
We have covered topics such as chickens, wool, maple and bees. In the spring of 2015, watch for "Who Grew My Soup" by Tom Darbyshire. It's the tale of a young boy learning about the vegetables in his soup and the farmers who grew them. |
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School-to-Farm Field Trips
Belknap, Merrimack, Rockingham and Strafford County Farm Bureaus invite local 4th graders to an area farm for a day of learning about the importance of agriculture. Farmers and other professionals present mini-lessons and demonstrations on topics such as dairy, maple, beekeeping, wool, soil ecology, crop production and more. These field trips are great opportunities for students to learn hands-on about the source of their food and fiber.
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