Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom News 
February 2015

 

2015 National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference 

June 16-20, 2015  Louisville, KY


Unbridled Possibilities - theme for 2015 Ag in the Classroom Conference 
2015 National AITC Conference
$20,000 in Scholarship Funds Available through CHS Foundation!

The CHS Foundation is providing $20,000 in scholarships for K-16 educators to attend the 2015 National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference  June 16-20 in Louisville, KY. Engaging workshops, tours, keynote speakers and networking events will provide exceptional learning opportunities for these teachers to increase their comfort level in agricultural topics and also integrate agricultural content to meet academic standards in Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Math and Health/Nutrition.

Scholarship Applications are due February 27, 2015.  
In This Issue
Teacher Feature 
Amy Benson
2nd grade teacher 
Cedar Park Elementary STEM School, Apple Valley, MN

  

Ms. Benson is one of our MAITC Teacher Champions who is inspiring her fellow teachers at Cedar Park to integrate agriculture in their curriculum! 

Why did you become an educator? 

I became a teacher because I wanted to inspire young children to have a passion for learning and have the belief that they can do and become anything. I enjoy working with children and I love the excitement they have as they make discoveries and learn and experience new things.

How has the Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Program impacted your students?

The lessons in the program are highly engaging. I have been so impressed with the knowledge my students gain during each of the lessons I have implemented from the program. The students are enthusiastic about the learning that they are doing in each of the lessons I presented from this program because they are so hands-on and inquiry based.  

Ms. Benson's class
Ms. Amy Benson and her class winning the CARES Trophy at Cedar Park Elementary STEM School. 
Seeking Proposals for AgMag Development 
 AgMAg
MAITC is requesting proposals for development of the AgMag and AgMag Jr. magazine series.  Additional information can be found at   The deadline for submitting a proposal is April 1, 2015. 
Fantastic ResourcesAg History Timeline
 
Minnesota Agriculture History Timeline
This newly updated resources lists agricultural events that impacted Minnesota history from 1850-2014!  Available for FREE on the MAITC website.

Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Lesson Library
MAITC has a over 90 different agricultural focused lessons available for FREE through our on-line lesson library.  All lessons can be used to support and reinforce Minnesota's K-12 Academic Standards in Science, Social Studies, English Language Arts and Math.
 
Food Museum
"The Food Museum celebrates food, exploring its history, heritage, and cultural influence worldwide." Explore the videos, blog posts, interesting visuals and fun facts at this food focused website.  http://www.foodmuseum.com/ 
Agricultural Trivia
  
Congratulations to Kristen Gustafson, a teacher at the Academy for Sciences and Agriculture, for being the first person to respond with the correct answer to our January trivia question.  She knew that the gestation length for a female pig is 114 days or 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days.  
  
February Trivia
The first person to email the correct answer for the question below will win a Minnesota Department of Agriculture Coffee Mug!

What is Minnesota's official state grain?
Email your answer to  Sue Knott to be eligible for the prize!