New York Agriculture in the Classroom | April 2017
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!
Find us on Instagram!
Are you incorporating agriculture into your classroom? We want to see, tag us on social media @NewYorkAITC on Twitter and NYAITC on Facebook. 

We have a new Instagram account! Give us a follow at @nyagintheclassroom, and see what's happening across the state in classrooms just like yours.
Important Dates:

April 17- I Love NY Agriculture Art and Writing Entries due to be Postmarked
May 2 - Registration Due for Truxton, NY Training
May 6-  Curriculum  Training in Truxton, NY
News
teacher to teacher tina
Get Your Hands Dirty at an Agriculture in the Classroom Curriculum Training
Join New York Agriculture in the Classroom on Saturday, May 6th at the Truxton Community Center (near Cortland) for a fun and interesting curriculum training for grades K-8. 

All participants will receive a copy of the Food, Land & People curriculum, books, and classroom resources during the experiential learning-based training, a value of over $125!  6 hours of CTLE professional development credit will be awarded to participants. A fee of $10 will cover the cost of lunch.

Please register by May 2, 2017. Contact Katie Carpenter with any questions. 

Are You In? 
Join this years purple plow challenge, H2Grow.  We need food to survive. But food security is a problem around the world, and at home. Have your students get creative as you design a sustainable living environment for aquatic life while  growing food in this season's Purple Plow Challenge!
Let other schools know that you're in by visiting the program website. You can find everything you need to get started on their site as well. Let's fill NY with participants! 
I Love NY Agriculture Art & Writing Contest
Pre-K through 6th grade students are encouraged to submit their entries for our annual I Love NY Agriculture Art & Writing Contest, due postmarked on
April 17, 2017. 

This year's theme is "Food, Farms, and Me!", and students are asked to use any artistic medium they would like to encompass that theme. Past submissions have included everything from sculptures, poems, narratives, marketing posters, songs, and much more! 

Up to five winners will be selected per grade level and will be displayed at The Great NYS Fair in August. 1st place winners will receive $25. Download an entry form on our website. 
Teacher Resources
Updated! Exploring Maple Syrup Lesson
For 2017, New York Agriculture in the Classroom has updated the Exploring Maple Syrup Lesson. Find updated information, new photos for the sequencing activity, and a connection to the recent book Sugar on Snow by Nan Parson Rossiter. 


Spring is for Embryology
Spring is the perfect time to teach about life cycles! This  elementary lesson plan contains an exciting 21-day adventure for students to open an egg each day to see what the inside of a chicken egg would look like on that day of development. This lesson can stand alone or take place while you incubate real chicken eggs in your classroom.

Hundreds of excellent lessons like these exist on the National Agriculture in the Classroom Curriculum Matrix. This free, online searchable database of the best agriculture lessons from across the country is an excellent one-stop resources for lessons, books, multimedia tools, and activities. Be sure to check out their featured seed lessons before your spring planting! 
Bartering Through the Seasons
Undoubtedly, you and your students are eager for a change in seasons. With Spring on the way, this lesson will have your students knowledgeable about changing seasons and  explore how trade and barter have historically allowed people to satisfy their needs and wants. 

Utilizing the book A New Coat for Anna, by  Harriet Ziefert, students will understand the change of seasons, principles of supply and demand, and how prices are determined in the marketplace. 
The full lesson plan is ready for your use here. Even more lessons like this can be found by utilizing the agricultural literacy curriculum matrix located here on our website. 
April Book Nook
Easter is quickly approaching, soon it will be feeling like spring and soon we'll all be thinking about baby chicks. Why not please the interest of your students with a book about them too. 

One Egg, by  Louise Spilsbury, Follow the journey from egg to chicken. You will learn how cute baby chicks make their way into the world.
New York Agriculture in the Classroom |  nyaitc@cornell.edu | 
  http://www.agclassroom.org/ny
3rd Floor Kennedy Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

Visit us on the Web | NYAITC


Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.