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Monthly news & updates

February 2024 | Issue #149

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Calendar of Events


Read ME Agriculture

March 2024


Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Local Seafood in Maine Schools New Curriculum & Educator Workshop

March 18, 2024

5-7:30pm

Belfast Free Library

Belfast, ME

More info


MAITC K-8 Teacher Workshop

April 4, 2024

9:30am - 4pm

Woodlawn Museum

Ellsworth, ME

More info


Science for All Conference

Maine Science Teachers Association

April 27, 2024

Blueberry Cove 4H Camp

St. George, ME

More info


Maine FFA State Convention

May 9-10, 2024

University of Maine

Orono, ME


Maine Environmental Education Association Conference

May 10-11, 2024

Maine Academy of Natural Sciences

Hinckley, ME

More info


Maine Nutrition Council Spring Educational Virtual Event

Sports Nutrition with Josh Palomera

May 15, 2024

Virtual


NELE Kids Day

May 17, 2024

Windsor Fairgrounds

Windsor, ME

More info


Maine School Garden Day

May 18, 2024

Kingfield Elementary School

Kingfield, ME

More info


In Bloom in Maine Conference

"Promising Practices in Nature-Based Early Childhood Education"

June 15, 2024

Educare Central Maine

Waterville, ME

More info


National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference

June 24-27, 2024

Salt Lake City, Utah


MAITC

Summer Teacher's Institute

July 29 - August 2, 2024


Maine Nutrition Council Annual Conference

"A Lifetime of Nutrition"

October 18, 2024

University of Maine at Augusta

Augusta, ME

Visit our Teach ME Food & Farms Lesson Site Developed for Maine Educators
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We LOVE to feature outstanding teachers in Maine who are incorporating agriculture into their classroom!

Highlighting the great work teachers are doing across the state inspires all of us and sparks new ideas for grants, projects, and partnerships! 

Fill out this questionnaire to be our next Teacher Feature!!

Aquaponics at Sanford School Department

Science teacher Diana Allen runs the aquaponics program at Sanford Middle School and it continues to grow! Last year all 7th grade students utilized the space with multiple science experiments: testing seed growth with regular and aquaponic water, observing and learning about the many microorganisms that live in the aquaponics poop tank. That is more than 250 students that utilized the space and the system to learn and experiment with science!

Last year they grew basil, beans, numerous types of lettuce, strawberries, carrots, broccoli and swiss chard, with mixed success. Everyone loves the basil and swiss chard. This coming year with the new grow system, students want to expand the basil and swiss chard and hope to start making their own pesto. They are hoping to be able to double their production with their new tables up and running.

They hosted quite a few visitors to their aquaponics classroom including the deputy education commissioner who worked with the students and asked many questions. A private philanthropy group’s board had a tour and worked with students learning how things worked. They also had their annual elementary visitors. The older students got to plan lessons, games and other activities for the younger students to learn about aquaponics and growing food. Each student also left with a Maine Agriculture in the Classroom license plate bookmark to help ensure the continuation of funding future projects. They hosted almost 100 elementary students and are also now officially a part of the elementary step up day and the parent night tour.


Keep up the great work in Sanford!

MAITC K-8 Teacher Workshop

Join Maine Agriculture in the Classroom for a day long K-8 teacher workshop at Woodlawn Museum in Ellsworth! Teachers will receive lessons, resources and training to integrate agriculture into core curriculum subjects. All lessons and activities are tied to Maine Learning Standards, NGSS and the Common Core.

All participants will receive 6 contact hours or .6 CEU's from the University of Maine.

There will be hands-on lesson demonstrations, materials for your classroom, online resources shared, and lunch is included!

When: April 4, 2024

Where: Woodlawn Museum, Ellsworth, ME

The cost for this workshop is $40.

Find more information and registration here.

Deadline to register: March 22nd.

Read ME 2024 Registration & Volunteer Readers

Click here for more book info.

Register Now!

Our 2024 Read ME Agriculture book is

The Wakame Gatherers by Holly Thompson.

The program will be held March 18-22, 2024. Every classroom that participates will receive a copy of the book and accompanying educator’s guide, with aligned classroom activities. 

To best serve the hundreds of classrooms that participate in Read ME each year, the 2024 program will be a hybrid model where classrooms can choose from in-person and virtual options. Classrooms may choose their own reader or ask MAITC for help. Contacts may register their own classroom or schools may choose 1 contact to register multiple classrooms. 

MAITC is planning separate virtual sessions for grades PK - 1 and 2 - 4 this year.


If you are interested in participating, please complete this google form by February 9, 2024 and MAITC will contact you by email to fine tune your participation.

As we host our 16th year of the “Read ME Agriculture” program, once again we are we are looking for volunteer readers from across the state. Volunteers will visit hundreds of Pre-K – Grade 4 classrooms to read “The Wakame Gatherers,” written by Holly Thompson and illustrated by Kazumi Wilds. Most visits will happen during National Ag Week, March 18-22, although some may be the week before or after.

If you or someone you know is interested in being a reader, please fill out this form and we will be in touch to (try to) pair you with a classroom in your area. (Please note this form is for volunteer readers only, classroom registration can be found above.)

NELE Kids Day

The Northeast Livestock Expo (NELE) Kids Day is back for 2024 at the Windsor Fairgrounds on Friday, May 17th! This is a full day field trip event for Grades K-6 students. With up to 30 different opportunities to visit with animals, insects, history, and more, NELE offers a unique experience for students to interact with livestock commodities and the Maine agricultural industry.

Bus transportation reimbursements will be available for schools within a 60 mile radius of Windsor Fairgrounds on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Pre-Registration is MANDATORY; registration closes on February 16th. Please email maitc@maine.gov with questions.

Partner Highlight: ReTreeUS

This month we want to highlight one of our partners, ReTreeUS. "Planting trees of fruit and seeds of thought." With the mission to inspire generations of food growers, environmental stewards and problem solvers through experiential education in orchards and gardens.

Check out the ReTreeUS Youtube Channel with playlists for steps on planting a school orchard or Back to School Garden. Empower your students with hands-on, educational gardening experiences, watch these videos and discover how your school can effortlessly access supplies for a successful Back to School Garden planting!

And check out this story of ReTreeUS in the news: "School orchard planting the seed for elementary education."

Student Challenges

Smokey Bear Reading Challenge

The USDA Forest Service is excited to collaborate with public library systems across the country on the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge in celebration of Smokey Bear's 80th birthday! This program is designed to be a fun and easy way to engage children in reading about wildfire prevention, forests, and natural resource careers, while exploring their local environment.

Check out the digital toolkit which includes Smokey's Reading List, Challenge Log, and more!

New Purple Plow Challenge

Waste Not Want Not


Challenge Question: How can we improve the ways in which waste products are disposed of in the US?


In this challenge students will learn about various types of waste products and develop a solution that finds a creative way of transforming it into a useful product.

Grades 5-12.


All entries must be submitted by April 26, 2024. Learn more here.

KidsGardening Grant Opportunity

KidsGardening and the Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation are excited to announce the launch of the 2024 GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant! This grant will award a total of 170 programs $500 in funding to start or improve their youth gardens or greenspaces. Applicants must be planning to use the funds to install new or improve existing youth gardens or greenspaces. More info here.


Applications are due by February 9, 2024.

New Video Resources

Nourishing Maine

Mary Kate Reny and Marge Kilkelly have teamed up to develop and produce a Maine-based cooking show.

“Nourishing Maine” features Home Cook Heroes and their stories – the folks who are standing at kitchen stoves, creating affordable, home-cooked delights from all parts of Maine. During the show, the local cook will take you along, as they describe the history of the recipe, how they came to favor it, and all of the other wonderful anecdotes that come with time in the kitchen among friends.

Check it out and subscribe on Youtube!

The Bug Chicks

New Video Series

The Bug Chicks are thrilled to announce that their newest mini-series, A Different View, is now available!

This new, four-part series about arthropod eyes will explore the structure and function of these amazing animals and highlight some visual adaptations that allow them to survive and thrive.

This series is free - all you have to do is sign up with your email to get access. (This will also confirm that you want to be on our mailing list for the new site.)

Each video also has an accompanying outdoor exercise that you can download to incorporate some extra science fun!

Check it out and learn more here.

Harvest of the Month - February is Maine Root Vegetables!

Check out our Root Vegetables Resource Page for lessons, activities, books, and more!


Click here for the great Harvest of the Month (HOM) materials - posters, fact sheets, recipes, social media promo, and more!

Learn more about how schools can participate.


Search the Ag Literacy Curriculum Matrix for even MORE resources!


All of our HOM Resource Pages can be found on our Teach ME site under "Teaching Units"

Teacher Resources Section

Lessons

This month some of our lessons, videos and resources are highlighted to honor February as Black History Month. The "Books" section features several stories about Black Americans and their contributions to agriculture, and a lot of the lessons highlights can accompany the books.


Potatoes: More Than Fries. Grades K-2. Students investigate potato varieties, explore potato plants, determine how potatoes grow, and make a potato recipe.


Feed Your Soul with Plants. Grades K-6. Lesson 5 from the Healthy Kids Happy Planet Curriculum. Cool Bean & Cultural Connection: BLACK-EYED Pea & Africa and American Soul Food. Nutrition Focus: Fiber & Healthy Gut Bacteria, Healthy Soil Bacteria. Fun and engaging worksheets with recipes too!


Powerful Potato. Grades 3-5. Students observe a potato grow with and without soil, chart potato geography on a world map, and hold a potato dress up contest.


Where Does it Come From? Grades 3-5. Students explore the connection between geography, climate, and the type of agriculture in an area by reading background information and census data about the agricultural commodities beef, potatoes, apples, wheat, corn, and milk.


Nuts About Peanuts. Grades 3-5. Students label the parts of a peanut plant on a diagram, follow step-by-step instructions to plant a peanut, and use a chart to record the growth of peanut plants. 


Cracking Open the Story of Nuts. Grades 3-5. Students investigate a variety of nuts, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.


Clothes on the Grow. Grades 6-8. Students will gain a broad understanding of the types and sources of different fibers, examining their origins and observing their differences. Activities in this lesson include examining clothing and clothing labels and observing how different types of fabrics burn.


FoodMASTER Middle: Energy Balance. Grades 6-8. Students will identify the importance of a healthy diet, examine how to meet current Dietary Guidelines, and determine the potential energy (kilocalories) of a peanut through measurements obtained during teacher use of a bomb calorimeter. Students will make comparisons to the actual Nutrition Fact Label and identify possible sources of error.


Growing a Nation Era 1b: Cotton's American Journey. Grades 9-12. Students investigate the impact of cotton on the history and culture of the United States. Students discover the growth and processing requirements for cotton, recognize how the invention of the cotton gin affected slavery, explain how the plantation system was organized, and ultimately understand the role of cotton in the Civil War.


Looking for more? Explore the Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix HERE

Books

Don't forget that all SIX of our Agriculture for ME books are available to read online!

Videos

Cooking Cool Beans with Queen Bean & Friends, Episode 5 - Africa & Soul Food

Queen Bean and Professor Chris Carter make a colorful and delicious soul food dish, called Hoppin' Johns. As an enrichment to the Cool Beans from Around the World nutrition curriculum (lesson 5) from Healthy Kids, Happy Planet!, students learn that black-eyed peas and collard greens are nutritious ingredients in soul food, and helps connect Black Americans to their history and ancestral homeland of Africa.

Activities & Resources

Data Nuggets. Free classroom activities, co-designed by scientists and teachers, to bring contemporary research and authentic data into the classroom. Data Nuggets feature a scientist role model and the story of what inspired their research. In a Data Nugget activity, students are guided through the entire process of science, including identifying hypotheses and predictions, visualizing and interpreting data, supporting claims using data as evidence, and asking their own questions for future research. Because of their simplicity and flexibility, Data Nuggets can be used throughout the school year and across grades K-16, as students grow in their quantitative abilities and gain confidence. Data Nuggets have the potential to improve the understanding of science in society while engaging and motivating the next generation of scientists. You can check out data nuggets by theme: agriculture, plants, climate change, etc.


Fascinating Farms Around the World. Take an interactive journey around the world to visit 16 farms. These are not your ordinary farms with cattle, sheep, hay, or grain. These farms produce specialty crops such as salmon, tulips, alligators, wind, mussels, coffee, leeches, lavender, yaks, seaweed, ostriches, rice, sunflowers, salt, ostriches, solar power, and alpacas. This journey would be an excellent supplement for elementary geography and agriculture lessons to teach students about less common types of farms.


Sugar 101: Connecting Students to Where Their Food Comes From. Students are curious about where their food comes from and what’s in it. Yet, with all the information, and misinformation out there on social media, they may not be able to answer that question when it comes to sugar. Check out the videos, complimentary presentations, printable resources and more from The Sugar Association, a STEM.org Accredited Educational Program.


Nut Flowchart. This six-page informational sheet describes the process of how nuts are grown and harvested, how they get from the farm to the store, and nutrition facts. Words and graphics are used to portray this information for almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts. 

ReTreeUS


KidsGardening Grants


White-Reinhardt Grants


Whole Kids Foundation


The Pollination Project Grants


Future Organic Farmer Grant


CHS Classroom Foundation Grants


Fuel Up


Project Learning Tree


Captain Planet Foundation


Sustainable Agriculture Grants for Farmers & Educators


Salad Bars to Schools


Fruit Tree 101


Kars4Kids Grants


The Awesome Foundation Grants


Digital Wish Grants


The Flannel Shirt Fund


More funding opportunities are listed from some of our friends:

Maple Curriculum Support: Tapping into Maple Tradition - Lessons for K-12 Classrooms.


Looking for field trips? Check out Real Maine's Food, Farms, and Forest Search


Gulf of Maine Research Institute Learning Resource Hub - compelling curriculum for teachers of middle school students that connects classroom learning to authentic scientific experiences.


ReTreeUS plants orchards in schools and provides educational programs that empower people to be healthy environmental stewards.


See the Maine Farm to School Census here. Are you participating?


Maine School Garden Network provides resources and technical assistance for all school gardens across Maine!


Search the National Ag in the Classroom Curriculum Matrix for resources


Fuel Up offers educators a wide array of resources they can use to help students make sustainable changes in their school environment.


Agroworld is an agricultural science e-zine developed for the secondary educator.


KidsGardening has ideas about plants and gardens, teacher resources, and grant opportunities.


The Chop Chop magazine and website has easy and healthy recipes.


American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has curriculum, games, and resources available for educators and students.



This document is a compilation of agriculture related resources to be used in virtual and remote learning.

Pictures, videos, and words are hyperlinked throughout the document.
Funding from this plate has impacted up to 200,000 students annually with lessons, materials, volunteers and teacher training. Annually up to $60K is distributed in grants to schools, FFA, 4-H and other Non-profit programs for Ag education initiatives by the Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Council.
Donate today to The Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Association
The Non-profit, completely volunteer, portion of MAITC. These funds are used directly to support teacher scholarships and recognition, and support volunteer participation for Ag education programs. Your donation is completely tax deductible and you can make a one-time donation or a recurring monthly donation which will support the mission, "to promote the understanding of agriculture and natural resources among students, educators, and the general public." If you have any other questions or would like to join this group please contact the chairman, Maryjane StaffordDonate Here.
Our Mission Statement
"To promote the understanding of agriculture and natural resources among students, educators, and the general public"  
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Augusta, ME 04333
(207)287-5522
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