January News from New York Agriculture in the Classroom

New York Agriculture in the Classroom | January 2024

Schoolyard Sugaring Maple Contest

From tree to bottle, help your students experience the sweet scientific phenomena of making maple syrup in the Schoolyard Sugaring contest, a cross-curricular project based learning opportunity. Registration for this contest is free to New York educators.

Classrooms can choose to participate in syrup production and/or a maple-focused photography contest. Pre-K through 12th grade classes in New York State, in their respective divisions. Multiple classrooms from the same school are eligible. FFA chapters, home school groups, and private schools are invited to participate.

Any New York K-12 classrooms can participate and earn up to $250 in prize money. Eligible schools will receive a Maple Starter Kit, with a value of $120, to start tapping right away.

Learn More and Register

Upcoming Events and Important Dates

JAN 9

Grow with Us Grant Applications Due

FEB 9

Schoolyard Sugaring Registration Due to Receive Starter Kit

MAR 22

World Food Prize New York Youth Institute at Cornell University

APR 19

Schoolyard Sugaring Submissions Due

Apply for the Grow with Us Grant

To connect students with growing food in schools, New York Agriculture in the Classroom is again awarding grow systems through the Grow With Us Grant.

The Grow with Us Grant allows schools to apply for two types of grow systems. Schools should apply for the grow system that would best meet their educational goals, classroom space needs, and consider their experience level in school gardening and curriculum integration.

NYAITC aspires to provide teachers the vehicle and tools to facilitate experiential-learning using agriculture as the context for learning. To achieve this goal, schools are eligible to earn either a bundle of three Tower Gardens or a three tier 2445 Organics SuperGrow System.

Submit Your Application

Applications are open now on our website and due Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

Save the Date: World Food Prize New York Youth Institute at Cornell University

The New York Youth Institute at Cornell University engages high school students on the biggest challenges facing people and the planet in the 21st century. They empower students to research issues they care about, propose their own innovative ideas to solve grand global challenges, and explore exciting ways to make a difference in New York and around the world.

Make an impact. Collaborate with other passionate youth. Discover global problems and apply local solutions. Present your ideas to world-class Cornell experts.

Learn More

Featured Lessons

Grades 3-5

From Wool to Wheel

Students will investigate how the need for wool impacted the American colonists by examining the Wool Act of 1699, determining the importance of wool in colonial America, and comparing and contrasting the differences between processing wool then and now. Students spin, weave, and dye wool to explore how wool was processed in Colonial times.

Teach this Lesson

Grades 6-8

Walnuts: Naturally Nutritious

In this lesson, students will interpret and compare nutrition labels to make healthy food choices and learn about the nutritional value of walnuts. Students will also have a walnut taste test and use walnuts in a recipe.

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Grades 9-12

A Recipe for Genetics: Selective Breeding and Bioengineering

Students will identify technologies that have changed the way humans affect the inheritance of desired traits in organisms; compare and contrast selective breeding methods to bioengineering techniques; and analyze data to determine the best solution for cultivating desired traits in organisms.

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January Book Nook

If You Want to Knit Some Mittens

How do you knit a pair of mittens? The first step is to get a sheep of course! In this playful story, a girl follows 18 steps to knit mittens—from bringing home a sheep to carding, spinning, and dyeing the wool to knitting the mittens. But along the way, her mischievous sheep creates chaos and wins her heart. By wintertime, the girl has sunny-yellow mittens, the sheep has a sunny-yellow hat, and together they're ready for adventure. This tale of patience, creativity, and friendship is knitted from skeins of humor and love.

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Pizza Day

On a sunny, summer day, a young boy and his father assemble the ingredients for a homemade pizza. From gathering fresh garden herbs to rolling out the dough for a crust to spreading on sauce and cheese, this picture book leads young chefs step-by-step through the process of making a favorite meal.

Read this Book

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