Newsletter from Maine Agriculture in the Classroom

Funding from this plate has impacted over 200,000 students in 2017 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.

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28 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333
207-287-5522

August Newsletter
#83

2018

Annually Maine Agriculture in the Classroom recognizes an outstanding Maine elementary or secondary school teacher who uses agricultural education materials and/or activities in the classroom to teach core subjects. Apply by October 5, 2018.

For more information and to download the application form.

Summer

Success

Garden

Tour

Join us to embark on a tour through Southern Maine's most successful school gardens! This engaging tour begins at 8:00am at Wolfe's Neck Center, Freeport on Saturday 9/15 and concludes at 12:30pm Sunday 9/16. Stops include schools in Durham, Windham, Westbrook, Portland, and Bath.

Registration includes travel between stops, meals, and lodging (if needed). Cost is $100 before 9/1 and $125 after 9/1.

More information on the tour agenda to come!

Scholarships are available upon request. First come, first serve. Email Kelsey for scholarship information.

Space is limited for this great event - REGISTER TODAY!

Gearing up for School Garden Grown!

The Maine School Garden Network invites you to promote your school garden and "show off" your School Garden Grown ! We know how hard you work and we want to see the fruits (and veggies) of your labor. The program will be offered starting at Bangor Fair and many of the other Agricultural Fairs throughout Maine, including Fryeburg and Common Ground Fair later in the fall. We are working to create exhibit opportunities (including prize money to support your school garden program) and to promote educational gardens throughout Maine.
Want to "show off"? Here's how:

1) Let MSGN know - Email MSGN to receive more info

2) Start planning - What fruits or veggies would you like to enter? Now is the time to sow the seeds for success! View fair dates and detailed entry information in fair books online .
3) Stay tuned - More information about participating fairs to come!
Got questions? Email [email protected] anytime

Celebrate International Literacy Day on Saturday, September 8th at the Maine State Museum Atrium in Augusta.

Maine authors will be there for book signings, readings, and sales; there will be book vendors offering sales and hourly giveaways; family literacy activities; and Maine storytellers. Maine Ag in the Classroom will be there with our Ag for ME books!

This event is put on by Literacy Volunteers of Greater Augusta.

John Deere That's Who Teacher Resource Grant

What: Apply to receive a completely free (including free shipping) educator pack that includes 1 John Deere That's Who Book, 1 John Deere That's Who educator guide and 1 set of 30 Ag Innovations Ag Mags for use in your classrooms.

Who: Kindergarten through fifth-grade educators working in schools, as well as home-schooling families, may apply for educator packs.

When: Applications close August 15th.

Please read the full guidelines on the application page.

These grants were made possible by a generous sponsorship from John Deere. Thank you to John Deere for your generosity and your understanding for the need for ag education!

CHS Foundation Classroom Grants Available!

The application for CHS Foundation Classroom Grants is now available and K-12 teachers with agriculture-related projects in need of funding are invited to apply. The CHS Foundation and National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization partner each year to offer this grant opportunity.

Projects funded in the past include school gardens, embryology projects and other

agriculture-related initiatives that help educators teach reading, writing, math, science, social studies and more.

Fifteen $500 grants will be awarded. The deadline for applications is September 15 . Apply for a CHS Foundation Classroom Grant today!

Lessons:

- Tomato Trivia. Grades K-2. Using tomatoes as a theme, the students will practice their math and science skills of estimating, measuring, counting, graphing and sequencing.

- Pizza Time! Grades 3-5. This lesson uses pizza as a basis for learning about agriculture, geography, and mathematics.

- Wild Blueberries for ME. Grades PreK-5. Wild Blueberries for ME describes the history, growing and harvesting of this important Maine crop. After reading aloud, students will be involved in English Language Arts and Health Education activities.

- Wild Blueberry. Grade 5. Students will be able to identify where blueberries are grown in Maine and describe their growing season. They will be able to list the nutrients in blueberries and enter information into tables. Students will also learn about foods and how foods affect health.

- Wild Blueberry Poetry. Grades 3-8. The students will explore poetry and art using the wild blueberry as the object of their efforts. They will write and illustrate a poem using descriptive language and read their poems to the class.

- Advertising Wild Blueberries. Grades 3-8. Students will explore the role of advertising in influencing consumer choices. Students will then utilize methods employing language and visual arts to develop their own advertisements and/or commercials to promote the sale of Maine's wild blueberries.

- Producing Wild Blueberries. Grades 3-8. Students will explore the production of wild blueberries as it relates to their yearly life cycle, technology, and the food system. Students will then utilize methods employing language and visual arts to develop written and oral accounts of the production of Maine's wild blueberries.

- Animals and Wild Blueberries. Grades 3-8. Students will explore the interaction of several animals with the wild blueberry including, but not limited to, honey-bees, bumblebees, black bears and pest insects.

- Health and Nutrition - Wild Blueberry Style. Grades 3-8. The students will learn about nutrition labeling and the nutritional value and other health benefits of wild blueberries, and design their own nutritious, wild blueberry food product with a nutrition label.

- Wild Blueberry History and Geography. Grades 3-8. The students will explore the impact of wild blueberries on the history and culture of several human populations as well as map the geography. An example of civics in action will be addressed in the story of Megan Frank.

- Wild Blueberry Math. Grades 3-8. The students will examine, interpret and manipulate real-life data about the economics of wild blueberry production.

- Strawberry Breeding and Genetics. Grades 9-12. Students learn about DNA by extracting it from strawberries. Students also analyze the similarities and differences of their extraction process to those on Genetic Engineering: The Journey of a Gene. Students learn how genetic testing (including DNA extraction) is useful in breeding new varieties of strawberries.

- Conserving Bumble Bees. Grades 9-12. This lesson introduces the importance of bumble bees and other pollinators. Using a case study approach, students will examine bumble bee population surveys and use the scientific method to discuss possible causes for the decline of pollinators. Students will then determine which land management conservation strategies in agricultural ecosystems are most successful in attracting and supporting bumble bee populations.

Books: