*make sure to click "View entire message" to get access to the full newsletter!*
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Lynn Snow - National Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture Award Winner
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"We are proud to honor these teachers for the innovative ways they use agriculture every day in their classrooms to teach students about this important industry,"; said Will Fett, president of National AITC Organization and executive director of Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation.
Read the full announcement and press release
here
.
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A few weeks ago we sent out a special email with links to many of our online resources.
If you missed it,
Our databases are filled with tons of resources that you can browse and search. But please let us know if you're looking for something specific, we will do our best to help you and provide as much assistance as we can!
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NAITC eLearning Page for Online Content
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Check out the BRAND NEW
eLearning page developed by National Agriculture in the Classroom to support teachers delivering online content.
This page contains super user-friendly content that teachers can just drop into their google classrooms.
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These
Ag Today e-readers
are written for 3-5th grade and include lots of graphics and interactive links to being agriculture to life at home or in the classroom.
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Summer Teacher's Institute!
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Our 2020 Summer Teacher's Institute is still on and still being planned.
WHEN: August 3-7, 2020
WHERE: University of Maine, Orono
A lot of great sessions and opportunities are in the works!
This professional development opportunity offers 36 contact hours or 3.6 CEUs for recertification for teachers.
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Maine School Garden Day - Cancelled
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Maine School Garden Network has decided to
cancel
Maine School Garden Day for 2020. As their biggest (and most favorite) event of the year, this decision is not made lightly and your understanding is appreciated. In the months ahead we will be working to provide alternative ways for school gardeners to stay connected and will be sure to update our network as these develop.
If you had already registered for Maine School Garden Day (which was scheduled for May 2, 2020), you will be issued a full refund via the Eventbrite platform with which you registered.
Please
save the date
for next year's Maine School Garden Day: May 1, 2021.
We'll be hosting in the same location, Reeds Brook Middle School in Hampden.
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Harvest of the Month - April is Maine Dairy!
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Check out the great HOM materials:
Check out our
newly updated
More dairy education from the American Dairy Association can be found
here.
Register to take a LIVE virtual dairy farm tour coming up in May! All you need is an internet-connected computer and speakers.
More info here.
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Teacher Resources Section
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Exploring Texture in the Garden
. Grades K-2. Students will explore living and nonliving things, determine how nonliving resources help sustain plant life, and experiment with visual arts techniques through an examination of texture in the natural world. Activities in this lesson include collecting and categorizing items from the natural environment, creating seed and soil mosaics, making clay imprints, and coloring cloth with plant materials.
Why People Need Plants
. K-2. The purpose of this lesson is to teach students that plants provide people with food, clothing, shelter, and many other things that we use in our daily lives.
Color in the Garden
. Grades 3-5. Students will use the art of soil painting to explore science and the natural world while learning about the color wheel, the importance of soil to agriculture, and why soils have different colors.
Seeds, Miraculous Seeds
. Grades 3-5. Students will develop an appreciation and understanding of the natural development of seeds, learn the anatomy and function of each seed part through a seed dissection and classify seeds as monocots or dicots.
Planet Zorcon
.
Grades 6-8. This lesson includes an online video and e-reader.
Students will explore the connection between individual behavior and resource use, learn the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources, and identify careers related to natural resource management by playing an active, futuristic game in which teams have to collect limited resources from "Planet Zorcon."
Journey 2050
.
Grades 6-8
,
Grades 9-12
.
Journey 2050
is a program helping students engage in world food sustainability at a local and global scale. The program contains seven lessons which are aligned to education standards for both
6-8th grade
and
9-12th grade
. Use this project-based learning approach as a capstone to develop a plan to support sustainable agriculture.
Surrounded by Plants
. Grades 9-12. Students identify the importance of plants to human life by surveying their home and neighborhood for plant products used for medicine, aesthetics, fuel products, fiber, and food.
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A Handful of Dirt
How Groundhog's Garden Grew
It's Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden
The Curious Garden
Diary of a Worm
The Extraordinary Gardener
Anno's Magic Seeds
A Seed is Sleepy
Here is a
link
to 10 sites where you can search for books that are available to read online.
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Resources
Pumpkin Reader
. Grades K-5. Use this 4-page reader for students to self-discover facts about pumpkins. What are pumpkins? Topics include: Pumpkin vocabulary, plant anatomy, pumpkin history, varieties of pumpkins, and more.
Poultry Reader
. Grades K-5. This printable four-page reader is packed with information about chickens, turkeys, and other poultry. Use this reader to share information about the parts of an egg, poultry-related careers, the diets of chickens, and more.
Soil Science Reader
. Grades 7-8. This is a free digital download from Nutrients for Life. The digital reader introduces soil formation and soil horizons with a fun edible soil activity. Other topics include the nitrogen cycle, plant nutrition, and fertilizer basics featuring the 4R Nutrient Stewardship.
Soil Reader
. Grades 5-6.
This is a free digital download from Nutrients for Li
fe. This 18-page downloadable pdf contains articles and activities, such as "Properties of Soil" and "Soil Testing Your Yard." Written specifically 5 & 6th grade students, the reader features an interview with an agriculture engineer and features puzzles, quizzes, and visuals to enhance a teacher's soil unit.
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Apply now for one of three Russell Libby Agricultural Scholar Awards from MOFGA
Three $1,500 scholarships will be awarded each year in the following categories:
- MOFGA Journeyperson Program participant
- Maine High School Senior planning to study sustainable or organic farming (preference for colleges in Maine)
- Teacher, school or education center looking to support an agricultural related project in Maine, such as a campus garden, classroom project or a guest lecturer.
Deadline is April 24, 2020.
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Mighty Mini Microbe
Coloring Adventure Tale
In this learn-as-you-color, 24-page, science-based adventure tale, young soil explorers will discover how Mighty Mini Microbe and her band of soil superheroes (with a little help from soil health farmers and friends) take care of plants, people, and planet Earth.
Learn more and download the pdf
here.
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ReTreeUS
plants orchards in schools and provides educational programs that empower people to be healthy environmental stewards.
Fuel Up to Play 60
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.
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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.
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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 Stafford
.
Donate Here
.
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Our Mission Statement
"To promote the understanding of agriculture and natural resources among students, educators, and the general public"
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28 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
(207)287-5522
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