Newsletter from Maine Agriculture in the Classroom

Funding from this plate has impacted 98,528 students in 2016 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

April Newsletter
#67

2017

Have YOU registered yet?

Maine School Garden Day is next month!

Click here to register now!!

Request for applications are available on our website. Categories included: Agriculture Awareness, Ag Leadership and School Gardens and Greenhouses, in amounts of up to $1,000 or $3,000. The deadline for submission for current applications is 4:00 PM on June 8, 2017.

REMINDER for 2016 Grantees:

Final Grant Reports are due June 1, 2017!

Two Maine Teachers Selected for the National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award

The National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization (NAITCO), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Farm Credit announced that general education teachers from eight states around the country have been selected as winners of the National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award for 2017. Maine team teachers Stephanie Enaire and Morgan Kerr who use agricultural concepts, a school garden and a classroom embryology project to teach across the curriculum to foster in the minds of their fifth, sixth and seventh graders a love of the environment and an appreciation of the importance of agriculture.

One of the out of the classroom visits will be with the Clun Forest Sheep at Fields Edge Farm in Leeds! Visit our website for more information and to download the registration form!

Lyme Disease Awareness Month school poster contest for grades K-8: Be Tick Smart!

Learn more and view contest rules here.

Read ME Agriculture Program Recap

Our 2017 program has been a blast! And it's not over yet! Students, teachers, and volunteers are LOVING the "What's in the Garden?" book! So far participation includes: 86 schools, 161 volunteers, 742 classes, and 11,067 students!

Lessons:

- Eggology. Grades K-2. Students will identify how the basic needs of a growing chick are met during egg incubation. Activities include identifying and diagramming the parts of an egg and hatching eggs in class.

- Hatching Science with Classroom Chicks. Grades: K-5. Students will explore how an embryo develops inside of a chicken egg over time, discuss life cycles and other natural cycles, and observe similarities and differences between parents and offspring.

- Flower Power. Grades: 3-8. Students will observe physical characteristics of flowers and explore principles of pollination.

- Fermentation of Honey. Grades: 9-12. This lesson explains the processes of cellular respiration and fermentation and how it applies to the production and processing of honey.

- The Hatching Science Center offers practical information about the technical aspects of hatching chicks and provides relevant, hands-on activities for integrating embryology themes into core curriculum.

- Food, Land & People Buzzy Buzzy Bee lesson and activity!