The following post is by guest blogger Amanda Hoover. Amanda is an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Continental Local Schools in Continental, Ohio. She is a graduate of South Dakota State University, one of the 10 partner institutions involved in the Sustainable Corn Project. You can follow Amanda on Twitter: twitter.com/MsAHoover. To learn more about how our Education team is training the next generation of scientists, developing science education curricula and promoting learning opportunities for high school teachers and students through this USDA-NIFA funded project click here.
For many kids, summertime means camp time. During June 2014, this was true for some of their teachers, too! Twenty science and agriculture teachers, including myself, met on the campus of Iowa State University campus for Climate Camp.
Sponsored by the Sustainable Corn Project, the camp was a great opportunity for teachers, climate experts, and sustainable agriculture experts to network and learn from one another. One of my favorite things about being an agriculture teacher is the ‘family’ atmosphere within the profession. I love attending events to not only meet other Ag teachers, but also to learn from them. Having the chance to interact with science teachers, and helping them understand the vast connections between science and agriculture, and how they can incorporate ag into their curricula, was an added bonus!
The week started with some great overview of challenges being faced by society and agriculture, especially as we look into the future. Dr. Gene Takle of ISU provided insightful information about the science and data supporting climate change. Other highlights of the week included learning about harvesting corn stover, producing cellulosic ethanol and touring ISU research farms. We had some great conversations at the research farms about the choices farmers make in regards to crop rotations, tillage systems, cover crops and utilizing natural grasses in less productive land.
A beautiful day for touring the Iowa State University BioCentury Farm! We learned about their different rotation patterns and how that affects soil quality and crop productivity.
As a new teacher, I particularly appreciated the time dedicated to creating and sharing teaching tools, the classroom-ready resources provided by the faculty at ISU, and time spent working through the process of a science research competition, including poster presentations! I’m really looking forward to using my new knowledge about science research competitions in my Ag Program, as well as some of the science labs for my environmental science units.
Working on our science research competition project – measuring the amount of CO2 absorbed by various tree species.
