Ag in the Classroom teaches Mount Pulaski students about pumpkins

 

[November 08, 2021]   Ag in the Classroom, a University of Illinois Extension partnership with Logan County Farm Bureau to educate youngsters on the importance of agriculture in our daily lives, is back up and running for the 2021-22 school year.

Since its inception, extension staff member Amy Hyde has been the ag educator with the program. She is excited about being back out with the kids.

In October, the students in Kindergarten through fifth grade students at Mount Pulaski Grade School learned about growing pumpkins. The third through fifth grade classes then made a pumpkin Catapult and tested their engineering skills using candy pumpkins.

The students learned that over 85% of the world’s canned pumpkin is processed in nearby Morton, Libby’s cannery.

The Kindergarten through second grades learned about the pumpkin life cycle and the value of listening and following directions through a fun jack-o-lantern glyph!

The third through fifth grade students got to see how Libby’s produces and cans pumpkins and built their catapults. Pumpkin pitching is a popular activity in the Morton area.

The STEM challenge, using Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, was for students to help the farmer with his equipment breakdown and the farmer’s need to get his pumpkins in the wagon!

The Pumpkin Ag Mag is online if you would like to explore it further at http://www.aginthe
classroom.org/TeacherResources/AgMags/
Pumpkin%20Ag%20Mag_Interactive_4.23%20Update.pdf. 

About Ag in the Classroom

Logan County Ag in the Classroom program is sponsored by Logan County University of Illinois Extension, Logan County Farm Bureau, Ag in the Classroom and Logan-Sangamon-Menard Agricultural Education Partnership.

The goal of this organization is to teach students about the farms where their food comes from.

[Amy Hyde]