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2016 EDUCATION MAGAZINE
LINCOLN DAILY
NEWS.COMMarch 1, 2016 Page 11
Hartsburg Emden:
Cow in the classroom
Angela Reiners
Lincoln Daily News
What is a cow doing in the classroom? Well, the
cow isn’t literally in the school, but information
about raising one particular cow is being shared
with students and their teacher. The day-to-day
real-life data of raising a milk cow is being used
to enhance the academic subjects.
This year,
Jennifer Hayes’
fourth grade
class at Emden
Grade School
has adopted
a cow. The
cow, whose
name is Snow
Belle, was born
December 10,
2015.
Hayes said she
decided to have
her class do
this project after
being contacted
by both the
Hoerbert Farm, Emden, and the Dairy Council,
about an ‘Adopt a Cow’ program. She said, “the
premise is to help students understand how local
farmers get milk from the farm to your house.”
As the students learn about the cow, Hayes ties
it into several areas. She said, “We have learned
about Jersey cows. Terry Hoerbert comes to
visit us once a month and we tie in farm related
information with math and science.”
As they learn more about cows and dairy farms,
Hayes says, “We continue to tie in information
for use on bar graphs, calculating farm costs, and
measuring of food given per day.”
The students are also writing about the project,
as they have “researched dairy farms and Jersey
cows and have written informational papers about
it.” Hayes said the class has also done art projects
and written
friendly letters
about the cow.
The program,
sponsored by the
St. Louis Dairy
Council, “allows
classes to adopt
a calf from one
of our partner
farmers, name
it, and receive
monthly pictures
and updates, all
while learning
about dairy
foods and dairy
farming.”
Hoerbert said the St. Louis Diary Council has
given her handouts to give to the kids and has
information online about how to work with
students. Hoerbert has also sent the class photos
of Snowbelle as she grows, and plans to share
some statistics on her milk production.
Hoerbert says a milk tester is used to test how
much milk a cow produces and she has been able
to share it with the students.
Continue
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Hartem fourth-graders are learning about care and financial
management of a dairy cow. The class with a certificate of
adoption for their cow. Photos by Terry Hoerbert.