Hemp To Be Part Of Pennsylvania Farm Show’s K-12 Education Program
Opportunities for agriculture and STEM learning for all ages will be featured during the Pennsylvania 2021 Farm Show, which will take place Jan. 9-16. Several opportunities will help K-12 students and teachers meet Pennsylvania academic requirements for environment and ecology, or family and consumer sciences.
Daily STEM demonstrations of at-home activities for K-12 students will include lessons on how to make butter, plant-based plastics made from hemp and other sustainable materials, and more.
The schedule of daily events includes a live Career Exploration panel discussion geared toward high school students and featuring a variety of experts in fields including a large-animal veterinarian, a farm manager, a chef, a hydroponic specialist, horticulturist, and a service technician for computerized farm equipment.
“There are a wide range of career options in STEM fields across Pennsylvania, and agriculture offers an avenue to many of those opportunities,” Acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega said. “The virtual panels and interactive sessions will provide a variety of educational experiences for learners of all ages – and will also serve as an opportunity to gain a new or restored appreciation for the many ways our agricultural industry benefits the commonwealth.”
Virtual hands-on activities will include Plants to the RescueOpens In A New Window and Plant Hunt, digital lessons for grades 6-8 provided by Seed Your FutureOpens In A New Window career initiative, in partnership with Scholastic, Inc., including lessons titled Water Filtration, Grow Plants from Food Scraps, Tie Dye with Plants, DIY Home Hydroponics, and Phototropism: Light Maze.
Throughout the show, elementary and early secondary students can become Ag Explorers by visiting virtual stations at farmshow.pa.gov to learn about raising goats, sheep, rabbits, dairy, pork, and beef; organic agriculture, the environment, hardwoods, bees and honey, apple production, maple syrup, mushrooms, 4-H, plastic recycling, dog licensing and Christmas trees. Students visit each station, then take a quiz, which they can submit to enter a drawing for a Farm Show prize package.
A teachers’ guide will be distributed to teachers statewide through the Department of Education’s PennLinks system, including links to virtual Ag Explorer stations and other resources along with the curriculum standards each resource will meet.
For older students and adult learners, each day will include live webinars on business, technological, scientific and environmental challenges facing the industry, lead by influential policy makers and experts in each topic. Topics will include solar energy, food security, pest control, emerging markets, sustainability, biosecurity and more.
Find a complete schedule of events at https://www.farmshow.pa.gov/.
