Mass Agriculture in the Classroom

Workshops for Teachers on the Farm

KEEPING YOUR CLASSROOM FRESH AND GROWING!

3 Credit Summer Graduate Course for Teachers

Growing Agriculture in Your Classroom

Sponsored by Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom

in cooperation with Fitchburg State College

Beginning Workshop: Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ending Workshop: Wednesday, August 12, 2009
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Click here to download a PDF flyer

Our popular Graduate Course for educators returns for the summer of 2009. Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom, collaborating with Fitchburg State College, will offer this three-credit graduate course, titled “Growing Agriculture in the Classroom,” using Massachusetts farms as classrooms. Teachers will participate in agricultural-literacy training through fun, hands-on study and investigation of agriculture education resources. It will help enhance curriculum and meet many MCAS requirements.

The course will meet on Wednesdays, June 24 and August 12 at the Brigham Hill Community Farm in North Grafton from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each participant must attend both sessions and also participate in six additional workshops during the summer, selected from approximately twelve workshops on a variety of topics in locations across the state.

Participants will keep a journal of their agricultural journey and developing a classroom project, which they will present to their peers on August 12. Farm workshops may cover topics such as nutrition; plant science; soils; water; economics; technology; ag-history; farm animals; energy, sustainable agriculture and more.

This course will assist new educators and those who want to expand their offerings to integrate agriculture into the classroom. Participants will learn how to create community partnerships; link the classroom to the farm; expand math, science, social studies, art, nutrition and other educational knowledge using agricultural examples, and explore technology and engineering techniques.

The fee for this eight-day course is $475 and includes all materials; farm workshops; some meals and three graduate credits or 67 professional development points from Fitchburg State College. Participants will be paired with a MAC board member to give long-term access to agricultural resources and support.

The 12 Farm workshops are now being developed and the list will be posted on this web site as soon as it is completed. Workshops will cover topics such as Agricultural History; Aquaponics; Botany; Chickens and Embryology; Dairy; Energy Conservation; Economics; Farm Animals; Food Safety; Genetic Diversity; Marine Science; Natural Resources, Nutrition; Technology and more.

Using Massachusetts Farms as your classroom, learn how agriculture can enhance your curriculum, enthrall your students and meet many of the MCAS requirements. Workshops offer hands-on, open-ended experiences, activities and resources related to a variety of agricultural topics. Participants will:

Learn that agriculture is a vital and important part of Massachusetts’ economy, community resources and history and then create community partnerships with local farms.

Learn how to use agriculture in your classroom to create fun and relevant lessons that reinforce MCAS concepts.

Strengthen your science background with fun hands on activities and use agriculture as the medium to teach science processing skills.

Receive resources and hands-on activities related to agricultural topics and learn how to use them in the classroom and outdoor setting.

Receive training in using various teaching technologies and website links where you can find answers to questions.

Click Here for a Registration Form

Workshops on the Farm

We are still working on the details for our summer workshops on the farm. Twelve workshops will be scheduled on Farms across the state. As the details are finalized the workshops will be posted below. Each workshop runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be held between June 25th and August 12th.

Sheep, Wool & Fibers

Thursday, June 25

Natural Resources Trust of Easton, North Easton

Thursday, June 25th takes us to Sheep Pasture the home of the Natural Resources Trust of Easton where we'll spend the day focusing on sheep, wool and fibers. Start inside with a overview of Sheep history and breeds with Interim Director Ed Hands. Move to the barn for a quick lesson (using one of their sheep) of sheep anatomy and farming practices with a local 4-H team. Then harvest wool from sheep to yarn, including hands-on activities where participants will wash, card, and felt the wool with teacher and naturalist Monique Melcher.

Following a farm lunch, there will be a yarn spinning demonstration with Donna Heir, yarn weaving, yarn dyeing and a tour of Sheep Pasture, with an overview of their mission, activities, programs and more with Ed Hands and teacher/naturalist Stephanie McNamara. (Lunch is included.)

Cranberries, Bogs & Wetlands

Tuesday, June 30

Flax Pond Cranberry Farm, Carver

Spend Tuesday, June 30th at Flax Pond Cranberry Farm in Carver. This 100-acre family farm, consisting of 34 acres of bogs, a ten acre pond, twenty acres of reservoir and forty acres of woodland including 400 fraser fir Christmas trees has been owned and operated by Jack and Dorothy Angley since 1967, although the bogs have been in production since the turn of the century. They will introduce you to all the many aspects of raising cranberries in Massachusetts today. The overview will include growing cranberries; seasons on the bog; tools and equipment for cranberry farming; the importance of bogs, water and wetlands; water quality; associated plant and animal habitat; Pest Management, economics and marketing, and the health and benefits of cranberries. Spend the afternoon touring the cranberry bogs and related wetland and try out some activities for the classroom. (Lunch is included.)

Horticulture, Gardening and Organic Farming

Wednesday, July 1

Elm Bank in Dover and the Natick Community Organic Farm

Elm Bank in Dover is the headquarters of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Spend the morning of Wednesday, July 1 with horticulturist David Fiske who will tell us about the history of this venerable institution, and will showcase the gardens including a children’s garden. He will offer an overview of horticulture and gardening with some activities for the schoolyard and classroom. In the afternoon, we’ll tour the nearby Natick Community Organic Farm with educator Trish Wesley Umbrell. She will outline the farm practices, community efforts and education programs held at this organic community farm owned by the town of Natick. (Lunch is not included; bring your own lunch.)

Growing, Apples, Peaches and Pears Using Earth Friendly Practices

Tuesday, July 7

Small Ones Farm, Amherst

On Tuesday, July 7, visit Small Ones Farm in Amherst to learn about growing Apples, Peaches and Pears using Earth Friendly Practices. The workshop will offer an overview of tree fruit farming in Massachusetts and will highlight techniques for growing and managing these crops using sustainable practices and approved organic pest management. Bob and Sally Fitz envisioned a farm as a place where children could be nourished in body and mind, through the foods grown on the site and education programs. They spent 15 years searching for just the right farm and found these 63 acres in Amherst in 2004. The farm's history dates back to the 1850's. Most of the orchard was planted by the previous owner in the 1980's and includes 40 varieties of apples. Explore the fruits of their labor in the orchards and the children's garden, which is the centerpiece of their education programs. Try out some activities that you can take back to the classroom.

Field to Plate Farm Connections at the School

Thursday, July 9, 2009

L. D. Batchelder School, North Reading, MA

Spend Thursday, July 9 at the L. D. Batchelder School in North Reading. Explore an enrichment program that teaches about Colonial agriculture and shows the effort involved in bringing food from field to plate. Third grade teacher Bill Cassell, our 2007 Massachusetts Agriculture Teacher of the Year, will guide you through the fields of wheat, corn, beans, and potatoes and the apple orchard where students grow food. You will thresh, winnow, and mill wheat, make bread, husk and grind corn, make hasty pudding and more. He’ll offer curriculum-related activities and links to history, math, science, technology, language arts, and problem solving that will engage and excite you, even if you don't have a school garden. (Lunch is included.)

Canning and Preserving

Tuesday, July 14

Warren Farm and Sugarhouse and Brookfield Orchard, North Brookfield
Discover the lost art of home canning! Using farm-grown strawberries and all natural ingredients, you'll make strawberry jam Learn about creating safe foods, which are naturally shelf-stable with Janice Wentworth of the Warren Farm and Sugarhouse in North Brookfield. Technical topics include: sterilization, cross-contamination, vacuum sealing, low and high acid fruits, water availability, and lots more. Morning snacks, fruit, jars, and great conversation will be provided. We will also walk the farm while the jam sets. You will take home your own jam! In the afternoon, we'll tour nearby Brookfield Orchards. (Bring Your own Lunch. Registration Limit 10. Additional materials Fee $10.)

Raising Pigs for the Home Market & Nutritional Benefits of Locally Grown and Grass Fed Foods

Wednesday, July 15

Artichoke Farm, Newburyport

At Artichoke Farm in Newburyport, young piglets are raised until they are six to eight weeks old. They are then sold to home-owners and other farms who keep them for several more months until they are ready for the freezer or market. Owners Lisa and Bruce Colby also grow a variety of vegetables for their farm market. We will spend the morning of Wednesday, July 15 learning about how the hay fields are managed and then focus on the nutritional and health benefits of locally grown, hay feed and free range management practices for the animals and for the humans who consume them. Following a farm lunch, we'll tour the hay and vegetable fields, farm markets and meet the piglets. (Lunch is included.)

Massachusetts Agricultural History

Wednesday, July 22

Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association/Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield

Wednesday, July 22, takes us to the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association/Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, where Sheila Damkoehler and the museum staff will offer an overview of changes in agriculture over time. Using the town of Deerfield as an example, the workshop will present a model for teachers to use in their own towns or cities. The workshop will show responses to the needs and demands of each time period starting with a visit to the Indian House where the museum staff offer programming around Native American and 18th century English life. After a look at the Yazwinski Farm next door, a visit to Memorial Hall Museum’s Tool Room and new milk bottle exhibit will lead participants into the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. An afternoon visit to Pioneer Gardens, a wholesale perennial flower farm begun by Dutch immigrants in 1996, on the way to Clarkdale Fruit Farms will conclude the day. Third generation farmer, Tom Clark, will share his firsthand knowledge of the history – and view of the future – of local agriculture. The museum’s American Centuries website will be introduced, and other resources and activity ideas provided. (Lunch is included.)

Composting and Healthy Soils Workshop

Tuesday, July 28

Hubbardston Center School & The Country Hen, Hubbardston

Karen DiFranza of Hubbardston is a small-scale organic farmer/ gardener and avid composter, as well as an educator. Over the years she has taken her composting efforts to local schools implementing an active composting and gardening program at the Hubbardston Center School and nearby Quabbin Regional High School in Barre. On Tuesday, July 28, Karen will show how 6 tons of food and yard wastes each year are recycled into rich compost, which is then used to grow food for student consumption.
Tour the Hubbardston Center School garden and compost area, learn how the students weigh and graph the leftovers and chart the temperatures in the compost. Try out a variety of interdisciplinary classroom activities. In the afternoon, following a farm lunch we'll visit The Country Hen, a nearby organic egg farm that has produced outstanding compost with the bedding from their hens. (Lunch is included.)

Environmental History at Old Sturbridge Village

Wednesday, July 29

Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge

History and science team up for this workshop making connections between the past and present through the study of environmental history on Wednesday, July 29. Examine the use of land over time as you explore the Woodland, Pasture, and River Walks at Old Sturbridge Village, with the Education Staff led by Education Coordinator, Bette Lotterman. Four new exhibits will answer questions about where our food comes from and why the New England landscape looks the way it does. (Lunch is included.)

Dairy Farming in Massachusetts and Connections to Agricultural Education

Wednesday, August 5

Stillman's Dairy Farm, Lunenburg

Wednesday August 5 takes us to Stillman’s Dairy Farm in Lunenburg. Colleen and Bud Stillman, second generation dairy farmers, continue to milk Jersey cows, pasteurize and bottle fluid milk and retail their product throughout northern Worcester County. The Jersey herd grazes in fields that surround the barns, silos, processing room and store. You will learn how cream turns into butter on a large and a small scale. Dr. Jim Alicata from Fitchburg State College will join Colleen Stillman, math teacher, to relate the dairy business to teaching opportunities that coincide with the frameworks and discuss methods of teaching students with various learning abilities. (Lunch is included.)

Daffodils, Community Supported Agriculture and Farm Education

Tuesday, August 11

Holiday Farm, Dalton

Travel far west across Massachusetts on Tuesday, August 11th to visit Holiday Farm in Dalton. This farm, owned by the Crane Family, hosts a variety of agricultural enterprises. We will begin the day learning about community supported agriculture as we harvest crops to be distributed later in the day. Then explore the farms educational programs with farm educator Desireé Robertson-Dubois. Following lunch we’ll tour the children’s garden and explore a small niche daffodil business that operates from the farm with David Burdick of Daffodils and More.

Click here to download a PDF flyer

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Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom

P.O. Box 345Seekonk, MA 02771(508) 336-4426 Fax: (508) 336-0682

www.aginclassroom.org

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