Mass Agriculture in the Classroom

Beginning Workshop: Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Ending Workshop: Wednesday, August 13, 2008
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom is please to announce our third summer graduate credit course in agricultural literacy training for educators. Using Massachusetts farms as your classroom, learn how agriculture can enhance your curriculum, enthrall your students and meet many MCAS requirements.

This graduate course offers agricultural-literacy training through fun, hands-on study and investigation of agriculture education resources. It will assist new educators and those who want to expand their classroom offerings as they learn how to integrate agriculture into the classroom to create lessons and reinforce MCAS concepts

This Summer Institute, title “Growing Agriculture in the Classroom” will meet of Wednesday, June 25th and Wednesday, August 13th at Brigham Hill Community Farm in North Grafton from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each participant will also be asked to attend six additional workshops during the summer, selected from approximately 12 workshops on various agricultural topics offered at farms across the state. Participants must keep a journal of their summer agricultural journey and write an agricultural education unit, which will be presented at the final session on August 13th.

The 12 Farm workshops are now being developed and the list will be posted on this website 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.

The fee for the eight-day course is $450 and includes all materials; farm workshops and tours; some meals, and three graduate credit credits or 67 professional development points from Fitchburg State College. Participants will receive a letter grade. Curriculum and MCAS standards covered by the lessons will be handed out as workshop materials. Each participant will be paired with a MAC Board members to give long-term access to agricultural resources and follow-up support.

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:

All Workshops 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Workshop Date	Workshop Description
Thursday, June 26 Holly Hill Farm, Cohasset Organic Gardening at the School and Farm	On Thursday, June 26, travel to Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset, where we will spend the morning observing and sometimes participating in the summer educational programs for youth. You’ll learn about the farming and gardening practices and activities that take place on this organic farm as we tour the fields with farm educator Jon Belber and owners Frank and Jean White. Following a farm lunch, we’ll take an in-depth look at the new organic gardening curriculum that was developed by the farm in cooperation with teachers and students at the South Shore Charter Public School in Norwell. Try out some of the recommended activities.
Thursday, July 10 Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown Horticultural Therapy Activities	Spend Thursday July 10th at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown learning about the field of Horticultural Therapy and the remarkable work that takes place in the gardens and greenhouses at this school for the blind and visually impaired. We will tour the gardens and greenhouse with Horticultural Therapist Deborah Krause, explore adaptations in horticultural techniques and devices that make gardening accessible to this special population and explore techniques for teaching science MCAS.
Wednesday, July 16 Hancock Shaker Village Pittsfield Renewable Energy and Sustainable Agriculture Then & Now: Everything Old is New Again Instructors: Todd Burdick Director of Education Billy Mangiardi Director of Farm & Facilities Ed Sourdiffe Head of Historic Gardens Kathy Vincent Lead Interpreter & Volunteer Coordinator	This session will highlight the unique renewable energy and sustainable agriculture initiative being developed by Hancock Shaker Village. The Shakers of the past have long been renowned for their innovations, progressive practices and technologies, and their quest for and creation of an overall sustainable community lifestyle. This hands-on and minds-on session will feature tours and in-depth exploration of the historic renewable energy and sustainable agriculture resources preserved and interpreted at Hancock Shaker Village, combined with discussion, suggestions and examples of modern applications. The historic Village and its farm, gardens, and interpreted trails system will be used as a case study for inquiry and for exploring diverse topics evident in the understanding, history, development and application of renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, past to present. Topics for discussion and presentation will focus on solar, wind, hydro, thermal mass, green architecture and sustainable community planning, biomass, biofuel, woodlands and wetlands management, and organic and natural farming. Learn about and experience how renewable energy and sustainable agriculture as seen in the historic Shaker Village are new again, and can provide inspiration in our contemporary search for on overall sustainable lifestyle for today and tomorrow. Objectives: Educators will: Use historic renewable energy and sustainable agriculture examples and resources as a case study for understanding their development, importance, and application Learn and experience how renewable energy and sustainable agriculture methods utilized by the Shakers relate to contemporary solutions for a more sustainable future Explore renewable energy and sustainable agriculture in terms of their impact on society and the environment Notes: Wear comfortable clothing, including walking shoes for touring the historic buildings, farm, gardens, trails, and grounds of Hancock Shaker Village
Wednesday July 23 Diemand Egg Farm, Miller's Falls Embryology, Incubation and Heritage Breeds	Travel to Miller's Falls on Wednesday, July 23, where we'll spend the morning learning about embryology, incubating eggs and raising chicks. You'll have the chance to meet some Heritage Breeds of Poultry and learn about the importance of saving a diversity of stock. In the afternoon, following a farm lunch catered by Diemand Egg Farm, we'll tour the farm, see the incubators and chicks and meet the chickens with Anne Diemand. This farm began to raise chicken for meat in 1936 and the farm expanded along with the family (twelve children) converting to an egg production farm in the 1960s; turkeys were added in the 1980s. The farm now offers chickens for eggs, chickens for meat, turkeys, value added products like pies and soups and catering with chicken barbeque and native beef as well as cordwood. Many members of the second generation now work at the farm.
Thursday, July 31 Manda, Farm, Plainfield Local Foods & Global Connections to the Foods We Eat	Travel toManda Farm in Plainfield, where we'll spend the day looking closely at local foods and the global connection to the foods we eat. Farmer and educator Anna Hanchett will use Barbara Kingsolver's best selling book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to show agriculturally based lessons. Using the month-by-month description of producing locally grown food written by Kingsolver, the environmental issues discussed by her scientist husband, and the experiences of their daughters as elucidated by teenager Camille, participants will be guided to create lesson plans compatible with their own classroom subjects and testing criteria which investigate different agricultural topics. Each of us will be affected by developments in agriculture if we eat food. We all need to be aware of our connection to issues involving agriculture, both local and global in scope. Students from pre-school through college need to be encouraged to develop connections to this exciting and wide-ranging topic. The food choices each person makes will affect everything from our own health to the sustainability of the world's environment to the lives of people half a globe away. The discussions will be illustrated by hands-on experiences on Manda Farm and enhanced by the production of lunch from products grown on the farm."
Wednesday August 6 Moon Over Pond Farm, Sheffield, MA Heritage Breeds, Heirloom Seeds, Local Foods and Sustainable Agriculture	Join us on Wednesday, August 6 at Moon Over Pond Farm in Sheffield. Dominic Palumbo will introduce heritage breeds, heirloom seeds, local foods and sustainable agriculture practices. The group will harvest and prepare their own lunch and then tour the farm and learn about the education and farm stewardship that takes place here.
Thursday, August 7 Randall's Farm, Ludlow, MA Soils, Value Added Agriculture and Agri-Toursim	Spend Thursday, August 7th and Randall’s Farm in Ludlow investigating soils and trying out a variety of soil activities for the classroom with retired teacher and Master Gardener Ken Oles. Topics will include soil layers(horizons), soil components, physical properties, improving soil structure, and soil pH. As part of the workshop, we'll test the soil at the farm and samples that participants bring from home. Once pH is determined you can select recommended vegetables and ornamentals that will best meet your site. Following a farm lunch catered by Randall's Farm, we'll tour this very busy farmstand, hay fields, strawberries, pumpkin patch, and corn maze with owner Karen Randall. Learn how and why the farm has transformed from a vegetable farm to a very busy farmstand, catering business, and entertainment destination through value added agriculture and agritourism.
Tuesday, August 12 Bob Cote's Farm, Pascoag, Rhode Island Dairy Goats and Small Ruminants and Cheese Making	On Tuesday, August 12th travel across the border to Pascoag, RI and the small family farm of Mansfield teacher Bob Cote. Spend the morning learning about raising and caring for dairy goats, the digestive system and diets of small ruminants and try your hand at making cheese. Following a farm lunch, we’ll tour the farm to meet llamas, chickens, honeybees and an organic farm garden.
Date to be Set Natural Resources Trust of Easton Sheep, Wool and Fibers
July 1, 2008 Boston Natural Areas Network, Mattapan Gardening and Community Networking in the City	Travel to Mattapan in Boston on Tuesday/Thursday (date) to learn about a special urban gardening program sponsored by the Boston Natural Areas Network. We’ll start the day at their nursery and laboratory garden, where we’ll learn the educational concepts that are taught in the many gardens this non-profit has sponsored with staff educators. We will also focus on community building and procedures for starting a community garden and techniques such as composting, soil building, raised beds and irrigation that are so important in the city. Teresa Strong, one of the teachers who has benefited from this program, will offer lessons she has used with her students at Haynes ECC in Roxbury. Later we will carpool to visit a couple of the school gardens.

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