Fourth graders from Blackshear Elementary, Midway Elementary and Patterson Elementary toured the GA AG Experience recently. Students learned about STEM in GA farming through interactive exhibits in GA AG Experience’s mobile classroom.
Fourth grade students from Blackshear Elementary (BES), Midway Elementary (MES) and Patterson Elementary (PES) have a better understanding of how farmers grow their food thanks to the Georgia Ag Experience.
The Georgia Ag Experience is a mobile classroom housed in a 36-foot trailer, which gives elementary students the chance to take a virtual field trip to a farm without leaving their school.
Colorful farm photos, interactive technology and displays of products made from various ag commodities grown in Georgia highlight the importance of agriculture to their daily lives.
The Georgia Ag Experience highlights Georgia’s poultry, beef cattle, cotton, peanut, timber, horticulture, fruit, vegetable and pecan farms.
Students learned how farmers plant and harvest their crops, take care of their livestock and preserve the natural resources on their farms. The classroom also highlighted the many career options in agriculture.
All exhibits and lessons that are part of the Georgia Ag Experience have been professionally designed to meet science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) standards.
“We want to showcase the future of farming and help students imagine their potential role in Georgia AG through a STEM lens,” said Lily Baucom, Executive Director of the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture.
The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture created and maintains the Georgia Ag Experience classroom with the support of numerous Georgia ag organizations.
The GA AG Experience is on a four-year mission to visit every county in Georgia.
Currently, the AG Experience is on year three and has stopped in over 100 counties.
The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture is partnering with county Farm Bureau offices across the state to arrange local mobile classroom visits.
Teachers or school staff interested in booking the Georgia Ag Experience for a school or community event, should contact their local Farm Bureau.
Only county Farm Bureau staff can book classroom visits with the foundation.
Administrators from the Pierce County school district were able to view the mobile classroom at an educational conference in summer of 2022.
Acoording to Teresa Dixon — Director of Assessment and Instruction Support for Pierce County Schools— a decision was made to apply for a visit from the GA AG Experience. The Board of Education was notified November of last year that Pierce County had been chosen.
“Since we know that most students have a lack of understanding of the important role agriculture has in our society, we wanted them to gain knowledge and explore vast career opportunties for their future,” said Dixon. “We hope to have the mobile classroom return next year and give more students this awesome experience.”
Visit www.gfb.ag/contact to access your local Farm Bureau’s contact information. Visit www.gfb.ag/experienceplanavisit to access instructions for scheduling a visit and a list of dates the mobile classroom will be available across the state in 2023.
“Pierce County Farm Bureau is grateful the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture selected our county and BES, MES and PES as a stop on the Georgia Ag Experience’s inaugural tour of Georgia,” said Pierce County Farm Bureau Office Manager Julie Steedley.
“The Georgia Ag Experience classroom is a wonderful way to let students who have little to no first-hand knowledge of farming learn how farmers grow their food, cotton for clothes or timber for paper and lumber. We appreciate the Pierce County Board of Education for working with us to host the mobile classroom.”
For more information about the Georgia Ag Experience and a list of the ag organizations, agribusinesses and Georgia commodity commissions that are generously supporting the mobile ag classroom visit www.georgiaagexperience.org.
The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to preparing the next generation of leaders for success in Georgia agriculture. The GFA works with Georgia Farm Bureau and other Georgia agricultural and educational organizations to achieve its mission.
The foundation offers scholarships to students pursuing agricultural careers, funds leadership development programs and projects that increase the public’s understanding of agriculture.
Source: Blackshear Times
