1993 APR The Agriculture Newsletter Agriculture in the for Teachers Classroom SUMMER EDITION 1991 BE AWARE OF THE AG FAIR It's not too early lo circle the people who participated last year tional and fun experience" through dales November 22 - 23 on your cal- will tell other teachers and students tours of the Grain Academy and endar. A m ini conference for Ag Am- about their experiences. 1 expect other facilities, explains Riddell. bassadors will b e held in Medicine Hal more people will get involved this Both the Ag Ambassador on ihose iwo days in conjunction wilh time around," says Dale Riddell, Fair and conference will be held at Ihe second annual Ag Fair. Corporate Affairs Director of the the Cypress Centre on the Medicine The inlernalionally-renowned Alberta Wheat Pool, the main spon- Hat Exhibition and Stampede Ronna Jevne, a professor in ihe De- sor of t he Ag Ambassador program. grounds. The fairwill run from 1 to 5 parlment of Educational Psychology at "The fair is a good educa- p.m. on November 23. the University of Alberta, will be the tional tool that can help both teach- Stay tuned for more informa- ers and students learn more about keynote speaker at the conference. tion, but don't forget what's coming Her address will focus on networking the agriculture industry. Some of up in November. and cooperative learning. Participants the material presented is quite will also be able to attend informal by Gary Taljit thought provoking." sharing workshops. Further details on Ribbons and cash prizes will the conference will be sent to you by Ag be up for grabs. Further details on Agriculture ki The Ciassroom Newsletter in the Classroom. these and on the rules and topics for To provide Alberta educators with a networking tool containing current The inaugural Ag Fair in 199() the fair arc attached. (Please read was a great success with some 3(X) en- them carefully.) aIrnef o ramvaatidiulsotarnyb alnd e o r ne l foa rtt eh cdel a srasegnsnsocouumrl ct euusr« ee. t hiant- tries from across the province. An even In addition to the regular EOrrOR: Betty Qabert greater response is expected in 1991, prizes, students who score the high- C<»fmiBUTORS: GAagryr i TaNljeitw s ASgar-aK n oEwmloenddg e PRODUCTION June GIngras but this is contingent on teachers est points in their division level are Ag in The Ctassrc»m Pnagrsm making their students aware of the fair. eligible to spend a "free" weekend in 2Enddm o nHtoDorrt,, 7A0f0t0w r t- a 1 13 Street "We had a very positive reac- Calgary accompanied by their fami- TBHerre 403-427-2402 . tion to t he first fair. We assume that lies. They will be given an "educa- MOTHER EARTH VISITS HANNA SCHOOL Mother Earth spread the called Song for the Earth. Students message that mankind is responsible were quite responsive to the play and INSIDE for preserving the environment have apparently been demonstrating when she visited Hanna Elementary an increased awareness of environ- THIS School during Agriculture Week in mental issues in their optional writ- ZZ.^ ISSUE March. She told the students about ing projects since seeing it, says IIANGIN' IN Page 2 the destruction perpetrated on her Laura Lee Billings, District Home in the name of progress and urged Economist in Hanna. ANIMAI. WELFARE Page 2 them to make responsible decisions Billings, along with the Ag AtJ INSTITUTE UPDATE Page 3 about what they do to her in the Service Board in Hanna helped to future. coordinate the presentation of Song BENEFITS OF TEAMWORK Page 3 Mother Earth was actually an for the Earth, which was developed Is. actress who put on a puppet show and staged by the Minnesota-based cont'd on page 2 Iberra 2nd Floor, 7000- 113 Street AGRICULTURE Edmonton, Alberta Education Branch T6H 5T6 Tve got one nerve Mother Earth cont'd How'dyou find i/?" / Land Stewardship Project. The "Some days you're the bug, latter organization also put on f^""D og for sale, eats anything^ [ s ome days the windshield " Planting in the Dust - a drama for [especiaUy fond of c hildren." J older students and adults - during "The crisis of today is the\ an eight-day tour of the region. The travelling expenses boring history of t omorrow,*") HANGIN' IN (which vary) and fees (approxi- "Keep the razor blades away mately $360 per performance) Creative Graffitti from me for a minute please. " charged by the American troupe may be prohibitive in obtaining live performances. However, vid- eos are available. Billings also suggests that schools can get fund- ing help by cooperating with local agriculture organizations and other schools in the area to sponsor a tour of the plays. For more information, write to: Land Stewardship Proj- ect, 14758 Ostlund Trail N., Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota 55047. Phone: (612) 433-2770 or FAX: (612) 433-2704. by Gary Talfit Puppets and Posters: Wiggles the Worm and Friends What does a worm, a gopher, a duck and an owl have in common? Well, apart from being animals, they A Youth Computer Camp emphasizing hands-on learning and leisure are hand puppets which can help teach activities will he held at Olds College from July 29 to dugust 2 for students aged 8- JO and 11-14. For more information call the Olds College Extension pre-school and elementary-age chil- dren about conservation of natural office at 556-8344. resources. Animal Welfare Issue Important The puppets come in a kit de- signed byt he Alberta chapter of the Animal welfare is an impor- may also study the practices of brand- Soil and Water Conservation Society. tant issue these days. That was re- ing, dehorning and castration, and The kits, which also include scripts cently demonstrated by a $250,000 look for alternatives if necessary. In and a cassette tape, will be loaned out research grant to the Western College addition, other animal welfare con- to schools and other interested or- of Veterinary Medicine at the Univer- cerns like piglet death and long-term sity of S askatchewan. confinement of dairy cattle may also ganizatiAolnsso. available are a series of The grant was provided by the be studied. five interpretive posters, which por- Alberta Agricultural Research Insti- With the growing societal tray the SWCS mascot. Wiggles the tute, which sees food animal behavior awareness and concern for animal worm, active in various aspects of conservation. and welfare as areas requiring further welfare, educators should keep this study and development. issue in mind, for it is one that can To obtain puppet kits, phone The research to be done by Dr. generate emotions and controversy. Tom Jensen at 422-6530. For posters, Joe Stookey will focus on beef ani- phone Tom Goddard or Donn ' mals. Stookey will try to find ways of (Information taken from AgriNews Beever at 422-6530 or 422-4385. improving animal productivity. He release May 6, 1991) by Gary Taljit It's Been a Busy Year: Update on Ag Institute Grads In the last newsletter, we told yon she hopes to do so in the future. were invited to speak about handling about the aetivities of s ome Institute wMoiuclhda el a,l s ow h loi ke t etoa c dhoe s m oirn e B oawg -r eIsllaatnedd, farm fdienntas nmcakee s i h eiinr o rddeecri s itoon s h.e lp ihe stu- grercaednst . c oBnutta,c t n o wti t he v eusr,y o snoe w eh a dse c bideeedn tion topics. However, his Biology 20 class School Fharsa nalks o Vtaekrebn i shiksy Gr aodfe V8i lannda give some people a buzz. The following had its "best field trip" on a visit to the Agriculture Research Station in Leth- 9ag option students on field trips to a iGsr a adn s !u p dRaetme e mobf ew rh at to t dheryo'pv e u s b eae n li n eu p a ntod. bridgc in January. Wyatt, who teaches feedlot,a mushroom farm, and an elk tell us how you are doing We re always at Hines C reek, has tried to apply ag- and buffalo farm. He too brings in glad to hear from you. related topics where possible. Despite guest speakers. Frank figures his time his busy leaching schedule, he also at the Institute helped him to get a First-Year Teachers enjoys his extra-curricular responsi- broader background in agriculture, bilities ast he coach for several sports bul he notes that he's still building his teams. agcourses, which take a lot of effort to When you're a teacher, every year is a busy year. Bui, perhaps (he prepare since there are no "real" text- books on t he subject. first year of teaching is the most hectic. Field Trips I'opular Getting used to a new school and col- More Namedroppiiig Other Institute grads are also leagues isd ifficult enough. On top of thai, you've also got classes to leach keeping busy. Mike O'Neill, who teaches at F.G. Miller in Elk Point, has Dennis Gogal, a teacher at and lesson plans to formulate, per- used his Institute experience to fur- Steele Heights Junior High in Ed- haps for the first lime. Three gradu- ther develop units for his junior high monton, also has a grain farming op- ates of t he 199() Ag Institute - Ann Lukcy, Wyatt Carrell and Michael ag option classes. Mike has also taken eration, and he's been busy doing Wei.sgerber --were rookie teachers his students on field trips to farms, seeding and fieldwork this spring. feedlols and grain elevators. With his background, Dennis tries to this year, and they've all been kept rather busy. Even so, the three say Doug Smith, principal of use ag-related questions as much as they are enjoying their initiation into Gienwood School in Cardston, re- possible in his math classes. the teaching world. ports that his school held a successful Mooni Sookram of Kilscoty Ann, who teaches Science at ag fair this year. Students have also Elementary says whenever it is rele- Clover Bar Junior High in Sherwood gone on field trips to places such as vant, he t ries to use ag topics. Mooni dairy farms. Some were also involved adds that his colleagues are also recep- Park, says it's been a challenging year. in a project whereby they had to man- tive to t he idea of using agriculture as She hasn't yet had a chance to inte- grate agriculture into her lessons, bul age af arm enterprise. Guest speakers a teaching vehicle. hy Gaty Taliit THE BENEFITS OF TEAMWORK The Goose Story Next fall when you see geese Whenever a goose falls out of Finally (Now I w ant you to gel heading south for the winter flying formation, it suddenly feels the drag this), when a goose gets sick, or is and resistance of trying to go it alone wounded by gun shots and falls out, along in a 'V formation, you might be interested in knowing what science andquicklygeis into formation to lake two geese fall out of formation and has discovered about why they fly t hat advantage of the lifling power of the follow it down to help and protect it. way. bird immediately in front. (If w e have They stay with it until it is either able It h as been learned that as each as much sense as a goose, we will stay to fly o r is dead, and they then launch bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift in formation with those who are out on their own or with another for- for the bird immediately following. By headed the same way we are going.) mation to c atch up with the group. (If When the lead goose gets tired, we have the sense of a goose, we will flying in a 'V formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 per cent greater it r otates back in the wing and another stand by each other like that.) flying range than if each bird flew on goose flies point. (It p ays to take turns hy Dr. John Paterson its own. (People who share a common doing hard jobs - w ith people or with as excerpted from Ag-knowlcdge direction and sense of community can geese flying south.) The geese honk (a newsletter for Alberta Agriculture staff) get where they are going quicker and from behind to encourage those up April, 1991 easier, because they are tiavelling on front to keep up their speed. (What do the thrust of one another.) we say when we honk from behind?) Mm, / ■ ! i I 'i