Teachers.Net Focus Session - Indiana Farm Bureau Materials

Teachers.Net Focus
Monday, March 29, 1999
Indiana Farm Bureau Educational Materials
with
Mike Anthony and Carol Hegel

State Farm Bureau Connections
find your State's Farm Bureau Site here

Sandy/K/MO - Welcome to a discussion with representatives from the Indiana Farm Bureau, Mike Anthony and Carol Hegel.
Sandy/K/MO - Carol and Mike, would you each post a bit of information about what you do at the Farm Bureau?
Carol Hegel - I will tell you a little about my responsibilities with our organization. I am a state officer and serve on the board of directors. Most of my time is spent with educational programs.
Mike Anthony - As the Video Projects Manager I am responsible for researching, writing, and producing educational videos, video news releases, and public service announcements for both radio and television. I also assist in the production of a monthly farm information show that is sent to all 92 counties in the state and broadcast on cable access channels throughout the state. The video news releases I produce are broadcast on a daily nationally syndicated television show called AgDay. All our projects are in support of the farmer and farming.
Sandy/K/MO - Mike, what is the Indiana Farm Bureau ?
Mike Anthony - The Indiana Farm Bureau is a not for profit, voluntary membership organization that promotes agriculture and the free enterprise system. The philosophy, educational programs and economic services are designed to improve the quality of life for members.
Sandy/K/MO - Carol, what are the goals of the Farm Bureau as they relate to children?
Carol Hegel - Our goal is to educate children about where their food begins. We are trying to tell children about the importance of the farm, farmers and agriculture. Some of these programs are as follows: Farming the Classroom; This program is for k through 4 but often reaches into 5th and 6th grades. We have approximately 200 volunteer instructors located throughout Indiana. Each instructor must be a farmer. When invited to a classroom, they talk about their own farming operation. Each instructor receives training and materials. During the 1997-98 school year, we talked to 50,622 students. Videos: We have produced five videos targeted to elementary students. Also, we developed a 60-second PSA titled, "A Slice of Soil". This production has been used for many programs besides being a public service announcement. Bookmarks: We developed seven bookmarks giving information on farm commodities. They are very colorful and give information in a concise manner. Placemats: One giving nutritional information, "Food Pyramid". Our new "Find the Farmer" placemat was developed to help educate about the stereotyping of farmers. Farmers are business people and are involved in their communities. Also, a farmer can be a man or a woman. Coloring Book: Working with Little Caesars' Pizza, a coloring book telling how pizza ingredients begin on farms was printed. Posters: We have two posters for corn and soybeans. They ask the question "Where can you find corn/soybeans after they leave the farmer's field?" Little doors on the posters open up to reveal many products made from both commodities. An agricultural group in another state orders over 600 posters each year for their educational programs. Food for Thought: This program is for middle and high school students. There is an attractive 39-week Teacher's Planner that has an idea for a special project each week. Of course, we would not expect a teacher to us all of the ideas, but we wanted to give them a choice. A resource person is assigned to help the teacher obtain information about the various subjects. Also, we have developed a Resource Guide to assist the teacher. The first lesson is, "How does no-till farming affect erosion?"
Sandy/K/MO - Mike, one of the programs you offer is called "Planet Pizza". Why did you choose to focus on pizza to get your message across?
Mike Anthony - I guess I should start out by saying that our farm bureau woman's committee had decided that they would like to do a video about farm commodities that make up a pizza. A lot of people take the pizza for granted and don't think about the ingredients and that the ingredients start out on the farm. So, my job was to come up with a creative way to relay the information to grade school children that would keep their interest. At the time (1997) I was thinking about how relay the information the mars rover was landing on mars. The concept is simple. It's based on the mar's rover mission of 1997. A spacecraft will land on the "planet pizza". The video is called "exploring the planet pizza". Once there, the probe investigates the planet surface putting the sensor arm on the dough, cheese, tomato sauce, and sausage. Children play the roll of scientists and discuss different parts of the pizza. They'll also talk about commodity by-products and other fun facts. All the actors are children, except the adult technicians in launch control. While your students are enjoying a fun space exploration video, they'll also discover history, geography, and mathematics while learning about the farm and where their food begins. This educational video is targeted toward children in 1st through 5th grades and will be packaged in a pizza box including teaching materials and lesson plan. The cost is $25. The video is generic enough to apply to teachers and students in any state. Reserve your copy now by calling the Indiana Farm Bureau at --------(317) -692-7830, that's (317) -692-7830.
Sandy/K/MO - Carol, What are the components of the Planet Pizza packet? What grade levels is it geared toward?
Carol Hegel - This educational video is targeted toward children in 1st through 5th grades and will be packaged in a pizza box including teaching materials and lesson plan. The cost is $25. The video is generic enough to apply to teachers and students in any state. Reserve your copy now by calling the Indiana Farm Bureau at --------(317) -692-7830, that's (317) -692-7830.
Grace/IL - Each state has its own Farm Bureau. How do you see the programs you have developed for Indiana being useful for educators in other states?
Carol Hegel - Grace, many states produce the same farm commodities as we do in Indiana. Our educational products are generic and do not mention Indiana.
Sandy/K/MO - Carol, I noticed that the Planet Pizza materials cover many curriculum areas: science, math, writing, geography. One part of the Planet Pizza packet that was especially interesting was the "Creative Ways to Think" activities. Did an educator design the materials?
Carol Hegel - Yes, an educator designed our Teacher's Guide
Grace/IL - Carol, very true. As one close to the soil, I think educators often fail to realize the importance of agriculture in school curriculum.
Sandy/K/MO - What is the cost of the Planet Pizza packet and how would a teacher order it? Is it available only to teachers in Indiana?
Mike Anthony - The cost for each video is $25. Each video is packaged in its own video binder and includes teaching material and lesson plans. The videos are generic and apply to teachers and students across the country. Order your copy now by calling the Indiana Farm Bureau at --------(317) -692-7830, that's (317) -692-7830. You can also access our web site at www.farmbureau.com/homepage/class.htm for more information on all of our educational materials.
Sandy/K/MO - I teach in a rural area in Central Missouri so farm land is all around
Sandy/K/MO - Mike, would you tell us about another video you offer, "Amazing Kernels of Corn"?
Mike Anthony - Those Amazing Kernels of Corn is a take off on the Bill Nye Science Guy series on PBS. This fun energetic video talks about corn that is grown on the farm and some of the by-products that is made form corn. The video is generic enough to apply to teachers and grade school students in any state. The package comes in a video binder and includes teaching materials and lesson plan. The cost is $25. Order your copy by calling the Indiana Farm Bureau at --------(317) -692-7830, that's (317) -692-7830. This is not restricted to teachers in Indiana.
Carol Hegel - Sandy, this is also true in Indiana. Children ride by fields of soybeans and corn and do not realize that corn goes into over 3,500 products.
Sandy/K/MO - Grace I have a couple of questions left.. then we could talk about Earth conservation maybe if Caro and Mike don't mind
Sandy/K/MO - Carol, are there any other video/curriculum kits available through the Indiana Farm Bureau? Do they also inclulde lesson plans and activities?
Grace/IL - Carol, expound on a few of these 3500 products, i.e. biodegradable plastic pens, etc.
Grace/IL - Also, in Colorado I experienced shelled corn used as heating fuel. Interesting concept!
Carol Hegel - Grace, corn is in biodegradable plastics, medicines, soft drinks, shoe strings, fabric, fuel...just to name a few.
Sandy/K/MO - If we were to call our local Farm Bureau's would they have similar things to offer?
Mike Anthony - Sandy, we have other video/curriculum kits available. Some of them deal with pork and dairy products. The cost of the kits are the same as the pizza video. .
Sandy/K/MO - Mike do they have teacher guides?
Carol Hegel - Sandy,each state Farm Bureau has their own programs and products. They would not have the videos we have mentioned, but I know they would have educational materials.
Mike Anthony - Yes, they have teacher lesson plans and teaching materials.
Sandy/K/MO - This isn't a source that I had thought to tap, now you have my attention I will call :-)
Sandy/K/MO - How much detail do they go into, I teach kindergarten and am wondering if these might be to hard for us?
Carol Hegel - Sandy, Diane Olsen would be your Ag in the Classroom contact with the Missouri Farm Bureau.
Grace/IL - Sandy, have you also checked the University of Missouri Extension Service. I always think of them in conjunction with Farm Bureau. Two separate entities but both have so much to offer teachers.
Sandy/K/MO - http://www.farmbureau.com then click on class picture
Mike Anthony - Sandy, I think the kids in kindergarten will find these video entertaining and they'll little more about farms.
Grace/IL - To clarify for others, each state has its own Extension Service, usually connected to the land grant university in that state.
Sandy/K/MO - Since we are coming up on earthday, do you have things on soil conservation?
Kristen - We do a worm farm in my classroom
Sandy/K/MO - The extension service in our area is very strong..
Carol Hegel - Sandy, we have a 60-second video titled, "Slice of Soil". It is an animated version of cutting an apple into pieces that represent the world. You end up with the peeling of 1/32 of the apple. This represents the top soil where all of the world's food is grown. This video is $5.00 We have also used this as a television psa.
Sandy/K/MO - that sounds like something my kids could understand, How long is the turn around time for receiving the videos
Carol Hegel - Sandy, we can get this mailed out in a couple days. I will also enclose a paper telling how you can demonstrate this in your classroom by using a real apple.
Mike Anthony - Kristen, a worm farm sounds interesting. Please tell me a little about it.
Sandy/K/MO - I like the apple analogy, they do better when they can see/do
Sandy/K/MO - Is there anything else you would like to tell us about on the videos?
Grace/IL - We had worm farms in our classrooms also. They consist of a large plastic tub and each day children's lunch leftovers (veggies) were put in it. The students could watch soil being made.
Sandy/K/MO - Grace, are these just "fishing worms" or special worms?
Carol Hegel - Sandy, we are in the process of planning future educational tools. Mike and I would like to know teacher's preferences in multimedia tools.
Grace/IL - Worm farms -- the tub was similar to a storage bin. I think they contained red worms. I think they could be used for fishing but the main objective was the creation of soil through the worms' digestive processes.
Mike Anthony - I think that the worm farm idea is neat. I'll bet the kids like to watch them work.
Sandy/K/MO - my kids get a lot of enjoyment out of interactive things. Have you thought of computer CD'S?
Sandy/K/MO - Grace I imagine you need to order those worms..
Grace/IL - Mike, I think some teachers were more 'into it' than I was. These were placed in our clasrooms and were covered except when food was added. Not quite my cup of tea.
Mike Anthony - We are getting ready to research and produce a CD ROM on soy beans. Would that interest teachers?
Sandy/K/MO - not meal worms right?
Mike Anthony - They sound like fishing worms to me.
Sandy/K/MO - Mike it would depend on what you are going to do with this CD?
Grace/IL - Sandy, if you're interested, i can contact my school and see where they got the worms. Our custodian was a real fisherman and into these things. Learning center director also loved to handle worms and explain their lifestyles.
Sandy/K/MO - We have plenty of those around here. Well we do waste a lot of veggies, would be nice to have something to do with them :-)
Mike Anthony - We want to make them interactive and the concept is to have the kids zoom around to different sub-topics while participating in a road ralley race.
Grace/IL - Definitely not meal worms. We once had a teacher who kept those in the refrigerator to feed some classroom pet.
nancy/k/ar - worms...I have a worm farm...
Sandy/K/MO - yes, Mike that does sound like something they would like :-)
james/ca - Wal-Mart set my class up with a free worm farm
Carol Hegel - What would most teachers prefer, a CD or a video?
jenn - Worms...we have a worm farm in an old ice chest.
Grace/IL - Mike and Carol, we've rather left you out of the worm discussion. Perhaps that would be an interesting project to undertake.
Sandy/K/MO - meal worms DON'T appeal to me.
Sandy/K/MO - Carol, the kids are SO into videos, see them all the time that a CD would interest mine more
Mike Anthony - Sandy, did you see the Exploring Planet Pizza video? If so, what did you think?
james/ca - I think they still offer the same worm program
Sandy/K/MO - Mike I didn't get to see it, :-( Kat said she thought it was good, but a little old for our kinders
Sandy/K/MO - Does Farm Bureau have anyone that comes into the classroom and work with the kids?
Grace/IL - Back to the soybean idea. It would be cute to have an animated video with those little beans dancing around and explaining all of their uses.
Sandy/K/MO - aren't they making a soybean gas OR am totally out of it?
Mike Anthony - She mentioned the kindergarten attention span problem. The only thing I can say is that it is at least entertaining.
Grace/IL - Is Indiana into sunflowers? That would make another good video.
james/ca - Sandy.......fuel alcohol has been made from soy and other crops for years
Mike Anthony - Yes, diesel.
james/ca - Its called gasohol
Sandy/K/MO - I was sure I saw some cars with those signs on them driving around. Ok thanks :-)
Carol Hegel - Yes, Sandy. We have our "Farming the Classroom" program. We have 200 farm women and men who go into the classroom and talk with the students about their own farm. This is a free program, which we started 16 years ago. It is very popular. Last school year, our volunteer instructors spoke to 50,622 children in Indiana. Of course, this is just the number that we have documented. There were many visits that were never reported to our office. We always ask the teachers to send an evaluation, so we are sure that the program is presented properly.
Mike Anthony - You'll find soy bean by products in just about everything, but mostly soy bean is a great source of protien and is a great health food.
Carol Hegel - Grace, we tried raising sunflowers in Indiana several years ago. Some were grown in my area, and they were beautiful. However, they were only grown for a few seasons, as there was a problem with the stems rotting and the plants going down before harvest.
Sandy/K/MO - Kansas and Missouri have huge fields of them, so pretty.
james/ca - Soy is also important as a crop rotation alternate as they help fix nitro in the soil better than anything, corn and wheat are bigtime nitro users
Carol Hegel - Sandy, it is probably a difference in soil types and climate.
Grace/IL - Carol, that seems to be true for sunflowers in other places too. They tried them in Minnesota a few years back but I think they, too, have given up on sunflowers.
james/ca - Don't worry Grace, we grow a lot of sunflower on the reservation
Grace/IL - Incidentally, the biggest sunflower I ever saw was in a garden in Kentland, Indiana.
Carol Hegel - Yes, James. Soybeans are a legume. They are also an important export product for the United States. Approximately one half of the soybeans raised in the US go to other countries.
Mike Anthony - Carol and I want to thank you, Kathleen and all you wonderful teachers for allowing us to talk about our videos and other educational programs. Good luck to you.
Sandy/K/MO - Thank you everyone :-) Carol and Mike this has really given me some ideas