The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (AFBFA) launched a new webpage focused on beef education tools developed in partnership with the national beef checkoff program. The new web page is a resource for teachers, volunteers, farmers and ranchers.
“It’s called ‘On The Farm,’ an in-the-field beef learning experience, and the great thing is there’s a video on there showing our participants from all across the country, but then, there’s free resources for anybody to use,” Julie Tesch, AFBFA executive director told Newsline. “We have two new online games and activity sheets, lesson plans, the whole nine yards.”
The website is designed for teachers and people who don’t have a lot of experience with agriculture.
“We’re really looking for people who actually don’t have much knowledge of agriculture because we want to expose them to agriculture from our viewpoint, in an accurate way, and to show them how to integrate agriculture in their classrooms, and science classrooms, especially in high school,” Tesch said.
The site features a new video highlighting the Foundation’s 2016 On the Farm STEM event and its impact on district- and university-level STEM coordinators.
Tesch said the website features online games geared for third through fifth grades that will allow them to have an interactive learning experience. They will use math skills and critical thinking skills to learn about the rate of gain, about pasturing and how much land a heifer or steer needs to be raised.
“We are excited to debut this online educational resource featuring professional development events for science, technology, engineering and mathematics teachers, educators and coordinators who are looking for real-world applications of STEM concepts,” Tesch said.
Educators who are interested in professional development events in 2017 can find information on the application process online.
The Beef Checkoff Program funded development of On the Farm events and supporting resources.
Tesch said the Foundation is hoping to work with more commodity groups in a similar fashion in the future.