Did you know that products grown right here in Minnesota are exported all over the world? In turn, did you know that Minnesotan farmers provide food for our state’s citizens as well as surrounding states? This tour investigates both the local and global agriculture systems that Minnesotan farmers interact with everyday!
What are Summer Teacher Tours?
The Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Program (MAITC) is excited to offer a unique summer professional development opportunity for K-12 educators. Our Summer Teacher Tours allow educators to observe and experience current agricultural production, processing and distribution techniques, as well as exposure to a wealth of standards-based, agriculture themed lesson plans and resources. Participants will network and share how they intend to use these experiences and resources to integrate agriculture into their curricula to improve student achievement by applying authentic agricultural examples to teach core curriculum concepts in science, social studies, language arts, math and nutrition.
A Breakdown of the Day: Exploring Agriculture – EVERYWHERE Local to Global
Teachers and students reviewed the following:
- Explored a soybean farm where different production practices (conventional and organic soybean) and varieties (food grade and commodity) are utilized.
- Visited the Northern Crops Institute to see the processes of making tofu and soymilk.
- Listened as experts shared details on the global markets for soybeans and their importance to Minnesota’s economy.
- Experienced Minnesota’s local flavor by exploring Featherstone Farm near Rushford, MN. Followed the path that produce from Featherstone Farm takes to local co-ops and homes.
- Had breakout sessions that focused on a variety of geography themed topics.
This tour was funded by the National Geographic Foundation.
Teacher Takeaways
I am awestruck by the global connections that MN agriculture has. I was able to hear firsthand today about the interactions between farmers and the consumers. Putting a face to this to hearing a story from a participant makes this all the more real. I am also intrigued by the impacts the pandemic has had on acquiring and moving products.
I love listening to the farmers and everything they do on their farm and how it is beneficial to everyone else.
Thank you for creating and implementing such incredible programming. I say it often and hope that does not undermine my gratitude — your organization does a fantastic job of providing opportunities and resources. I wish I had known about MAITC sooner in my teaching career. I wonder if teacher prep programs could do a better job of introducing future teachers to your organization.
Summer Teacher Tours
Exploring the diversity of agriculture from a local to global perspective isn’t the only thing that students and teachers can learn about during these summer teacher tours. All about wheat, a hydroponic container farm project, and how soil fuels success, are the other tours that will be taking place this summer. MAITC offered this unique summer professional development opportunity for K-12 educators – four tours in five weeks of the summer!