Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 18 times  Date: 21-Mar-2001 15:10:00 Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Ag Day Sites   [Remove] I found the sites on ag day to be very interesting. I particularly enjoyed the lessons on corn posted on the National Corn Grower's Site. In fact, I decided to change the problem of my web quest to the impact of biotechnology in Iowa's corn production. I posted the address to my partial webquest on Week 8 WebQuest discussion. I would appreciate any feedback. I know some of the graphics aren't working--guess that's my focus for next week! ha

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 13 times  Date: 21-Mar-2001 19:12:00 Author: xxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ag Day Sites   [Remove] BioTech is a 'hot' topic (and very interesting) right now. There are certainly a lot of implications for grower and consumer.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 13 times  Date: 22-Mar-2001 18:38:00    (Original: 22-Mar-2001 18:37:00) Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Great project start see link in announcements/spring project pages   [Edit] [Remove] xxxxxxx, Wow you have done a tremendous job with this project!!! It is very impressive. There is a good PBL theme, you have found some good resources for the students and it is definitely ag related. You do have some work to do with the graphics but you will get there with those. (The problem you are having is with Frontpage's proprietary nature. Microsoft stuff doesn't always work on servers if they are not specificaly configured for it) This has been mentioned by others. What you have left to do....a rubric to evaluate the lesson (in progress I suspect), the lesson submission form (there is a link in the announcements of Blackboard) and to finish your teacher resources. Great start. BTW I like the puns in your conclusion!!! xxxxxxxx

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 14 times  Date: 25-Mar-2001 11:53:00    (Original: 25-Mar-2001 11:52:00) Author: xxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ag Day Sites   [Remove] Well done and you realize where you need to work. You are staying on top of all the assignments. I am sure you are getting a sense of satisfaction as you see the project taking shape. Good job. I like the puns in the conclusion. I think this conclusion is important for the students because it provides them with closure and the ability to see what they have accomplished! xxxxxxxxxx

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 17 times  Date: 21-Mar-2001 18:30:00    (Original: 21-Mar-2001 18:25:00) Author: xxxxxxxxxx Subject: Corn Curriculum   [Remove] This proved to be one huge website containing an abundance of information! I found the articles to be very informational, however, not a source I could use for my students at their level. The site I found useful was the Corn Curriculum! There were so many lessons here to pull sources from to implement into my current curriculum (with some modification). I especially appreciated the multi-subject areas covered! Encorporating a subject into all areas of the day is very beneficial for the children instead of "changing gears" from subject to subject! The Safety on the Farm material I thought to be of great importance! Too often I think this is overlooked and I do feel the children need to be aware of the dangers on a farm! The Fun Side of Agriculture in the Ag Day section was one I bookmarked for future use on my webpage. There were many things here that would be age appropriate for my students! Great site!

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 16 times  Date: 21-Mar-2001 19:14:00 Author: xxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Corn Curriculum   [Remove] We like it, too! We thought is would provide some 'corn'sideration for the 'Farm'.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 14 times  Date: 25-Mar-2001 11:59:00 Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Corn Curriculum   [Remove] I am glad you found this material helpful. You will be contributing to materials that are age appropriate for your grade. As mentioned earlier, this is important to develop materials for all age levels. Your comments on changing gears is very accurate. When too much changing gears takes place students do not see the application of school to the real world experiences. I.E. we get students in the high schools questioning math and social studies teachers about "why are you grading my spelling, you aren't my English teacher?" Ahhhhhh

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 27 times  Date: 22-Mar-2001 20:39:00    (Original: 21-Mar-2001 22:18:00) Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: IWeek 8 Forum    [Remove] Thanks for the help with the details on this class. Your willingness to go the extra mile is appreciated!

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 17 times  Date: 22-Mar-2001 14:13:00 Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Re: I NEED HELP. - Week 8 Forum    [Edit] [Remove] xxxxxx, I will call you tonight at home after 7. Let me know if that will work. xxxxxxx

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 15 times  Date: 23-Mar-2001 07:14:00 Author: xxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: IWeek 8 Forum    [Remove] You are welcome - it's what we are here for. Suggestions, criticisms - whatever - we want to make the 'Farm' USEFUL to you.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 19 times  Date: 23-Mar-2001 18:03:00 Author: xxxxxxx Subject: Ag Day Forum   [Remove] The Ag Day Site proved to be very interesting, as well as helpful. To begin with, I thought the John Deere posters were attractive and motivational to a farm study unit. They would be great on the walls during this time. I also found a Fastline publication which is a buying guide for new and used implements, published monthly. This would be useful in my project.         The list of 900 agricultural journals under Agricola (Agricultural Online Access) could be an invaluable source to all of us "farmers". They mentioned that they "Use agricultural statistics to help students solve mathematical problems." This spoke loudly to me, since that is the whole idea of my project. Under "Agriculture in your State", they listed the Top 5 Ag Commodities of Nebraska. Cattle/calves account for 4,266 million dollars, which far surpassed the others. Next was corn at 2,176 million dollars, and third was soybeans at 868 million dollars.         Searching the web some more this week, I located a site, which gives additional statistics: www.nass.usda.gov. At that site, they have current objective yield research. This is directly related to my project and may be helpful to others. The senior research statistician and others were in consultation with other mathematical statisticians and the Agency concerning statistical methodology. This methodology education is a goal of my project.         Further more, I found a link which I would like to pass on to the other students. It is a site where you can go to e-mail the National Agricultural Statistics Service for information you desire. I have e-mailed them for statistical study information. The hope is to find info about a study similar to the one I will be requesting my students to do. They will be able to view the study as an example, before beginning work on the assigned problem. This site is found from the above mentioned address of the nass (National Agricultural Statistical Service) and is reached by clicking on "Send us your data requests and comments".

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 13 times  Date: 25-Mar-2001 12:02:00 Author: xxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ag Day Forum   [Remove] You have done valuable exploring. Thank you for sharing your finds! Other farmers will no doubt be able to "reap" the benefits!

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 18 times  Date: 29-Mar-2001 22:03:00 Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Ag Day Forum   [Remove] I found this site to be very helpful. I used the biotech strand to look for information and found a great lesson called Gourmet Genes. In this lesson students work as a team to compare and select alternative methods of applyoing recombinant DNA to crops. It also asks students to explain how genes can be altered and what this may mean to the ag industry. I set this out in my classroom as an enrichment activity to those kids who wanted to try it. Some decided it was too difficult, but for some of my TAG kids, they've picked it up and are really into it. I can't wait to see their finished product. In my searching for material for my project I've found several sites to be very helpful and would probably be useful to the rest of the farmers in the class. They are as follows: http://hyperion.advanced.org/20465/agriculture.html. This site describes what genetic engineering is with regards to plants and animals and also provides links to other genetic engineering sites. http://www.dekalb.com/ This is a site provided to farmers so they can find out more about genetically improved corn, soybeans, etc.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 13 times  Date: 30-Mar-2001 18:11:00 Author: xxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ag Day Forum   [Edit] [Remove] Glad you found the site interesting and useful. I to am interested in what your kids come up with in your extension regarding genetic alteration. Please share anything that you or your students learn.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 8 times  Date: 05-Apr-2001 13:17:00 Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ag Day Forum   [Remove] xxxxxx Thanks for the geat sites. These are quite informative and topical - I bet your students are finding them interesting.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 12 times  Date: 30-Mar-2001 20:47:00 Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Ag forum   [Remove] The link was very interesting. Was surprised that the careers being 32 % on the scientist-engineer part with farming. The pie graph was a nice tool to use in the upcoming project. Reading graphs are always a part of most curriculums to interpret data. Was also surprised with all the register and logon stuff. Do not know if that is to keep track of interested people or what? The insect resistant biotechnology stuff is also interesting. Did want to know if GMO is the general name given to all stuff like Bt as it discussed or what? The four kid safety stuff is great as well. Can never undercut the issue of safety. The examples of lowering and backing up were good. Am surprised of the number of students in this area are not involved in farming. Whenever, comments on farming are brought up, a person can not make assumptions that they know what you are talking about. Must be the new generation thing. That is the push button techniques, etc. to accomplish chores that used to be by hand. WOW oh wow! The bumble bee website in on my front page at the start of the course. Happy farming. It is off to moving stuff again that was not moved this past fall.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 10 times  Date: 31-Mar-2001 18:56:00 Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ag forum   [Edit] [Remove] xxxxxxx, It sounds like the site was useful to you. About the register and login....I think that you hit it right on the head. They are interested in who is accessing the info and who is interested. It sounds that you are going to deal with ag safety from you previous comment (week 9) was this site helpful for the project you are going to create? You are correct when you mention that you cannot be sure that the person you are talking to knows what they are talking about. This is something to consider especially when dealing with the internet.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 4 times  Date: 15-Apr-2001 18:58:00 Author: xxxxxxxxx Subject: Ag Day Sites   [Remove] I found a useful page on the Ag Day site -- there was a list of children's literature. I want to offer lots of different titles to my students. I have students with reading levels from 3rd grade to 12.9+ (Post Highschool). One site that I found is Death of a Dream: Farmhouses in the Heartland. There was a 2 hour documentary done on farm life -- this page has info. about that documentary and many other links to great info.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 4 times  Date: 15-Apr-2001 21:59:00 Author: xxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ag Day Sites   [Edit] [Remove] Sounds like you found some stuff that fits right into your project. It was a very good site for alot of folks.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 6 times  Date: 22-Apr-2001 11:05:00    (Original: 19-Apr-2001 17:32:00) Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Ag Day   [Remove] Ag Day here in Grand Island was a special one for 4th graders.They went to Fonner Park for presentations about farming with hands on items like pigs,goats,and rabbits. My last years class enjoyed itvery much,they told me . In past, kids would color farm scenes on paper bags for the local food stores. It was to raise awareness for where food comes from. Fewer use paper , so it's not done any more. The local Farm Bureau has a small wooden bookshelf (Looks like a barn) with ag books and materials for the kids. You can have it delivered to you room for 2 weeks at a time. It is nice to have a hands on center to use. This year's class has been with an Ag Pen Pal on a farm near Chimney Rock. We have been doing AG Day onec or twice a month all year.You can find out about it on the Ag in the Classroom web site.

Current Forum: Week 8 Forum Read 5 times  Date: 19-Apr-2001 18:58:00 Author: xxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ag Day   [Edit] [Remove] This sounds great!!! Getting the kids studing ag is important!!! I am glad that you and many other teachers out there do things like this. Kids need to understand that ag is still incredibly important to them even though they don't see it on a daily basis. Keep up the good work. xxxxxxxx