News: Teacher stories
Teachers all over the state and beyond are using Feed the World lessons with their students! See how other teachers are implementing this curriculum in their classrooms, learn about emerging agricultural topics and resources, and get the latest updates on our workshops and satellite activities.
Comparing feedstocks for fermentation
FTW Alumni educator Jeff Jostpille’s biology students used the Engineering Design process to investigate the production of industrial ethanol with the Corn Fermentation in a Bag experiment. They tested the process of fermentation using resealable bags with yeast, warm water, various feedstocks and enzymes. Jostpille gave students feedstocks such …
Making connections with bacterial transformations
Dave Hassan teaches at Columbus Grove High School. He attended the Feed the World summer workshop held at London High School this past summer, where he did the BioRad pGlo Bacterial Transformation lab. He used this activity in his classroom this fall. “My Biomedical Science class, a very small group of “hyper-interested” students, loved this lab,” …
How would you extract DNA?!?
Developing protocols for experiments challenges students’ understanding and engages their curiosity. After attending the Science of Food and Fuel workshop, sponsored by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, last summer, Jay Swiecki gave his students at New Miami Valley High School this opportunity in a DNA extraction lab as part of a …
Challenges in feeding the world
“I want the students to see that even though we do not have a huge issue in our neighborhood, we do have an issue worldwide,” teacher Jay Swiecki at New Miami High School. To help them learn, he used lessons from the Feeding the World unit— Demographic transition , Population age and structures , and Farming for the future . Swiecki created two …
The water cycle and water quality
Sarah Kipker’s 7th grade science class at Jackson Center School started with spheres of the Earth and finished with a focus on water quality. After introducing the different spheres and how they interact, Kipker and her students discussed how water molecules travel through the water cycle. The students made a poster modeling their travels, …
Checking Licking River quality
Practice tests ensure more accurate results later. Jeffrey Baker’s environmental science class at Alpha School sharpened their skills with water and soil tests. “The water quality tests were done on water samples from the Licking River in preparation for an upcoming field trip with Perry Soil and Water,” Baker said. “We did pH and other chemical …
What is soil made of?
Recently Feed the World alumni educator Jeff Jostpille’s 8th grade science class at Fort Jennings High School learned the basics of soil: the components that form it and the weathering process that affects it. They also learned about soil texture and particle size. In the lab, each pair of students were assigned soil from around the local area to …
Checking water quality in the Little Miami
Water quality is important to all of us, and hands-on testing is an engaging way to emphasize that. Over 60 students in Amy Aspenwall’s AP Environmental science class at Loveland High School recently completed the macroinvertebrate study for water quality. They surveyed the Little Miami river near Maineville, Ohio. They also performed turbidity, …