News: Teacher stories

Lisa Hawthorn, a 7th grade science teacher at Lakewood Middle School, used Feed the World water quality lessons during a hydrology unit. They began with the biotic sampling lesson to introduce the idea of what lives in a healthy stream. Hawthorn said, “This was a great hands-on way to illustrate this as we could not go to a stream in person. I also color coded the “streams” to give the studen…

Want curriculum that makes science come alive for your class? Feed the World lessons provided Sabrina Stalder, Agricultural Education Instructor and FFA Advisor at Athens High School with good activities and extension to reinforce science concepts. In her Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources class, Stalder used the Soil Texture labtivity and Soil texture lessons to introduce a soil science unit.  In the Soil Texture labtivity, the students gathered soil samples f…

An important part of learning is being able to share information with others. Donna Kill of Cardington-Lincoln Local Schools received a Feed the World mini-grant that provided an environmental science outreach to the community. With the grant money, Kill purchased stream ecology kits, magnifying lenses, and macro-invertebrate cards. The Junior High Science Club used these materials to conduct stream studies in Morrow County. During the Cardington-Lincoln Pirate Spectacular, a family …

Kathy Daniels, science teacher at Mississinewa High School, received a grant to purchase distillation equipment for her classroom. She said, “I want to say a huge ‘thank you!’ for the grant to purchase the distillation equipment to make corn ethanol. My students just completed the final steps of lab today, burning their ethanol. They wrote about making biodiesel and making ethanol as their final assignment of the year.” Daniels …

Mike Liston of Tolles Career and Technical Center left last summer’s Feed the World workshop armed with useful knowledge and lots of great activities to use with his science students! Liston used the Soil and Sustainability activities with his Environmental Management and Environmental Science students. After discussing soil texture and particle size, students determined soil type using the soil triangle. Liston said, “I had students practice with the soil tria…

Ashley Thompson, agriculture instructor at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, attended the two-day Feed the World workshop last summer. She used several of the soil lessons this year in her Greenhouse & Nursery Management class. Thompson said, “I liked the lessons because they touched on material that I had taught before, but helped me to clarify points with meaningful connections to my students.” Her students enjoyed the lesson about proper amounts …

As a review of Punnett squares for the state science test, Katie Skuldt’s 8th grade students recently did the activity about Punnett Squares from the Feed the World lessons. Skuldt, who teaches 7th and 8th grade science at Heritage Middle School, said, “The activity was flawless, and the kids found it very helpful. I think my students will be well-prepared for any questions about Punnett squares on the test!” Skuldt …

Laura Ringler is in her eighth year in the classroom. She teaches Ag Business, Food Science, Animal and Plant Science Agriculture, and Foods and Natural Resources at Plymouth High School. Her favorite part of teaching is watching students mature and retain information, and seeing former students take their places as productive members of society. Are you involved in other ag or science-related school activities? I am our school’s FFA adviser. …