Feed the World was at the Ohio State Fair to engage and educate the public!
Alumni educator Jeff Jostpille did two presentations dealing with soil. “My audience was a few adults but more grade school and middle school kids, so I tailored the presentation to them,” Jostpille said. “We discussed soil texture and the three particle sizes: sand, silt, and clay. We got our hands dirty doing the ribbon test and then we filled jars to do the settling test. I had some jars already settled so everyone could see the layers and how we measure them. We also discussed drainage and plant growth in different soils.”
The following day, Jostpille was joined by Feed the World education expert Heather Bryan. They presented two “All about Corn” sessions. “We had many full-size corn plants, some of which we dissected,” Jostpille said. “We also had dried ears of corn and we explained the types of corn, why we grow dent corn, and how it is used. We discussed and showed the structure of a corn plant from roots, stems, and leaves all the way to the tassels and silks and the new ears and kernels. Our audience was mostly adults with some children.”
Jostpille said that ethanol was a topic of discussion in both sessions, especially relevant as energy prices are high.
Visit our curriculum page for these and other great lessons!