Over the years, Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) has provided grants to schools and educators. These grants have been provided as an incentive for educators to integrate agriculture into their classroom and curriculum, and to help them “jump-start” a special idea or project they would not undertake without some outside financial support. Whether its $50 or $300, it all helps when facing limited school budgets.
Note: Grant application deadlines for the current school year will be September 15, 2011, and February 1, 2012. Maximum award for any grant will be $400.
School Year 2011-12 Grant Funding Priorities
New applications are strongly encouraged in the areas of youth gardening, unique integration and innovation in the classroom, and field trip experiences. Field trip experiences might include modern working farms, agriculture industry tours, the MHS sites of Oliver Kelley Farm and FarmAmerica or the Minnesota Zoo Farm, to name a few.
Note: Grants cannot be awarded for requests to purchase our own Children’s Literature Book Bundle. Sorry.
Grant Ideas
Remember, agricultural literacy is NOT designed to teach in separation. It’s designed to be integrated and used as content and context for learning in many of the core subject areas like socials studies, science and language arts, or with environmental education and math. Here are a few examples:
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Art
- Construct a Minnesota commodity quilt and learn all about agriculture along the way.
- Study different seeds and explore their uses; use them to make pictures.
- Visit an area farm or greenhouse and draw pictures describing your experience.
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Language Arts
- Have students research a specific agricultural commodity and then create a book about it.
- Interview a local farmer or agri-business leader and write a story about them and what you learned.
- Set up a pen-pal program within Minnesota or with another state... use email or letters to learn about agriculture in each state.
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Social Studies
- Hold an “Ag Career Awareness Day” at your school.
- Develop thematic “backpack” and “discovery” units to increase agricultural awareness among your students.
- Develop a farm learning center with scale model farm equipment, supplies and animals.
- Celebrate National Ag Day (usually March 20th) with a field trip or classroom speaker.
- Study agriculture around the world and learn about our interdependence.
- Explore historic and modern methods of farming at FarmAmerica (near Waseca), the Oliver Kelley Historical Farm at Elk River, or the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.
- Develop an urban-rural exchange program.
- Study Native Americans and how they use plants for food, medicine and crafts, and the role agriculture played in Native American history
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Science
- Develop a school garden and study the development of seeds, plant growth and harvesting.
- Study the production cycles of area crops or crops of basic food production.
- Study agriculture through hands-on experiments in biotechnology and plant genetics – use your secondary students as teachers/mentors for elementary science connections.
- Visit a local greenhouse or plant nursery.
- Study plant development and nutrient usage.
- Create a horticulture unit centered on plant cycles, soils and water.
- Study agriculture and the food guide pyramid.
- Make butter or ice cream in the classroom.
- Visit an ethanol plant or wind farm and learn about renewable energy today.
- Grow a pizza! Students plant vegetable seeds, monitor growth, and harvest the “fruits of their labor” to make a pizza.
- Visit a farm... plant or animal... and learn how much science there is on the farm!
These are just a few ideas to help stimulate you and nudge you in the direction of applying for one of our grants!!
MDA Contact
Al Withers, Program Director
Alan.Withers@state.mn.us
651-201-6688 • Fax: 651-201-6117
Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom
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