Pioneer Delivers Support for ‘My American Farm’
Steve Brody (right), director of government, community and industry relations for Pioneer Hi-Bred, on May 24 presented a check to Dan Durheim, executive director of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. The check is the company’s first installment of its sponsorship of the Foundation’s “My American Farm’ virtual education program. Pioneer announced in January that it would donate $500,000 over three years to support the project, which teaches children and others about agriculture through an interactive computer game. The website, www.myamericafarm.org entertains while teaching math, social studies, language arts and science in the context of agriculture and food production.

New Agricultural Literacy Resource Available
A new educator’s guide and DVD to accompany the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s Pre K-K “Accurate Ag Book” Soybeans: an A to Z Book is now available.

The “digi-pack” is a DVD including a video, educator’s guide, activities and downloadable activity sheets. It is ideal for schools or anyone, not just teachers, who wants to visit classrooms and present information about agriculture in a way that turns learning into fun.

“The national Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee has gone into classrooms and done these activities with the students,” said Curtis Miller, the Foundation’s director of education. “It’s been amazing to see how easy it is to lead the activities when all the resources are there and how enjoyable it is for both the kids and the adults. And, of course, it’s neat to see how the kids can relate to soybeans in their daily lives, especially after learning more about them.”

The activities teach math, science, nutrition, language arts and physical education in the context of learning how soybeans grow and how they’re used in food and other products. For example, the “Become a Bean Counter” activity involves gluing soybean seeds onto a worksheet (provided on the DVD) and helping students count the soybeans and write the number below. The “Get Up and Get Growing” activity leads kids in physical exercises that demonstrate what soybean plants need to grow, such as soil, sunlight and water.