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Foreword
Agriculture in the Classroom is an initiative to educate
children about the importance of agriculture in our daily lives. With programs
in all 50 states, and the U.S. Territories, and similar endeavors in other
countries such as Canada, Agriculture in the Classroom has an impact not
only nationwide, but in many parts of the world.
In 1981, United States Department of Agriculture Secretary John Block recognized
that because of the urbanization of our society most children were 2 and
3 generations removed from any contact with production agriculture. Their
parents, and in many cases their grandparents, were not raised on a farm
as in past generations. This fact has caused us to take for granted the
processes involved in producing, processing, transporting and marketing
the abundant and affordable food and fiber supply we depend on for survival.
To help correct this, Agriculture in the Classroom was initiated, with USDA
taking the leading role in helping states to organize and develop their
own Ag in the Classroom programs.
Texas Farm Bureau began developing its Agriculture in the Classroom program
in 1985. The success of Ag in the Classroom has been due to the efforts
of our County Farm Bureau organizations. They introduce the program to the
schools in their counties, provide funding for resource material, and develop
and coordinate follow-up activities such as Ag Fairs.
The original Texas Agriculture Resource Guide for 4th Grade was written
in 1986-87 and piloted in a number of schools around the state. It has been
used extensively since then. In 1993, resource guides were completed for
grades 1-3.
The video "What's To Eat?" was introduced to complement
the resource guide. It presents a comprehensive view of Texas agriculture
and is recommended for any grade level as an introduction to the study of
agriculture in our state.
The video series "Let's Visit Texas" was completed in 1992
and provides a geographic tour of the Lone Star State in 4 volumes. In 1998,
the "Let's Visit Texas" Supplement was introduced to give
teachers lesson plans, ideas and activities that complement the videos.
There have been many changes in education in the state since the Texas
Agriculture Resource Guide for 4th Grade was first introduced. In order
to reflect those changes and make the resource material more "teacher-friendly," we introduced Food and Fiber for the 21st Century in 2000. This new
resource guide has been written for teachers of grades 1-6. Each lesson
has been correlated to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS),
in addition to covering Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)
objectives in reading, writing, math, and science.
Food and Fiber for the 21st Century gives the student numerous opportunities
for exploring geography and history, for developing Internet-based research
projects, and for practicing their writing skills. Science-based activities
in plant and soil science, and a unit in biotechnology are included, all
with agriculture as the theme.
Lessons in Food and Fiber for the 21st Century are based on ideas
submitted by teachers attending Texas Farm Bureau's Summer Agricultural
Institute at Tarleton State University. Those ideas were compiled and edited,
activities added, and then placed in lesson plan format by another team
of dedicated classroom teachers.
We will continue to depend on the hard work of our County Farm Bureau organizations
to make Ag in the Classroom successful.
Remember that everything we eat and wear comes from agriculture.
Comments can be sent to Texas Farm Bureau, Research, Education and Policy
Development Dept., P.O. Box 2689, Waco, TX 76702-2689 or call (254) 772-3030.