'Ag Adventures' to return

KAN staff report

Openings are available for the popular “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” program for the 2007-08 school year.

“’Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky’ uses a fun and entertaining program to teach Kentucky school children about where their food comes from,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “It also provides opportunities for hands-on, inquiry-based learning. Thousands of children have benefited from participating in this program over the past two years.”

The full-day program begins with a 45-minute performance of “Lunch Room Live” featuring Chef Parmesan and Derby the talking horse. They take the assembly through the process of learning where pizza comes from, starting with soil as the first ingredient. Along the way students learn about field preparation, photosynthesis, wheat processing and cheese production. Following the assembly, students go through a series of work stations where they can milk a fiberglass cow, grind wheat into flour, test soil samples for pH and try many other activities.

 “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” is one of several programs of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Agriculture Education, Farm Safety and Farmland Preservation. It is produced by COSI on Wheels, a program of the COSI science museum in Columbus, Ohio. “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” supports Kentucky’s Core Content for Science Assessment standards.

The program will launch its third season next month. The KDA is seeking sponsors for “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” after the conclusion of the upcoming school year.

For more information on “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky,” go to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Web site, www.kyagr.com; click on Education Resources, click on Agriculture Education, and click on “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky.”

School administrators may make a reservation for “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” by calling COSI toll-free at 1-888-819-2674, extension 1703, or by completing and submitting the online reservation form at the “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” Web page. They also may download the reservation form, fill it out and fax it to (614) 629-3226 or mail it to COSI, Attn: Outreach Reservations, 333 W. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215.