AGRICULTURE LITERACY/AG FAIRS

Appoximately 500,000 kids participate in Ag and Natural Resource Awareness activities each year through Texas 4-H. With this in mind, this site has been developed to assist county Extension agents and volunteers in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of their programs. We will continue to update these pages as we receive information that will enhance these programs.

PAGE LINKS:
Planning an Agriculture Fair
Individual Presentation Sessions
Teaching Modules
Support Materials
Future Theme Suggestions
Contest Results
Best of Show Winners from Past Contest

PLANNING AN AGRICULTURE FAIR

In order for a youth agricultural awareness day to be successful, early planning is essential. In addition, it takes numerous individuals to set the program in motion. How many? Well, that depends on the size of your target audience. Obviously, the more youth you have involved, the more volunteers, adult leaders, and youth presenters should be involved. After all, there is research that suggests that more one-on-one contact between speakers and listeners there is, the greater the impact will be for both.

Overview of the Activity

In general, youth educational activities that pertain to agriculture must be faced paced, active, and hands-on. These children have been in a classroom for the entire school year and are ready to learn and be entertained on the art and science of agriculture. The idea is for the youth to leave with an appreciation and enthusiasm on agriculture and the environment. The ultimate goal is to stimulate their interest in what they have been a part of and to hopefully take these principles home and share with their family.

An Agriculture Science Fair To Do List

Planning an activity of this magnitude takes months of preparation time. Working with the school districts must begin well in advance of the program date. It is best to meet with the schools before they begin the fall semester. Teachers usually report at the first of August. You should try and meet with the teachers and administrators during this time period. This is the time to discuss the plans for your event. If there is going to be curriculum available, you should have it there for them to look over. Items that should be discussed with the schools include:

• Overall goal of the program
• Available curriculum
• Date of the event
• Program agenda
• Transportation (bus scheduling)
• Meal plan for participants
• Evaluation Techniques
• Participation forms school must have on file (medical, code of conduct, parental agreement)

At the same time, the coordinator must be preparing the presentations. The earlier you can secure the topics, the more likely you will be able to get the modules and presentation skits that are available across the state. Click on modules or agriculture links for options and ideas for your ag. fair. Here are some things to remember about presentations:

• Make it age group appropriate.
• Try to use agriculture and environmental commodities that are noted in your area.
• Try to use local speakers (these could include 4-H youth)
• The presentations need to be interactive, fun, and educational.
• If you are going to work with commodity groups, get on the calender early.
• Contact commodity groups for goodie bag items that the participants can take home.
• Search out local support like the Chamber of Commerce / Texas Farm Bureau / community leaders to help identify individuals who would like to volunteer.

These programs take lots of volunteers. These volunteers are the link to your program's success. Keep these points in mind about volunteers.

• Recruit volunteers early.
• Let volunteers sale the program
• Train them to market the program with the news media and at other community activities.
• If they are going to present at the ag fair, provide them a check list of items to cover on specific commodities.
• It is best to have a one-day training for all volunteers to make assignments and discuss the program.

Volunteers can be used in many ways. Here are a few to think about.

• Present a part of the program
• Lead classes through the activity
• Help prepare lunches
• Work with local media
• Help distribute evaluations
• Stuff goody bags
• Park busses
• Help with first aid emergency items.

90 Days Before the Event

About three months before the event should mark the time to double check all the speakers, modules, and program areas you have previously reserved. Verbal commitments are non-binding! It is imperative to have a signed contract of some kind that verifies your speakers, modules, curriculum, and supplemental material. Also, a second meeting with the schools should be performed. This is the chance for you to get your final attendance figures and to finalize the agenda schedule for each of the schools participating. Finally, curriculum should be sent to teachers that requested it with specific instructions to carry out the plans.

One Month Before the Event

This is the time to meet with the local media to announce the event. This is a high profile activity that the general public will be genuinely interested in learning about it. This is also the time to meet with the presenters to rehearse the skit or presentation. If high school aged youth are involved, they need to be taught the appropriate subject matter from adults and allowed to practice their skit multiple times to ensure their grasp of the material. Finally, you will need to send the pretest to the teachers for them to implement in their classrooms.

Day of the Event

This is the day to shine!! If your volunteers are trained well, then this is the easy day. Four major objectives to carry through the day include:

• Take lots of photographs and video the event.
• Hold a press conference for the media.
• Distribute post tests to teachers and teachers packets.
• Make sure participants are learning in an entertaining environment.

  SESSIONS

Follow-up

You are not done yet! Once the event is over, gather all the evaluations and analyze your results. Remember to send lots of appreciation letters and even have a celebration luncheon for everyone involved. Begin work for next year. Finally, provide us with a narrative summary on this web site. Click here!

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INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION SESSIONS

These presentations must be educational and entertaining. On average, an agriculture awareness day will consist of eight to twelve individual sessions that are approximately 15 to 20 minutes in length. These sessions should represent varying aspects of agriculture. Some commodities that are typically taught at ag. fairs include:

• Cotton
• Corn
• Wheat
• Beef Cattle
• Dairy (milk)
• Swine
• Sheep & Wool Products
• Horticulture
• Gardening
• Fish Products
• Wildlife
• Nutrition
• Food Safety
• Marine Biology
• Texas Geography
• Plant Chemical Safety
• Entomology
• Soil Erosion
• Timber for Construction
  

Refer to the sections that discuss modules and other agriculture educational links for additional ideas for your ag. fair day.

Because of the short time period to discuss these commodities, an outline should be prepared to assist the presenter to make sure they reach all their objectives in the 15 minute time frame.

Opening (First minute)
During this initial time period the presenter should handle two major objectives:

1. Identify the lesson:
What is the title?
What is the subject area?

2. Objectives of the lesson
What will the students learn during the session?

Body of Program (Next 12 minutes)

This is where the interaction should take place.

1. Introduction
This is the portion of the presentation where the presenter must grab the audience with astonishing facts or excitement that relates to the presentation. It needs to link the subject matter to the participants, so that they can relate. This needs to be brief (two minutes)

2. Presentation
This is the meat and potatoes of the program. The presenter uses this time to teach the lesson. Remember, this lesson should not be a lecture for students to sit and listen. It needs to be experiential, hands-on, with two way communication between the presenter and the participants. The participants need to be involved and help teach or be energized to take an active role in the session. This section needs to be 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Application
After the presentation, the presenter needs to tie the presentation curriculum to everyday use. In other words, the participants need to understand that the subject presented affects their everyday life. (Two minute time frame)

4. Summary
A summary could be just a question and answer section that also entails passing out of supplemental material that the participants can take home to their parents or share with their friends (closing minute).

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TEACHING MODULES

Modules available for Agriculture Fairs (click on any of the modules to learn more about them).

LINK	MODULE NAME	SUBJECT
link	Field of Genes	Biotechnology
link	Processing the Fabric of Our Lives	Mini Cotton Gins
link	Texas Uncovered	Ecology
link	Agrochemicals	Agricultural Chemicals
link	Somethings Fishy	Water Quality and Conservation
link	Wildlife Success Stories	Wildlife
link	Whitetail Deer	Wildlife
link	Biscuit Bingo	Farming and Risk Management
link	Rainfall Simulator	Rainfall & Water Conservation
link	Mobile Dairy Classroom	Dairy Industry

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AGRICULTURE AWARENESS AND SUPPORT MATERIALS

There are countless contacts and websites for a variety of agriculture topics. We have separated some of these topics and placed them into these links listed below. Simply click on one (or all) of the following and see where it will lead you! Enjoy!

Livestock	Poultry
Dairy	Horse
Nuts	Soil Science
Fruits	Insects
Fiber	Crops
Environment	Fish
Wildlife	Curriculum
General Agriculture	Horticulture
Water	Other

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EVENT EVAULATION

For help and suggestions on compiling the results of your program contact Dr. Jeff W. Howard at the Texas 4-H and Youth Development Office.

EVALUATIONS
	Student Evaluation
	Teacher Evaluation

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Page last updated: April 18, 2008