2010 Summer Institute Schedule Announced

It's never too early to plan for summer—CFA has announced the 2010 Agriculture in the Classroom Summer Institute schedule. Join us June 14-18 in Delta or June 21-25 in Fort Collins for a first-hand agricultural experience and earn two credits from CSU. Never been on a working farm?Concerned about where your food comes from? This course is for you. For more information and registration details…

What's In Your Watershed?

Explore watersheds and scientific information coupled with observations and measurements made by the watershed groups. This site provides a powerful foundation for characterizing, assessing, analyzing, and maintaining the status and health of a watershed. Check it out…

USDA Research Is Helping Ag Be More Efficient with Water

With climate change expected to raise temperatures worldwide and make rainfall patterns harder to predict, pressure is mounting on farmers—who use up to 60 percent of the world's fresh water—to cut back on water use. Nowhere is the U.S. water supply a more severe problem than in the Southwest, where droughts are common, reservoirs are closely monitored, and population growth is increasing demand. Read more…

A Caring Way of Life

This free 12-minute DVD illustrates the legacy of cattle in Colorado, introducing students to one of Colorado's largest and most enduring industries. The presentation also addresses science, geography & history content standards. To order your copy, contact julie@cobeef.com

Sung To The Tune Of…

Who can ever get enough of musical parodies? The Sinatra of Salmonella, the Elvis of E. coli, Carl Winter sings your favorite food safety and nutrition songs…

Just eat it, eat it
A burger's just fine if you heat it,
Have a green salad, have a cup of tea,
The best you can do is eat variety
(Sung to the tune of Michael Jackson's Beat It)

Use musical parodies of contemporary songs as an effective way to teach about food safety. Songs address a wide variety of food safety topics and have been developed for diverse audiences including students, health professionals, food service workers, food regulators, and teachers.

Enemy #1—Botulism

Even though cases of foodborne botulism poisoning are rare in the United States today, they're nonetheless of concern. After all, botulinum toxin is the world's most potent natural toxin—millions of times more poisonous than cyanide. Free download…

STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics—Class Projects on the Web

STEM Transitions. Access more than 60 classroom-ready projects in agriculture, health science, manufacturing, and transportation, related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Materials focus on building academic- and career-related skills for high school and college-level classes. Check it out…

What Starts on the Farm Ends At Your Fork—Food Safety For Middle School

This unit provides middle school students with a better understanding of food safety through real-life examples and enjoyable activities. They learn that everyone has a responsibility in minimizing foodborne illnesses—farmers, transporters, restaurants, grocery stores...and the consumer!

Downloads available at the California Foundation for Ag site.

Beef Production Facts and Myths

The next time you read a story about how wasteful beef production is, you might want to verify some of the 'facts' presented in the articles. Check out the debunking of some of the more common myths about beef production…

USDA and HHS Release New Food Safety Site

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the co-chairs of the Obama Administration's Food Safety Working Group, unveiled a new consumer Web site today at www.foodsafety.gov. The site is designed to help consumers and families get all the latest information on food safety and food recalls in one convenient place.

The new site features information from all the agencies across the federal government that deal with critical food and food safety information, including preventive tips about how to handle food safely, alerts on life-saving food recalls, and the latest news from the key agencies.

Video—Food To Win The War

This 1941 movie produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages farmers to assist with the defense of America through a program called "Farm Defense."

Wonder how milk became part of the school lunch program? Check out the1954 movie, "More Milk, More Children."

It's A Wrap! Fruit And Vegetable Tastes and Textures

Shiny, colorful, and wonderfully edible, the glistening sheets of fruit and vegetable films for appetizers, entrées, sides, sushi rolls, desserts—and more. How did they do that?

Colorado Agricultural Leadership Foundation

The Colorado Agricultural Leadership Foundation is dedicated to connecting people to agriculture through authentic educational programming, projects, and special events. Check out current programs and more…

Help Microbes Go To School

The K-12 Education Committee of the American Society for Microbiology is seeking submissions for the Microbial Discovery Activities Collection. These relatively simple and safe microbiology-based activities meet the National Science Education Standards and are available on-line.

We invite you to submit inquiry-based activities that can be conducted in a regular classroom by school teachers. We particularly encourage the submission of simple and fun exercises that engage participants in their own learning and increase their interest in science.

To see previously published activities, visit: http://www.asm.org/Education/index.asp?bid=35292

Podcast—Robot Farmers

In the recent Will Smith movie "I, Robot," fleets of intelligent robots have taken over a wide range of responsibilities in human society. While a world like that is far off, pieces of it are already emerging. For example, scientists are now designing fleets of small, inexpensive robots that may revolutionize farming. Read more…