Commodity Classic is America’s largest farmer-focused, farmer-led trade show and convention, and the Ohio Soybean Council made it possible for several GrowNextGen teacher leaders to attend this event. Donna Meller from Pettisville High School appreciated the willingness of various ag industry reps to share ideas and resources for her to use in her classroom. A soil scientist from Bayer Science presented different experimental design ideas as related to fungicide applications and how environmental factors can influence the effects of the fungicide.
“A key way I plan to use the knowledge I gained is in developing research projects and class projects that allow students to explore the experimental design process. I work directly with many of the Ag/FFA students on research projects and this will help me assist them. Also, many agricultural applications can be used in teaching basic science concepts within my various classes,” said Meller.
As to the value of attending Commodity Classic, Meller said, “Since I live in a very rural school district, this shows me I need to remind students through our daily lessons not to assume they understand the agriculture going on all around them. Also I want to encourage them to see the application of science and the far reaching connections to agriculture many career areas have such as marketing, accounting, advertising, etc.”
