Tagged stem

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“Chick experts” share knowledge with others

Susan Haag I just wanted to share a little bit about my experience with ChickQuest. I am a Reading Specialist in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. My third grade students and I participated in ChickQuest. My students had a phenomenal …
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“Here’s what we’ve been waiting for!”

Mindy Heaston teaches 3rd grade at Graham Elementary in St. Paris, Ohio. She says: We took this video last year of our eggs hatching to help our students see the process after hours. The chicks were hatching early morning and late evening, and my …
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“The highlight of the students’ day”

Wendy Williams Beatty Park Elementary School Grades 3-5 ChickQuest allowed the students in my classroom to experience something that they would have never experienced. My students are inner city kids; some never even knew what a chicken looked like …
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4-H aquaculture challenge

1 lesson, 3 files
What is aquaculture? Why is it becoming a growing industry? Globally, fish consumption has nearly doubled in the last 40 years. At the same time wild fish capture has leveled off. This is due to decreasing wild stocks and high scrutiny of fishing practices. …
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A chance to try DuckQuest!

Eileen Elswick 5th grade science teacher Hayes Intermediate, Grove City I’ve used the ChickQuest materials in my 5th grade science class for 2 years. Last year, I was getting ready to order eggs when a friend called to tell me a nesting mallard duck …
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A favorite part of 4th grade

Alexis Swisher Imagine Groveport Community School I am a 4th grade math and science teacher at Imagine Groveport Community School. Two 4th grade science classes hatched chicks last year. The kids absolutely loved it! We did many experiments and it …
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Agricultural engineering

Agricultural engineers explain their work and how they use biology and engineering to make farms energy-efficient and our food supply safe and plentiful. They describe what drew them to agricultural engineering and discuss their education and career …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Andrea Jacobsen

Environmental Sustainability/SOIL Lab Teacher at STEM Middle School at Baldwin Road
pollinators gardens greenhouses aquaponics stem
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An engaging experience at Almira Academy

Desiree Volney teaches 3rd grade at Almira Academy in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. She attended a ChickQuest workshop and said, “My students really enjoyed the program. They were completely engaged throughout each lesson and could not …
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Animal agriculture: the egg comes first

Thirty-nine teachers recently braved November snow and low temperatures to spend a day learning about animal agriculture in the ChickQuest workshop. This school program encourages 3rd graders to use science, engineering, and technology to …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Anton Kilburn

Middle school programming director, Global Impact STEM Academy
biology gisa food science genetics stem
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Baby chicks at Bolton Elementary

Keisha Pitts-Bullard Bolton Elementary School What an amazing experience this was! Our kindergarten class collaborated with the third grade class at Bolton Elementary School in Cleveland. The students enjoyed watching the process unfold. The third …
industry leader
industry leader

Barry McGraw

Director, Product Development and Commercialization at the Ohio Soybean Council
stem aquaculture engineering research and development soy-based products soybeans
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Bioeconomy and soybeans: investigating challenges and exploring solutions

5 lessons, 17 files
What is a bioeconomy? What is the role of soybeans in the development of bioeconomies in Spanish-speaking countries? International markets are very important to soybean farmers across the globe. In this unit, students in a Spanish language class will explore the idea of a bioeconomy and research case studies of …
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Career videos springboards to STEM research project

Amy Kochensparger teaches 10th grade Biology and 11/12th grade CCP Anatomy & Physiology at Eaton High School in Eaton, Oh. Kochensparger attended last summer’s Ag Biotech Academy in Springfield, Ohio, where she became familiar with the resources …
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Chicken corral

Michelle Atkinson I teach at Horizon Science Academy Toledo, 5th grade Math and Science. We hatched eggs last year and the students loved it! We cleared out the desks and made a chicken corral on the second day we had them. Those chicks had the best …
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ChickQuest: MORE than just hatching chicks!

Marti Mercuri of Broadleigh Elementary shares about her experience with the ChickQuest program: I am so thrilled with the Chickquest project. Even though I don’t have my own class, I borrowed a third grade class and we did EVERY STEM activity in the …
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ChickQuest: not just for elementary students!

The typical ChickQuest teacher is in an elementary school, but the program can be tweaked to accompany higher grades. Jennifer Scheidler teaches Academic & Accelerated Biology at Sycamore High School. Here, she explains how she incorporated …
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ChickQuest: not just for little kids!

Adam Kendig I teach a high school biology class at Arcanum High School. I know that Chickquest is designed for elementary students, but I adapted it to fit my curriculum by starting with an inquiry lesson. I had the students look at the eggs and …
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Chicks draw in admiring visitors

Mrs. Margie Bodle 3rd grade I am a Cleveland Metropolitan Schools Basic Skills teacher working at St. Mark Catholic School in Cleveland. We incubated and hatched 5 chicks with both 3rd grade classes. It was so much fun! I introduced the unit to the …
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Chicks in the classroom part of Agriscience in the City

Rob Isner works at George Washington Carver STEM Elementary School in Cleveland as Program Manager for 4-H Youth Development. His position is part of the “Agriscience in the City” program created in 2014 to promote learning about agriculture and …
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Community outreach events bring soybean science to the masses!

Ohio Soybean Council ambassadors have been traveling around to share science and fun with eager learners. Soy Excited for Science, Eastland Fairfield CC A group of about 30 students investigated chemistry and food science around soy including making …
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Cool curriculum for your classroom

Here are two of the creative units Rachel Sanders has developed for GrowNextGen: Are You Gonna Eat That? Students create a cookbook to learn Standard Operating Procedures for food safety and environmental monitoring. They also test their soy milk …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Diane Keller

Computer Science Department Chairperson; Computer Science Principles and Programming and Engineering instructor at Carroll High School
biotechnology computer science data education stem externship
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Dinner and data and drones, oh my!: technology in agriculture

3 lessons, 5 files
What technologies are used to help farmers become more productive and more sustainable? Drones (or UAVs-unmanned aerial vehicles) are taking to the skies. What are they doing up there? What other technologies are there that help growers become more productive, yet more thoughtful about …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Donna Meller

High school science teacher at Pettisville High School: Science 8, Environmental Science, Physics, Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology, and High School Research Class
biology chemistry environmental science food science stem anatomy & physiology physics renewable energy science fair
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Encountering a whole new world

Leah LaCrosse, Huron City Schools 8th grade science educator and GrowNextGen teacher leader, visited Commodity Classic 2019, the largest farmer-led, farmer-focused agricultural and educational event in America: Walking into Commodity Classic …
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Examining eggs and checking on chicks

Rob Isner is program manager for 4-H Youth Development, working at George Washington Carver STEM School in Cleveland. As part of the Agriscience in the City program, Isner followed up with teachers who’d gone through the ChickQuest workshop, …
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Fall ChickQuest workshop held

32 teachers met at the 4H building on the Ohio State University campus for this fall’s ChickQuest workshop. Presenter Jeanne Gogolski took the participants through the ChickQuest curriculum, demonstrating the many hands-on STEM activities involved. …
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Fall fowl fun

Welcome back, ChickQuest learners! Over thirty Ohio teachers gathered at the Nationwide 4-H building on the Ohio State University campus for a day of STEM activities for their classrooms. The Ohio Soybean Council provides this opportunity several …
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GNG teacher leader Todd Tayloe visits Commodity Classic 2019

Todd Tayloe, teacher at Carroll High School and GrowNextGen teacher leader, talks about going to Commodity Classic 2019, America’s largest farmer-led, farmer-focused agricultural and educational event: Commodity Classic 2019 was such a wonderful …
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Healthy Soil Challenge training for soil sleuths

4-H representatives from 12 Ohio counties gathered at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center this Saturday for a special training session. “Healthy Soils C.S.I. Challenge” is this year’s 4-H Ag Innovators Experience, sponsored by Monsanto, …
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Healthy soils

1 lesson, 1 file
What makes soil healthy? What methods might farmers use to maintain healthy soil? “Soil” doesn’t just mean “dirt.” It is a mixture of minerals like rocks and clay, organic material like dead leaves, living organisms like worms, microbes, and insects, and even air and water. There …
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Hello, Milwaukee! Here’s some STEM in ag for you!

GrowNextGen brought “STEM in Agriculture” to teachers at the 2017 NSTA Milwaukee Area Conference. Teacher leaders Brian Badenhop (Ohio Hi-Point Career Center) and Jeff Jostpille (Fort Jennings High School) presented two sessions with Jane Hunt and …
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How Design Challenges Empower Students to Solve Problems and Contextualize Learning

Teaching students how to solve real-world problems, and giving them experience solving real-world problems, is critical to their development as future problem solvers – and that’s why, three years ago, the Ohio Stem Learning Network (OSLN) started …
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Inquiry-based learning delights students

Susan Scott I am a Cleveland Metropolitan School teacher who teaches Reading K-8. This year I participated in Chick Quest with my 3rd graders. We had 9 chicks hatch! My students were ecstatic from the time we set up the incubator until the chicks …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Jamie Allison

Biotechnology and Proteomics Teacher at Loveland High School
biotechnology stem
teacher leader
teacher leader

Jamie Brown

Science and math teacher at Miami East Junior High
middle school agriculture stem soil science
teacher leader
teacher leader

Jamie Metzger

Biology and Agriscience instructor at Knox County Career Center
biotechnology genetics biofuels stem
teacher leader
teacher leader

Jennifer Foudray

Biotechnology Instructor at Miami Valley Career Technology Center
biology biotechnology career technical education stem
teacher leader
teacher leader

Jeremy Grove

Upper School principal at Open Door Christian Schools
ffa stem agriculture education agriscience biotechnology camps afterschool programs
teacher leader
teacher leader

Kelly Lewis

Program Instructor, Bioscience Technologies at Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools
stem biotechnology
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Kochensparger named as a PBS Digital Innovator

GrowNextGen teacher leader Amy Kochensparger has been selected as a PBS Digital Innovator. This program recognizes “classroom changemakers: educators who skillfully approach education with a bold and fresh perspective, and who integrate digital …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Kristyn Keriazes

8th grade science teacher at Global Impact STEM Academy
Makerspace agriscience design challenges stem externship
industry leader
industry leader

Lara Alpan

Head of Science Outreach, Crop Science at Bayer
plant breeding global agriculture stem biotechnology
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Making biodiesel from soybeans

5 lessons, 16 files
How might we make and use renewable fuel? Make biodiesel and create a scale model of an anaerobic digester, while investigating bioenergy and how it is produced.
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Making biodiesel from soybeans (TL version)

2 lessons, 6 files
How might we make and use renewable fuel? Make and test biodiesel from different sources while investigating bioenergy and how it is produced.
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Meet our teacher leaders

Whitney Short teaches agriscience and biotechnology to 7th-12th graders at Anthony Wayne High School in Perrysburg, Ohio. She recently attended the Commodity Classic in Florida with a group of educators and found the collaboration really helpful in …
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Mission: Be an Agricultural Engineer and Catch the Egg!

Students in grades 6 through 8 participated in the Science of Agriculture workshop on The Ohio State University Wooster campus last month. Designed to encourage interest in STEM education, this is the program’s fourteenth year. The students traveled …
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NCMS Students on a “ChickQuest”

Sixth-grade science teachers Sarah Clouse, Sara Steigerwald, Anne Aston, and student teacher Lauren Fairley attended “ChickQuest” during the NCCS Professional Learning Day on February 16. In the article below, Mrs. Anne Aston shares the lesson with …
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No one can resist these adorable little chicks!

Cynthia Madanski Robinson Elementary School Toledo, OH I am a science support teacher in an urban school, serving students in grades K-8. I knew the younger students would be thrilled to learn about chicks, but it surprised me how enthralled the …
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No sprouts, but lots of learning!

Bishop Flaget School 5th grade teacher Carrie Hill took her class through the Soy Protein and World Hunger e-learning course. Hill said, “It was a great experience to learn about the many uses for soybeans, the importance of Ohio in feeding our …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Pam Clark

Guidance Counselor at Global Impact STEM Academy
stem careers chemistry physical science
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Plenish® of ways to use oil

2 lessons, 6 files
Can you transform fats in your diet? Current trends in consumer behavior show that people want to eat healthier and are looking for simple ways to transform their diets. High oleic soybean oil features lower saturated fat while …
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Precision in gene editing presents great potential

Kirk Reese, DuPont Pioneer Agronomy Research Manager, spoke to teachers at the Ohio Soybean Council-sponsored Ag Biotech Academy workshop about CRISPR-CAS technology, a bacterial immune system used to make precise genetic changes within organisms. …
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Providing “meaningful learning experiences”

School’s out, but learning never stops! Thanks to a grant from Battelle and The Ohio Soybean Foundation, our informal education program, Exploration of Modern Farming, will provide opportunities for students, parents, other family and community …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Rachel Sanders

Science Instructor and FFA Advisor at Global Impact STEM Academy
agriscience biology biotechnology career tech food science science fair stem biofuels
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Selective Breeding and GMOs

3 lessons, 5 files
What is genetic modification? How does it dffer from selective breeding? A lot of questions surround definitions of genetic modification. This unit models two different techniques of genetic modification and tries to help students understand the terms and the consequences …
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Snow’s not stopping this educator event!

Despite a sudden snowstorm, about 20 teachers recently gathered for a STEM learning event. Food science, GMOs, and potato chips were on the menu for the Summit Educational Service Center’s “STEMming Up to the Challenge: A STEM Leadership Cadre”. …
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So THAT’S what was in those eggs?!?

Last spring at East Technical High School in Cleveland, students in 9-12 Agriscience Education classes experienced firsthand the miracle of life through the hatching of baby chicks. ChickQuest allowed students to take ownership and protect the lives …
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Special education classrooms enjoy hatching chicks

David Lockard is an instructional coach for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. He attended the ChickQuest workshop and conducted the lessons and hatching with two Special Education classrooms at Louis Agassiz Elementary School. “It was a …
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Statewide science search!

We’re looking all over Ohio for great science fair projects! The Ohio Soybean Council Foundation sponsors up to three $100 Ohio Soybean Bioscience Awards at each of the 17 district science fairs across Ohio. The purpose of the award is to inspire …
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STEM careers and soy-based soap

GrowNextGen Teacher leaders Courtney Bockbrader and Whitney Short recently spoke to FFA members at the Northwest Ohio Women in Agriculture conference. During a breakout session, students learned about the increasing need for qualified workers in …
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STEM elementary visits Waterman Farm

A hundred first graders from Herbert Mills STEM Elementary recently visited OSU’s Waterman Farm. Their visit was made possible by the Ohio Soybean Council. While on the farm, students were able to make soybean seed necklaces, soy chocolate milk, and …
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STEM Outreach—Students teaching students

Rachel Sanders and her students at Global Impact STEM Academy have been conducting outreach events to get students, especially girls and minorities, interested in STEM education. In just two recent weeks, Global Impact students went to four schools …
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STEM to STEM grant allows career exploration

Katherine Velikaz is a 7th and 8th grade science and 8th grade CTE teacher at Ottawa River Elementary in Toledo, Ohio. She won a STEM to STEM grant award from GrowNextGen and the Ohio Soybean Council that provided several Chromebooks for her …
teacher leader
teacher leader

Stephanie Jolliff

Ag Ed Instructor and FFA Advisor for Ridgemont Schools
stem career technical education technology agriculture education
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Students study chickens, eggs and more chicks

Paula Ritter and Jerry Boes Arcadia High School Two of Jerry Boes’s ag ed classes teamed up with Paula Ritter’s Integrated Science II class to study chickens and eggs. While the students were studying eggs, they also had over 50 eggs in two …
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Teacher leaders reach out to student teachers

Teacher leaders Courtney Bockbrader & Whitney Short recently presented to twelve Ohio State Agricultural Education student teachers at the Turf Grass Center at OSU. During the presentation, all pre-service teachers completed five labs, including …
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Vote for Egg Education!

Over 40 educators gathered at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on Election Day for a ChickQuest workshop. This hands-on STEM program involves a variety of science activities—measuring, predicting, hypothesizing, testing, and …
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What’s in a name?

You may have heard the term “subject matter expert” before, but what exactly is that? And what does it have to do with GrowNextGen? Subject matter experts are researchers, educators or industry experts who share their expertise so that educators can …
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You’re never too old for ChickQuest!

​Jane Kuhlman Mount Vernon Middle School I teach in a 7th grade science classroom at Mount Vernon Middle School. ChickQuest is a little extra I do with my kids in the spring. Many students will start out telling how they have already watched this in …