Iowa State University Agronomy Club Poster.

Iowa State University Agronomy Club

 

The Iowa State Agronomy Club will present our club poster over a STEM community outreach program that our club participated in. The STEM program consisted of science nights at two local elementary schools in Ames, Iowa. The club was approached by Edwards Elementary School and Sawyer Elementary School to come to participate in each of their programs on January 28^th, 2014. We accepted the invitation because this activity met one of our club’s main club goals - to educate students about agronomy while getting them interested in our STEM major. Twelve club members were able to attend the science nights at the two schools.

We chose a matching game and an interactive activity to do with the students that fit ages 4-11.  In preparation for this event, club members were asked to brainstorm ideas for the games and activities we could do. We settled on a matching game that showed pictures of products made from both corn and soybeans. The students matched products with the correct crop. We “I Heart Soil” sticker and that were provided by Susan Chapman and the societies to give to the students. We also let the student’s plant and take home their own soybean and corn seeds. Club members helped the kids pick out seeds and put them into plastic bags with wet paper towels. They also took home a coloring page with the different parts of the seeds and illustration of seedling growth. This was a great activity for our club members to participate in, as well as a great learning opportunity for the elementary students. They seemed interested in what we had to say and were eager learn about where their food comes from.