Food For Thought Teaches about the Importance of Animal Agriculture to the State
Food For Thought, a 22-minute animated video that teaches students in a fun way about how farmers care for pigs in Nebraska, will be offered to the state’s elementary schools again for the 2015-2016 school year. The program was introduced to the state’s classrooms in 2012.
This video is offered free for use in fourth-grade classes by the Nebraska Pork Producers Association (NPPA) and the Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB).
Food For Thought tells the story of a suburban fourth-grader who knows nothing about raising pigs or the economics and business skills that go into running a successful business. The boy comes to appreciate what is involved in a successful farmer after he tours a working farm where he meets a farmer and his fourth-grade daughter.
Also included in the package is a short video filmed on a real Nebraska pig farm to provide students with additional insight in today’s farming operations and a complete lesson plan.
Food for Thought has been recommended by the Nebraska Department of Education because it helps teachers meet an important fourth-grade curriculum objective about the state’s economy.
The NPPA and the NSB are committed to teaching elementary school students about the importance of agriculture to the state’s economy.
“Teachers have responded quite positively about this video since its introduction in 2012,” says Kyla Habrock, the NPPA’s youth leadership director. “They report the program does an excellent job teaching students about understanding farming as a business as well as the central role agriculture plays in the Nebraska’s economy.”
Teri Zimmerman, NSB education and outreach manager, agrees.
“Food For Thought has become an effective and popular way to teach elementary age students about agriculture, Nebraska’s number one industry,” Zimmerman says. “The video’s entertaining animation style holds student interest throughout the program.”
Supplies are limited, so teachers are urged to order their free videos and accompanying worksheets as soon as possible.
Other educational materials provided free to the state’s elementary schools by the Nebraska Soybean Board and the Nebraska Pork Producers Association include: a Bingo card game that teaches students about pork and soybean farming; Pigmania, a six-lesson package that teaches students the basics about pork production; Producers, Pigs & Pork, a series of lessons that teaches students about our food supply system, centering on pork production; and Short Snoots, Soybean Sprouts, a colorful, four-page worksheet with interactive exercises to help students understand the interdependency of pig and soybean farming in Nebraska.
The Food For Thought video can be ordered online at nebraskafoodforthought.com.
For more information, contact Karen Brokaw at 402-432-2299, or by e-mail at karen@brokawmarketing.com