SIDNEY — On Oct. 20, the Fairlawn FFA held for the first time, “Harvest Days”, an educational day for k-3 students.
The students started in the Ag shop with their first station where they learned about the legend of why people started to carve pumpkins and where the legend began. The students also got to learn fun facts about pumpkins, such as how many seeds are in a large pumpkin, what colors pumpkins can come in, and that people may eat the blooms of pumpkin plants.
The students at that time got to paint their own mini pumpkin that they got to take the mini pumpkins home to show their parents what they learned.
Following the pumpkin station the students went to the greenhouse to learn about how plants grow in soil. The students learned the importance of soil and how if the plants did not have soil and the other essentials, such as water and light, plants would not be able to grow and humans would not be able to survive.
They learned the life stages of field crops such as corn and beans. The students at that moment got to see, as well as touch corn and bean plants that were ready for harvest. The students then learned about the byproducts that you can get from soybeans and corn.
The students were able to take home a flat of plants that included a plant of soybeans, corn, and oats that they could take home and continue to grow indoors for a short period of time.
Following the greenhouse station the students went to the combine station where they learned about the process of a combine and how the combine is able to harvests crops. The students got to learn how the combine was named, the evolution and history.
Posters were utilized in this station to help bridge the gap between old combines and present. The students then learned what plants could be harvested by a combine. Participants in this station also got to sit inside the cab of the combine with an FFA member and see all technology inside that the farmer may use out in the field when harvesting their crops.
The Harvest Days was a huge success for the chapter as well as for the students, said Nathan Sailor, agricultural educator and FFA advisor at Fairlawn Schools. The Fairlawn FFA would like to thank Koenig Equipment of Anna for donating a combine for the day for the students to see and sit in and the Master Gardner volunteers consisting of Nancy Russell, Jim McCracken, and Conelia Dixon for taking the time come out to the greenhouse to share with the students about some of the knowledge they have gained over their many years of experience.
