The Agricultural Education Program Team has been working with Clemson University Professor Dr. Jim Frederick, with the Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, to create a mini-demonstration teaching opportunity at a Middle School in Darlington County.
Utilizing space on the grounds of the Darlington Middle School, Dr. Frederick and his Clemson Extension collaborators have worked with students and teachers to create mini-demonstration plots to conduct problem-solving experiments specific to each grade. The mini-demonstration plots allow students to examine the effects of water, nutrients, soil type, and other key factors on plant growth and potential environmental impacts. Vegetables, agronomic crops, long-leaf pine, and horticultural crops will be a part of the studies once the program is completed.
In addition to the plots, under Dr. Frederick’s guide, the school also created workstations where students record data, examine their results, and display their findings on kiosks for others to view.
Because of the program’s success at the Middle School, the Agricultural Education Program Team plans to use it as a “template” for agricultural education programs around the State. Many of the agricultural education programs have school farms. Still, for those that are not so lucky to have the available land and resources, this project will provide students the opportunity to still conduct experiments on plants while only requiring a minimum amount of space. The projects the students conduct in each grade are centered on science teaching standards. Therefore, the program is also a great way to introduce agriculture to science teachers and other school educators.
Dr. Frederick and the Agricultural Education Team plan on presenting the program to Career and Technical Education Directors this summer at the South Carolina Department of Education’s Education and Business Summit to promote the project to school district leadership. In addition, he will address South Carolina Agriculture Teachers at their annual summer conference.
Submitted by: William Keels, State Director Agricultural Education
