Wakefield-Marenisco students get hands-on lessons in agriculture

By P.J. GLISSON

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Wakefield - Students of the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School enjoyed a field day on Thursday. The site was parked conveniently right behind the school.

It was in the form of a large, roving educational van known as the Food, Agriculture & Resources in Motion Science Lab.

Known more simply as the FARM Science Lab, the colorfully painted vehicle came courtesy of the Michigan Farm Bureau.

At the time the Globe visited, fourth grade students of Kathy Makela were immersed in one of the hands-on agricultural lessons that was part of the package.

"Anyone know what ethanol is?" asked Marsha Wainio, a registered educator for the lab.

She added, "Ethanol is a fuel made from corn" and clarified that it also can be made from soybeans.

The kids were in teams of a few students each, with stations that included two different versions of packing peanuts. One type was the traditional oil-based polystyrene product that has been used for decades. The other was made from corn.

Wainio advised students to immerse each type of peanut in water to see what happens. "Make a hypothesis," she said.

The kids were excited, raising their hands repeatedly as Wainio asked questions.

Throughout the session, students also filled out paperwork and punched in responses on their station computers. Cumulative results then showed on a big screen.

"Most of you said both peanuts would float," said Wainio while referring to survey results on the screen.

She also asked about what happened to the texture of the peanuts after they were placed in water.

Students pointed out that the corn-based peanut was "squishy" or "soft" and that it was more prone to start disintegrating.

"There's a reason for that, and it's a good reason," said Wainio. "It's good for the environment."

She then asked, "Boys and girls, why would we want the corn peanuts to disintegrate?"

One voice called out "So we won't have trash all over."

"That's right," said Wainio. "It's biodegradable."

By contrast, she noted, the oil-based peanut will hang around indefinitely.

In an email later that day, Makela summarized her students' experience.

"My class really enjoyed going to the Farm Science Lab today," she said. "They'd been looking forward to it since they saw it parked outside of our school yesterday."

She added, "I think it was a terrific experience for them to learn about agriculture in Michigan."

Makela said the students seemed to enjoy best a lesson on "making corn plastic from corn starch, corn oil, water, and food coloring."

She added, "They learned how this plastic is better for the environment because it is biodegradable."

Makela concluded, "Anytime we can offer hands-on experiences like this for the kids, it makes a much bigger impact on their learning and what they take away from it." 

In promotional materials, the Michigan Farm Bureau reports that its Farm Science Lab is staffed by regional educators trained in Next Generation Science Standards.

It promotes the lab as "equipped with the latest teaching technologies and STEM-based lessons to increase agricultural awareness."

According to the MFB, "Michigan's food and farm sector produces more than 300 commodities and generates more than $100 billion in economic activity annually. Not only is agriculture important to students personally, it is vital to our state and national economy."

MFB claims that the FARM Science Lab - which was conceived and partly funded by county Farm Bureau members and facilitated by the Michigan Foundation for Agriculture - has visited more than 400 Michigan schools since the fall of 2017.

Agricultural commodity organizations and corporate sponsors also help to fund the lab.

More information is available at farmsciencelab.org.