AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — Two Alabama 4-H professionals brought a fresh perspective to the 2024 national Ag in the Classroom (AITC) conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Youth Development Coordinator Austin Blankenship and Urban Regional Extension Agent Tyler Thompson presented a new lesson plan designed to engage students with the agriculture industry and the origins of their food. The pair teamed up to create this innovative lesson plan aimed at highlighting cutting-edge technology and sparking curiosity about the future of agriculture.

“We were determined to create an engaging and innovative experience that would resonate with both students and educators, demonstrating that agriculture is not only about tradition but also at the forefront of technological advancement,” Blankenship said.

Developing and Presenting

Blankenship has a background in agricultural practices, and Thompson has experience in teaching science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts. This made them the perfect team to create an immersive curriculum that joins together coding, robotics and real-world agricultural principles.

“Introducing students to the technology behind modern farming not only inspires future careers but also fills the gap in the youth’s understanding of the origins of their food,” Blankenship said.

Blankenship and Thompson were encouraged by 4-H staff at Auburn University and Alabama A&M University to explore technology in agricultural education. They found inspiration in Alabama A&M’s Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Agriculture and Math (STREAM) program. The program aligns lessons with teacher’s required content but uses an agricultural topic to meet the standards.

The team started by reviewing existing 4-H program objectives and evaluating available resources to teachers. After developing several versions of a lesson plan, they tested it with senior-high 4-H students. Based on their feedback, they refined the lesson to fit into a 45-minute time frame. After finalizing and submitting their lesson plan, it was selected to be featured at this year’s conference.

“I was not surprised,” Thompson said. “I do programs with robotics all the time and this one is high quality and easy to implement.”

To maintain the lesson’s interactive nature, Blankenship and Thompson presented it to attendees as though they were the students themselves. This workshop-like approach received an enthusiastic response. At the end of this presentation, several attendees purchased Edison robots to incorporate into their own programs.

Ag in the Classroom

AITC is an interdisciplinary educational initiative that looks to increase agricultural literacy among kindergarten through 12th-grade students. It promotes understanding and communication about the value of agriculture by embedding agricultural content into core curriculum subjects like science, social studies, language arts and nutrition.

“Our lesson plan aligns with AITC’s mission by incorporating these agricultural concepts into our 4-H programming,” Blankenship said. “This helps students engage with and appreciate the significance of agriculture in their daily lives.”

This year’s national AITC conference hosted more than 500 educators and stakeholders to share educational strategies and successful lesson plans. As conference presenters, Blankenship and Thompson contributed to the broader conversation on agriculture education. They also showcased their integration of STEM concepts into ag education and highlighted their commitment to advancing agricultural literacy.

“Being amongst passionate educators and stakeholders, I felt an incredible sense of excitement and pride,” Blankenship said. “The opportunity to showcase how we’ve integrated STEM concepts into agricultural education was both fulfilling and inspiring.”

More Information

Visit agclassroom.org to access the free database of standards-based lesson plans that use agriculture as a context for kindergarten through 12th-grade curriculums. Learn more about Alabama 4-H at www.aces.edu.