By Kate Hill

Staff Writer

On Dec. 17, third graders at Burton Street Elementary School participated in the second Ag in the Classroom (AITC) lesson of the school year.

Presented by Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Madison County, the AITC program is designed to foster awareness, understanding, and appreciation of agriculture and food systems.

Through hands-on, STEM-based activities, students learn about life sciences, the opportunities available in the agriculture industry, where their food comes from and how it is grown.

During the December session, Karin D. Bump, PhD, PAS — executive director of CCE of Madison County — led an exploration into the cranberry.

“Sometimes, because we don’t make our own food — we don’t grow it and we don’t harvest it — we don’t realize all that it takes to get something like a cranberry,” Bump said.

Students were introduced to the berry with a short video explaining how it grows, how it’s harvested, how it’s used, and why it floats.

Using the scientific method and their senses, the students then examined cranberries in three different forms — fresh cranberries, canned cranberry sauce and cranberry juice.

According to Bump, the AITC program began three years ago as a pilot project in five different schools, including Burton Street.

The program is now in every elementary school in the county.

“We do typically around five lessons a year — two in the fall and three in the spring,” Bump said. “. . . The Ag in the Classroom curriculum aligns with the K-6 standards, so the teachers know that the lessons have already gone through that review process.”

To learn more about Ag in the Classroom, contact Bump at [email protected] or 315-684-3001 ext 104.