I live in the midwest. Farming is huge here. We may not have beautiful beaches or majestic mountains, but the heartland provides it's own beauty. Every spring, I am thrilled to see the fields return to green and marvel at the growth rate of the corn that's just been planted. I'm a born and raised city girl, but most of my extended family lives the farm life. So I speak with a clear understanding when I say that life is not easy! But it is necessary. And we should thank a farmer 3 times a day for the bounty their work has created.
I have a fun, farm story my father used to tell. Dad was a professor of animal science at the Univ. of IL for over 4 decades. At some point in the 1960s, he helped to create the Farm-in-the-Zoo displays at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. In the dairy barn, the display showed how milk from the milking machines was pumped up through glass pipes on its journey to the collection tank. When a group of Chicago teachers and students ventured in, one teacher asked Dad, in all earnestness, when the color was added to the milk. You see, the glass pipes were being flushed with water at the time!
Having a fondness for the farm, I take pleasure in teaching my kiddos about it. If you, too, incorporate lessons about farming, you may be interested in some of the farm centers and units I have created. You can find them here.
Among those materials is the following center:
Get your Ducks in a Row!
The greatest gift you can give to someone is your time.
