STEM Students Learn Ag Science
April 16, 2012
Please note: This article was originally published on 4/16/2012. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year.
Experience helps students in making essential connections. Recently, 73 high achieving science, math and engineering students from Clarksville-Montgomery County’s STEM Academy made that connection on a local farm.
For the first time in Tennessee, the University of Tennessee Agricultural ExtensionAgency and a school system partnered on a project which exposed students to how integral science, technology, engineering and math are to the workings of today’s farm.
The event was a preview to a three-day summer program offered to students. The students were joined by 22 biology teachers from across the system, who are integrating STEM into their courses. The preview, called “Conception to Consumption,” involved many hands-on activities, including students and teachers taking hair follicle samples from cattle and performing DNA testing. Dr. Justin Rinehart discussed breeding issues as well as artificial insemination. It also focused on food-production and was an opportunity for students interested in STEM-related careers to see the application of STEM in the field of agriculture.