mAGic Kits & Agri-Learning kits
Rock Island Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) is sponsored by the Rock Island County Farm Bureau Foundation and other local business. In addition to offering these resource materials free for loan, Rock Island AITC also provides teacher workshops, and classroom presentations.
Click here to request kits on-line from Rock Island AITC.
Agri-Science & mAGic Kits
Hands-on, applied agricultural laboratory exercises. Kits include all of the necessary materials to perform several activities. A teacher’s guide, student worksheets and handouts, books and instructional video are included.
Adventures Around the Farm Pre-K-3rd
Activity & 4-H National Science Day Kits
Each of these kits contains the instructions and supplies needed to conduct a popular hands-on, minds-on Ag in the Classroom activity. Kit provides items such as beads and cord for the Nutrition or Water Cycle Bracelets or soybean seed, bags, and watering crystals for Beanie Babies.
4-H20 3rd-HS
ABC’s Illinois Agriculture K-2nd
Click here to request kits on-line from Rock Island AITC.
- Note: Kits are a wonderful way to bring agriculture into your classroom. Rock Island AITC requests the following guidelines when using the kits.
- Teachers are responsible for pick up and return of kits to the Rock Island County Farm Bureau in Moline. Office hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. PLEASE notify the Farm Bureau Office when you plan to return the kits. We can make accommodations to stay open late if we know you are coming.
- Please return the kit on the date indicated. Most kits are not duplicated and other educators may be waiting to use them.
- The kits can be checked out for a two week period of time. If additional time is needed, the kit can be checked out again if available.
- If you have requested a kit, but decide not to use it please advise Rock Island AITC as early as possible. Some supplies are purchased on a need basis only, this will help save money.
- Some kits are very popular and are frequently reserved months in advance. Generally educators plan out their year and gauge which kits they would like for a particular unit.
- Supplies needed for activities will be provided, except perishable items, such as milk, ice, etc.
Agri-Science & mAGic Kits
Hands-on, applied agricultural laboratory exercises. Kits include all of the necessary materials to perform several activities. A teacher’s guide, student worksheets and handouts, books and instructional video are included.
Adventures Around the Farm Pre-K-3rd
- Helps students understand what a farm is, what farmers do, and what comes from farms. Students will learn that farm grown products are transported, processed, marketed and distributed which involves many agricultural careers. Through these activities students will discover that they depend on agriculture every day.
- Hands-on exercises let students explore the processes of using milk, acid, enzymes, and bacteria to make cottage cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Students will find out how much milk one cow produces in its lifetime. They’ll also dive into history and learn about issues of supply and demand in the dairy industry.
- How do apples grow? Where do all those varieties of apples come from? Learn the answers to these questions and so much more! Take an inside look at apples and their history, lots of hands-on activities and games, thing to make and things to eat, videos, posters, and books.
- The curriculum in the Illinois Magic kit is multidisciplinary, all inclusive, and is designed to help students learn about Illinois. This kit gives students the opportunity to learn more about the Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern parts of the state. Students will learn more about how prairie grass and glaciers affected the state soil. They will also learn about different businesses that were started in Illinois.
- Students will learn about the history of farm machinery and the impact of modern farming techniques on families and communities. They’ll also lean how inventors John Deere and Cyrus McCormick helped shape modern agriculture. Hands-on exercise let students identify machinery parts and estimate farm machinery costs.
- Gain a better understanding of what pigs are, what farmers do to take care of pigs and how people benefit from pigs. Pigs provide us with a variety of meat and non-food by-products.
- Take a look at a slice of agriculture...a pizza slice. Learn how all ingredients on your pizza begin on farms, are processed, distributed and made into a delicious meal. Explore Planet Pizza via video and visit a real “pizza farm.” Take part in a slice of the action through the Pizza Party fractions game. Through hands-on activities, books, posters, and curriculum, ponder the wonders of pizza.
- Crack the mystery of eggs and see a miracle in 21 days! Students will uncover interesting facts about U.S. poultry production through exercises and hands-on experiments. They’ll learn about the anatomy and nutritional value of an egg. They’ll also learn about the history of egg production and find out how poultry dishes are prepared around the world.
- Discover the wonders of pumpkins. Watch tiny seeds grow into several varieties of pumpkins in a time-lapse video and learn how to prepare the soil for next years’ crop. The Pumpkin Patch contains posters, books, hands-on activities, recipes, and great pumpkin facts.
- This interactive kit contains many lessons on how agriculture revolves around the seasons and how farmers do different types of work during each season. Spring, summer, winter and fall are all included in the many hands-on as well as core curriculum activities.
- The activities in this kit were designed to teach students to observe, measure and describe how renewable resources such as soybeans can be used to make industrial products. The lessons are focused on 2 important components of soybeans– oil and polymers. Students will make adhesives from soybean protein and candles, crayons, ink, and hand cream from soybean oil.
- Learn how wheat is grown, milled and then made into food worldwide using the science, math, reading and social studies lessons included in this curriculum. Along with the core subject, you will also fin lessons to expand curriculum with arts and crafts projects, songs, poetry, and books.
Activity & 4-H National Science Day Kits
Each of these kits contains the instructions and supplies needed to conduct a popular hands-on, minds-on Ag in the Classroom activity. Kit provides items such as beads and cord for the Nutrition or Water Cycle Bracelets or soybean seed, bags, and watering crystals for Beanie Babies.
4-H20 3rd-HS
- Why is water quality important and why is it important to understand it now? In this experiment, youth will participate in a live demonstration of how carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere.
- There are many areas for employment opportunities in agriculture. These areas are production; social service professionals; education and communication; managers and financial specialists; scientists, engineers and related specialists; and marketing, merchandising, and representatives. All of these jobs are important to the economy of our state, country, and world. There are over 250 career areas available and 22 million people working in agriculture, and this is just in the United States. In Illinois, one out of every five to six people are employed in an agricultural career.
- Most people would never connect agriculture to one of America’s favorite activities—baseball! But, the game of baseball could not exist without agriculture. The Baseball Charm will remind you of how many different ways agriculture is present when you attend a baseball game.
- Soybeans are sometimes called the “magic bean” because they can be used to make many things. Soy products are found in hundreds of items we buy at the grocery store. Students will make their own “beanie baby” necklace so that they are able to watch their soybeans germinate and grow.
- Renewable energy sources like biofuels are constantly making headlines in the news today. This experiment explores the production of the biofuel ethanol. It is typically made in the US by converting the starches from corn kernels into the sugars in corn syrup, and then adding yeast to break down the sugars, which releases carbon dioxide and ethanol as byproducts. The ethanol is blended with gasoline and then sold at some gas stations. There you might see a sign at the pump that says “E10,” which means 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline.
- The cycles of agriculture are powered by abundant natural resources—soil, water, and energy from the sun. People are a resource, too. Because people have learned to use their resources wisely, America’s farmers and ranchers produce16 percent of the world’s food on just 7 percent of the world’s land.
- Is it a solid? Is it a liquid? Let your students make corn starch putty and determine for themselves.
- Drone Discovery is a hands-on engineering design challenge that explores the science behind drones and how they are being used to solve real world problems. Youth will learn everything from flight dynamics and aircraft types, to safety and regulations, to remote sensing and flight control.
- Youth enhance their engineering skills by learning to think like a robotics engineer, assembling their own robots, also known as Eco-bots, and control surfaces in order to manage an environmental clean-up. Youth then test the interaction between the Eco-Bot’s environmental engineering design features and various control surface configurations to determine the most effective environmental clean-up solution for a simulated toxic spill.
- Water is everywhere - in the sky, in the ground, and in our homes. However, caring for this vital resource is often a challenge for each of us. Conservation means using water wisely. Youth explore a new superabsorbent polymer - called hydrogels - that can help with water conservation...right in our own backyards.
- This lesson has been adapted from the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The students will create their own touch and feel copy of a revised version where an Illinois caterpillar eats his way through the farm and becomes very fat, only to metamorphoses into a beautiful butterfly.
- Students learn many skills by making home-made ice cream in a plastic bag and then sharing the treat. A video takes you on a trip to the farm where you learn more about agriculture.
- Agriculture is an essential part of the history of Illinois. Throughout the years, many innovations have made farming easier and much more productive. Many of these discoveries and innovations were made right here in Illinois. Another important aspect of Illinois history is the selection of the symbols. Many of our state symbols were suggested by school children and represent the richness and vitality of Illinois.
- Students will get to experience making a pumpkin pie in a bag. Students put pumpkin pie filling, pumpkin spices and pudding in a bag and place it on graham-cracker crust. This is a fun way for students to make pumpkin pie. All the necessary supplies are in the kit except for the milk that is used to make the pudding.
- Students get to make their own plant person. The grass that students plant and watch grows into Sam’s hair. This fun activities helps students learn about plants. All necessary materials are in the tub.
- Students can make their own soy candles and crayons using soy flakes. This is a fun activity for students. Teacher assistance is need for the melting of the soy flakes and pouring them into molds.
- Students can make their own soy lip balm and hand cream using soybean oil and beeswax. This is a fun activity for students. Teacher assistance may be needed for melting beeswax and pouring mixtures.
- Students will learn the process from tassel until table. They will also create a tassel to table chain.
- Use this hands-on approach to show students of all ages how the water cycle works. Using a ziploc bag, permanent markers water and aquarium rocks, your students can “make” the water cycle! A song with motions for the younger students, and very detailed diagrams for the older ones, make this a sure hit with all ages. Without water, we would not have agriculture!
- Learn about the water cycle while making a bracelet to remind them of the process every day.
- Explore how to engineer renewable energy technologies, and the positive impact that they can have in communities across the country and the world. Developed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension program, this experiment engages young people in design, build out and testing of two different wind turbine models.
ABC’s Illinois Agriculture K-2nd
- Awesome coloring/activity book. Comes in package of 25 and must be ordered. Please indicate the quantity needed.