Wyatt Lucas

Lindsey Williams
Taylor Sabens

EDCI. 270: Case 2

College Mentors for Kids STEM Activity

Lesson Overview

This lesson is meant to teach young students

about four different livestock species. We
have decided to call this Ag. Literacy Day.
Students in the STEM program will gather in
a classroom and meet up with their college
mentors. After they are all gathered we will
leave to go out to the agricultural facilities on
campus, where they will learn about livestock
species consisting of swine, beef cattle, goats,
and equine. We will then take a short walk
over to the classroom building located on the
agricultural grounds, where the students will
complete an assessment activity.

Learners

We will be working with elementary students.

They will be in the 3rd and 4th grades. There
are about 20 students in the class. Each
student also has their own buddy (college
mentor) that will be involved in the Ag.
Literacy Day as well. These students are
considered at-risk children and the College
Mentors for Kids (CMFK) organization pairs
a mentor with each student. The program is
meant to motivate these students and help
them achieve their potential, while keeping
them out of trouble.

Learning Environment

The classroom that we will be using has

several large round tables present in it. It has
whiteboards (dry erase) available for use and
wireless Internet is present. It is a short walk
through campus (2 minutes) to get to the
agricultural facilities. Upon arrival there will
be four pens set up, each with their respective
species in it. A few students that work there
will be present to assist with the program.

Objectives

1. Given a livestock species (pig, beef cattle, or

dairy cattle), students will be able write down
five products that livestock can give to us, and
share them with the class.

Materials

Whiteboards
Livestock (Provided by campuses agricultural
facilities)
Livestock information guides for each species
(around 50 copies of each)
Various athletic balls
Cartons of milk and juice (around 50)
Ham sandwiches (around 50)

Procedures

1. The students and their college mentor will

gather in the classroom where we will go over
what we will be doing that day. (3 minutes)
2. We will walk through campus to the ag.
facilities. (3 minutes)
3. The students will arrive at the first pen of
animals. Upon arrival all of the students and
their buddies will be given a ham sandwich to
snack on and a swine information guide. The
students will then be given time to interact
with the pigs. While they are doing that, the
teacher will point out on the animal where
ham, and other meat cuts the children may be
familiar with, come from on the the pig. She
will then discuss about how swine production
affects their daily lives. This information will
include the following:
a. Swine supply the highest demand of meat
known as bacon.
b. Swine supply organs to humans in need such
as a heart.
c. The insulin diabetics use comes from swine.
d. Paint brushes are created using swine hair.
e. Dice used in card games are made using swine
bones. (8 minutes)
4. The students will come to pen two. Upon
arrival here, the students and their buddies
will be given a carton of milk (juice will be
available to those who are allergic) to drink
and a dairy cattle information guide. The
teacher will then give the students a short
brief lesson on dairy production in the U.S.

This information will include the following:

a. The milk from dairy cows is used to make
many everyday foods including cheese,
yogurt, ice cream, cottage cheese, and many
more.
b. A cow will normally produce 6 to 7 gallons of
milk a day.
c. Dairy cattle actually produce 90% of all dairy
in the United States.
After concluding that, the students will
be allowed to watch one of the college
students who works with dairy, milk a
dairy cow. (8 minutes)
5. The next station students come to will be the
beef cattle. The teacher in charge of this
section will talk about what comes from beef
cattle and how it impacts their lives. These
are some of the things that will be hit on.
a. There are many things we get from beef cattle
such as meat and by products.
b. The meat we get from beef cattle includes
hamburger, steak, and roast.
c. Besides meat there are a number of byproducts that come from cattle such as
marshmallows, footballs, basketballs,
baseballs, shoes, glue, and even insulin.
After wrapping up the short lesson, a
small beef calf will be present for the
students to pet. In addition to that,
basketballs, volleyballs, and
soccerballs (these can all be made
from cowhide) will be passed out for
the students to throw around and play
with each other until time is up. (8
minutes)
6. The group will then go back to the classroom
located within the agricultural facilities. (2
minutes)
7. Upon arrival back to the classroom, the
students along with their buddy will
complete an assessment activity. (Rest of
class, around 13 minutes)
Assessment

For their assessment the students and their

college mentor will be given a dry erase board
to share. They will then be asked to write

down a five things they learned about

livestock that pertains to their everyday life.
They may discuss with their mentor if they
need help. For example, a student could write
that a pig produces ham, bacon, and sausage
that they eat for their meals. We will then go
around the room and each student will share a
fact they wrote down.
These are pulled from the Animal
Science Content and English Content
Standards for the Indiana
Department of Education.

Standards

References

A. Animal Science Standards

AS-2.1: Compare and contrast desirable
anatomical and physiological characteristics
of animals within and between species
AS-8.1: Identify products or services that
animals provide humans
B. English Standards
4.SL.2.1: Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) on grade appropriate
topics and texts, building on others ideas and
expressing personal ideas clearly.
1. http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/stand
ards/cte-agriculture/cf-ag-animalscience_7-814.pdf - This website provided us with the
state standards for animal science.
2. http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/stand
ards/enla/correlation-4th-grade-ela-52714.pdf
- This website provided us with the state
standards for English.

Swine Information Guide

Swine Digestion is exactly the same as ours! Swine and humans are both monogastrics, meaning
that we are both simple stomached animals. Swine organs can be used in organ transplants for
humans.

Did you know that swine have sweat glands, but they DO NOT sweat?
The gestation length in swine is 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days.
Swine are extremely sociable animals!
Heres the dirt on swine, they are the smartest, cleanest, domestic animals known.
Briefly describe the ear notching system

Swine terms
Gilt- Female pig that has NOT had babies
Sow- A mature female pig that has has babies
Boar- An intact male
Barrow- A castrated male pig

Bacon and ham are the top selling meat products among the United States. The Bacon sales are
always on the rise, Ham is sold very often on holidays, such as Easter and Christmas.

Beef Cattle Information Guide

Cows arent like humans, they have four stomachs called the rumen, omasum, abomasum, and
reticulum. Animals with four stomachs are called ruminants.
The gestation period of beef cattle is 289 days, which is around 9 months like a human
Terms: Bull A male capable of reproduction.
Cow Mature female that has produced a calf.
Calf Young male or female less than one year of age.
Steer Male that has been castrated before maturity, especially raised for beef.
Heifer Young female over one year old that has not had a calf.
The U.S. supplies 25% of the worlds beef, but only has 10% of the worlds cattle.
Cattle are herbivores so they only have teeth on the bottom
There are over 94 million head of beef cattle being produced by 1 million beef producers in the
U.S. Of these operations, 97 percent are family-owned.
Beef by-products
Bone, Horn, Hooves, and Gelatin: combs, gelatin candy (Gummy Bears), photographic film,
steel ball bearings, fine bone china, pet food, and vitamin capsules/gel coatings.
Hide and Hair: insulation, paintbrushes, glue for bookmaking and band-aides, clothes, shoes,
luggage, saddles, furniture, automobiles, volleyballs, basketballs, and baseball gloves.
Fats and Fatty Acids: shampoo, shaving creams, deodorants, candles, crayons, floor wax,
detergents, hydraulic brake fluid, plastics, insecticides, paints, perfumes, and synthetic rubber.
Cows can drink up to 30 gallons of water per day
Did You Know?

The hide from one beef animal can be made into:

20 footballs
12 basketballs
18 soccerballs
12 baseball gloves
18 volleyballs
144 baseballs

Dairy Cattle Information Guide

 Most dairy cows are milked two to three times per day. On average, a cow will produce six to
seven gallons of milk each day.
A cow that is milking eats about 100 pounds each day of feed, which is a combination of hay,
grain, silage and proteins.
There are six main breeds of dairy cows: Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Holstein, Jersey and
Milking Shorthorn.
Dairy cattle are red-green colorblind.
A holsteins spots are like a fingerprint. No two cows have exactly the same pattern of black and
white spots. They are all completely different.
Before milking machines, it took farmers one hour to milk six cows.
Dairy cattle produce 90 percent of all the milk supply within the United States.
The average temperature of a dairy cow is 101.5

Description of Lesson
Over spring break, I had the opportunity to sit in on agricultural classes at Delphi
Community High School. During my time there, I was able to be a part of what they call Ag.

Day. This was an event where different booths were set up and in these booths were people who
talked about different aspects of agriculture including soils, water conservation, soybeans, corn,
beef, swine, careers in ag, and many more. 4th graders from Carroll County were invited to
attend this all day event. That is where our idea of having an Ag. Literacy Day came from.
Many other ag programs do some sort of event like this as well, but I was able to experience
Delphis first hand. So we implemented that into our lesson plan. The information we used for
each animal was general knowledge we had learned throughout high school. These facts were
easily put into our lesson plan.

Here is a link to a video that shows our lesson briefly being taughthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2dCC32Opck&feature=youtu.be

Scholarly Articles

Daniel L. Dickerson, Angela Eckhoff, Craig O. Stewart, Shanan Chappell, Stephanie Hathcock.
(21 November 2014) The Examination of a Pullout STEM Program for Urban Upper
Elementary Students. Research in Science Education.
http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/article/10.1007/s11165-013-9387-5/fulltext.html
In The Examination of a Pullout STEM Program for Urban Upper Elementary Students article
we gathered some very useful information. The purpose of this article was to show what the
studies were when determine whether a pullout STEM program makes reading and math scores
decrease and examine its impact on urban fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students attitudes
towards STEM education and careers. Students also wanted an increase in career education
opportunities. The STEM program strives to help students develop into independently hard
working students, and to help them further their education in a school setting.
Stephanie J. Hathcock, Daniel L. Dickerson, Angela Eckhoff, Petros Katsioloudis. (16 November
2014) Scaffolding for Creative Product Possibilities in a Design-Based STEM Activity. Research
in Science Education.
http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/article/10.1007/s11165-014-9437-7/fulltext.html
According to the Scaffolding for Creative Product Possibilities in a Design-Based STEM
Activity, creativity can and should play an important role in learning with science experiences.
Teachers should assist students in transforming their creative ideas into creative products. The
STEM program pushes students to be able to recognize tasks, and give many ideas to think
through. Creativity is an essential element when a student is learning, it pushes the students to
succeed.