Interactive school tours benefit farms, students & community
Well-planned farm tours can be mutually beneficial for schoolchildren and the farms they visit. Students gain insight into where their food comes from, and the experience builds a foundational understanding of why farms matter to their communities.
Farms are also a great place to reinforce STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects, said Kate Preston, a farm-to-school education specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Harvest New York. Older students gain exposure to careers ranging from culinary arts to engineering.
Farms benefit from the additional revenue school tours can generate, and tours serve as a community service, educating the next generation of food buyers about the importance of local food systems.
Advance Planning
Planning for an interactive farm school tour happens long before the bus pulls up. Farms need a logistics plan for parking, handwashing, bathroom access and lunch time.
Lindsey Pashow, an agriculture and marketing specialist with CCE, suggested providing teachers with a proposed schedule as well as a list of activities to ensure they are age appropriate. Share a finalized plan with teachers in advance so they can pass along details, such as what students should wear or whether they need to bring lunch, to parents and guardians. The school generally handles permission slips, including photo permissions, which are essential when working with minors.
Preston encouraged farmers to think carefully about which parts of the farm to include on the tour. “Think through the spaces where you would like them to go but also places where you would not like them to go,” she said. Also think about what specific experiences you want the students to have. She suggested framing the tour around a farm lifecycle. On a dairy farm, for example, the farm tour might begin with calf-related activities, shift to heifers and then end in the milking parlor. On a flower farm, it could begin with a soil or seed activity, move to a greenhouse and then culminate in harvesting some flowers.
Pashow recommended running a pilot experience to refine timing and staffing involvement. Her other tips are to prepare for bad weather, have covered infrastructure, provide extra drinking water and supply wipes, paper towels and garbage cans. She also advised having backup weather plans, alternative dates and refund policies if an event must be canceled.
Time on the Farm
When students first arrive, give them some context about what they will experience. Preston said, “A lot of these students may have never experienced or been on a farm before. And as you know, there’s lots of sights, sounds, smells.”
Preston and Pashow recommend using stations to allow for smaller groups and more individualized attention and to factor rotation time into the schedule. Have materials prepped before students arrive at each station. If students are bringing something home, such as a craft or agricultural product, set up a system for labeling items so they make it back onto the bus.
Younger children benefit from shorter times at each station and from visual and sensory examples, especially ones they can touch. Preston described one livestock farm which had a station with forage samples students could touch and smell. At a maple syrup operation, students love the experience of tasting maple sap.
“Anything that students are able to use their senses with makes a really impactful experience and those students tend to get a little bit more engaged,” said Preston. Story reading stations are also popular with younger students.
“Soil Your Undies,” according to Preston, is a memorable activity and relevant to nearly all farms. Students plant 100% cotton underwear at different places on the farm to learn about decomposition and soil science.
The complete activity takes time but allows for follow-up with classrooms. Students can plant the underwear and within a month or so the farm can dig them up, send pictures back to the classroom and students can see how they’ve decomposed.
This demonstrates how a farm can continue to engage students long after they board the bus home. The follow-through can help develop long-term relationships and collaboration between schools and the farming community.
Financial Considerations
Pashow noted that some activities can be expensive and suggested that for high-cost activities, teachers can use class funds to purchase materials and bring them to the farm.
She emphasized that calculating costs carefully is important so the farm can cover expenses and generate revenue. Funding for school trips can come from class fundraising, family school association funds, school budgets or family fees. New York State, for example, offers grant funding through New York Agriculture in the Classroom to support class trips and relevant supplies.
The farm should also consider whether it’s feasible to make investments to improve the student experience. Pashow showed an example of a farm that began hosting students under pop-up tents and covered picnic tables. In anticipation of hosting more tours, the farm invested in an electrified Amish-made structure to be prepared for unpredictable weather and to provide a more comfortable space for the students.
Ag-related lesson plans and resources for K-12 can be found at agclassroom.org/matrix. Many can be adapted for on-farm use.
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin
