AgLab turns students into scientists
“When you come up these steps, you turn into a scientist,” Ruth Smith said as a class of excited third graders packed into the mobile learning lab.
The Mobile Ag Ed Science Lab, or AgLab, which is supported by the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, is partway through a weeklong visit at West Manheim Elementary School. The AgLab uses hands-on, interactive methods to teach students how agriculture affects their lives.
“They at times don’t realize it’s science because it’s fun,” Smith said.
The lesson the students learned on Tuesday morning was simple: the best way to wash your hands is with soap and water. However, Smith employed the scientific method and visual experiments to come to that conclusion.
To find out the most efficient means to clean their hands — a rinse with water, hand wipes, hand sanitizer or a rinse with soap and water — UV-disclosing lotion was applied to the third graders’ hands. The lights were turned off, and the students giggled and gasped at the white markings on their palms under a black light.
Smith had groups of the students perform each of the four different tasks. To time them, she had the children sing the length of the “Happy Birthday” song, followed by the students’ self-imposed “cha cha cha” at the end of each line.
One by one, the students looked at their hands under the black light again to see the difference.
“Usually school is kind of boring,” said Brady Hall, a student in Wendy Currey’s third grade class. Brady said the AgLab experience was fun, and he enjoyed rinsing his hands with soap and water. He also complimented Smith’s directions.
“They look forward to it,” Smith said. “They’ll go home and share things.”
The program is designed to educate students and help them understand the importance of agriculture in their lives. The lessons are different for each grade. Earlier in the morning, Smith taught kindergartners what a farm looks like through putting glitter, coffee grinds and animal charms in a little baggie they can take home. Later in the day, Smith was set to instruct fifth graders about the fungi kingdom.
“They will remember what they have done from last year,” Smith said. “It does leave an impact with kids.”
Brian Cromer, the principal of West Manheim Elementary School, said he looks at AgLab as a school tradition.
“In this setting, it’s really neat,” Cromer said.
Cromer said the AgLab helps enhance what the students learn in the classroom. It serves as an extension of the curriculum because AgLab allows the students to apply what they learn from reading non-fiction books.
“That modality is crucial in learning,” he said.