Summary 2020 — Wyoming

State Contact

Ms Jessie Dafoe
Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom
P.O. Box 347
Cheyenne, WY 82003
P: 307.369.1749
E: jdafoe@wyaitc.org
Website

Innovative Programming Conducted and Educational Resources Developed

The majority of our programming moved to digital and virtual platforms during 2020 due to school closures and safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March and April, we revised the GIS Mapping portion of our 2019 Bookmark & Beyond program so that students of any age could complete it with their families at home. We received 10 entries from students aged 2-17. During this time, our staff also wrote, piloted, and created the Family Learning Series. The activities provide fun and educational activities for parents with elementary students. The activities encourage students to discover the world around them, using readily available supplies. Summer workshops for educators were re-written and moved to the Canvas Platform. These workshops provided continuing education credits through the University of Wyoming. For the 2020 school year, our staff revised the delivery method for our Bookmark & Beyond program to ensure it is accessible to students wherever they are receiving education. Virtual teaching resources to supplement the Wyoming Stewardship Project are in development, with slideshows for approximately two-thirds of the lesson available on our website.

We developed the following resources:

Family Learning Series Lessons:
We specifically created this series of educational activities for families with children of all ages! You can easily do these activities at home, using basic supplies. New activities will be added periodically, so keep checking back for more fun activities.

1. Let's Map It! https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/lets-map-it
2. Amazing Animals https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/amazing-animals
3. We Are Family https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/we-are-family
4. Tell Your Story https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/tell-your-story
5. Do You Want to Catch a Snowflake? https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/do-you-want-to-catch-a-snowflake
6. Let it Grow https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/let-it-grow
7. Wyoming Road Trip https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/wyoming-road-trip
8. Plants that Survive https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/plants-that-survive
9. Fun with Crystals https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/fun-with-crystals
10. Wind, What Wind? https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/wind-what-wind

Virtual Field Trips to supplement the Wyoming Stewardship Project:
Join us to discover Wyoming's amazing natural resources! Along the way, you will learn how the citizens of our state practice good stewardship and work hand-in-glove with different industries to take care of these resources.

1. Devils Tower https://wyaitc.org/curriculum/virtual-field-trips/virtual-field-trip-devils-tower
2. Trona Mining https://wyaitc.org/curriculum/virtual-field-trips/virtual-field-trip-trona-mining

1. 2nd Grade Agriculture slideshows https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/teaching-resources-2nd-grade-agriculture
2. 2nd Grade Outdoor Recreation & Tourism slideshows https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/teaching-resources-2nd-grade-outdoor-recreation-tourism
3. 3rd Grade Agriculture slideshows https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/teaching-resources-3rd-grade-agriculture
4. 3rd Grade Outdoor Recreation & Tourism slideshows https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/teaching-resources-3rd-grade-outdoor-recreation-tourism
5. 4th Grade Agriculture slideshows https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/teaching-resources-4th-grade-agriculture
6. 4th Grade Outdoor Recreation & Tourism slideshows https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/teaching-resources-4th-grade-outdoor-recreation-tourism
7. 5th Grade Agriculture slideshows https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/teaching-resources-5th-grade-agriculture
8. 5th Grade Outdoor Recreation & Tourism slideshows https://wyaitc.org/archives/lesson/teaching-resources-5th-grade-outdoor-recreation-tourism

Major Program Impacts or Outcomes

Students learned about agriculture in Wyoming. They were able to understand and explain the difference between crops and livestock, farmers and ranchers. For the first time, many students understood that farming and ranching creates jobs in our state and is essential for our economy and food security. When interviewed, students gave the following answers:

• Tell me one thing you know now that you didn't know before you started this unit.
• It's really important to switch animals out of pastures to take care of the animals.
• Drought and flooding are bad because it kills animals because of no food, and you can't do anything about it.
• Sheep can eat stuff that cows and horses can't. Like larkspur - cows can't eat it, but sheep can.
• Almost all counties have cattle, sheep, and hay.
• Cows, sheep, goats, and chicken's job is to eat and gain weight so we can have meat.
• How is Agriculture important to Wyoming?
• Because without agriculture, we'd all starve.
• We have a lot of animals, and it makes money for us.
• We get our food from farms and ranches: meat from livestock, eggs from chickens, fruits and veggies from crops.

Program Leader Biosketch

Jessie Dafoe joined Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom (WAIC) as their Executive Director in 2011. Prior to working for WAIC, Dafoe interned for Representative Cynthia Lummis and worked for the Wyoming Resource Alliance. Dafoe is a Wyoming native and still active on the family ranch northeast of Cheyenne. Jessie graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2010 and is a member of the 2013 Leadership Wyoming class.