Released August 19, 2010
LINCOLN, Neb. — At 9 feet, stalks of corn tower high along Nebraska highways and byways, more so than any other row crop. Yet many Nebraskans have little knowledge about the state's No. 1 crop or its end uses -- the same goes for No. 2 ranking soybeans.
Brandy VanDeWalle, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator based in Geneva, is striving to change that. The Crop Science Investigation workshop series she teaches to fourth- through 12th-graders helps them explore such career possibilities as farming, insurance, banking, research and soil or water conservation, as well as the principles of crop science.
"We learn basic science first, then apply it," she said of the monthly workshop offered March through September. CSI curricula includes materials originating from Iowa State University, which VanDeWalle is adapting for her Nebraska audiences.
--continued on University of Nebraska Extension news
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