Congratulations to PWL members Chris Clear, Dee Arnold and Ron Diderich for their wildly successful showing at the latest Ag in the Classroom event in Livingston!
Ag in the Classroom’s mission is to “bring the world of agriculture to young minds.” Offered by the Texas Farm Bureau, this program addresses a broad variety of topics ranging from food sources and production to sustainability, conservation and caring for the land.
On October 24th, Livingston ISD held an all-day Ag in the Classroom event at the Polk County Youth Rodeo Association. The Piney Wood Lakes chapter participated in the event, teaching students about the “timeline of trash”, the impact of trash on the environment, and the importance of proper trash handling.
The PWL team provided an intro about the overall challenge with trash and the decomposition timeline of various materials, followed by an interactive exercise where students could analyze common trash items and guess how long they would exist if discarded. The PWL team turned this learning exercise into a fun and entertaining game, with comical anecdotes along the way.
The presentation, attended by groups of 15-25 students throughout the day, reached a total of 660 4th graders and 40 high school students. As reported by team leader Chris Clear, these kids were “amazed to learn how long simple objects stay in the sediment record, and seemed to get the big idea: TRASH HANGS AROUND A LONG TIME.”
P.S. Did you know… An aluminum can lasts in the environment for 200 years. A plastic water bottle lasts for a whopping 400 years; if George Washington would have dropped one overboard while crossing the Delaware that fateful night in 1776, it would still be there!