Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Conservation Station brings message to classes

Back to Leopold Letter Summer 2010

By MARY SWALLA HOLMES, Iowa Learning Farm Conservation Liaison

The Leopold Center is proud to be one of the partners that support the Iowa Learning Farm (ILF) as it reaches new audiences this year. ILF is building a culture of conservation within the next generation by providing free resources to teachers. The six-part video series and the new Conservation Station offer teachers the opportunity to bring a field trip right to their school.

“The ILF videos and the Conservation Station activities brought it all together. The students were able to see the connections between all the issues we’ve been studying,” explained Ames educator De Anna Tibben. She used the ILF videos throughout the year with her ninth-grade Earth and Space Science students, focusing on working landscapes. The students looked at the economic, environmental and recreational aspects of land use in Iowa. “The fact that these water issues are right here, right in our own homes and areas, made the learning truly meaningful for the students. They have a vested interest in water conservation since it is their water that is shown!”

The Conservation Station, funded in part by the Leopold Center’s Ecology Initiative, has a rainfall simulator that helps students understand the importance of residue management, ground covers and tillage practices.

“The rainwater runoff demonstration put abstract ideas into concrete experiences for the students. By having both the surface runoff and the groundwater infiltration water jars visible for the students, the activity was very useful,” said Tibben. “The students could make first-hand observations of how much water did runoff versus infiltrate. We had talked about runoff before, but the students didn’t connect an understanding of what that truly meant.”

As more and more teachers adapt the ILF videos and curriculum to their classrooms and schedule a session with the Conservation Station, a new generation of Iowans will begin to better understand their important role in conserving Iowa’s resources. Already, the Conservation Station is scheduled to appear at more than 50 events in 2010 and is being scheduled into 2011.

To request the free DVD of the conservation video series, send an e-mail to: ilf@iastate.edu. To schedule the Conservation Station for your event, call 515-294-5429. Visit the Iowa Learning Farm Web site at www.extension.iastate.edu/ilf for more information and resources.

Back to Leopold Letter Summer 2010