Farm Camp Minnesota’s goal is to connect students to an on-farm or agribusiness experience with the overarching mission of increasing agricultural literacy in students grades 5-12. We are here to help create a three part immersive agriculture experience customized for your classroom. The three parts include in-class learning, hands-on farm or agribusiness tour and career exploration while connecting your existing classroom curriculum.
Virtual Farm Camp to A Sugar Beet Farm
There are instances in the classroom where time constraints do not allow for students and educators to ‘take a day’ and visit a farm in person. This can often be the case when students and educators are only together an hour a day for a class period. For scenarios such as these, virtual Farm Camp experiences help fill the gap. Students are able to experience agriculture in the classroom while educators stay within their time constraints.
Students from a Family and Consumer Science class at the Minnewaska High School in Glenwood, Minnesota got the opportunity to learn more about sugar beets during their Farm Camp experience. First students completed a customized, standards-based curriculum to set the stage of what they would see and learn about during the virtual Farm Camp.
Unique Hands-On Experience
As a part of this Farm Camp experience, educator Tiffany Kobbermann connected with the Clontarf Dump and Transfer Site. The site provided Ms. Kobbermann’s classroom with sugar beets for students from a Swift County grower to utilize as part of their hands-on portion of the Farm Camp experience. Students processed the sugar beets to extract sugar out of them. They then made cake with the sugar as a part of their Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom lesson!
Career Exploration with Industry Expert
Steve Domm, retired CEO of Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative (SMBSC), visited with the Family and Consumer Science class about career opportunities in sugar beets. He shared the journey of his career in agriculture that has taken him from a North Dakota sugar beet farm to a leadership position at the SMBSC. During their video chat with Mr. Domm students also had the opportunity to ask questions about sugar beets and the industry.