Grayson County 4-H and Agriculture Agents have worked sideby side to present agriculture related lessons and activities to seventy 3^rdgrade students at H.W. Wilkey Elementary School. This initiative was taken to help connect students at a young age to local agricultural practices and to gain an understanding of where their food comes from. Students recognize different types of foods, but don’t always know where it comes from, how it grows, or how it is processed for different uses. Throughout the school year, the agents met with the students once each month covering agriculture lessons,starting with “Earth as an Apple” and “My Kentucky Home Provides What I Need”, an ag literacy lesson to teaching the students that Kentucky has an abundance of natural resources, moderate climate, and varying topography, which affects the availability of agricultural products across the state. The agents explained the different regions of the state and how each region can produce something different simply because of the soil and terrain; they also focused on Grayson County and the variety of agriculture products that come from their home area.

 Students got to create Living Seed Necklaces, using soybeans to learn how plants grow, needing sunlight, nutrients, soil, water, and CO2.They took those home to watch as their plants grew, some at the end of the school year said they potted their plant and it was still growing. Students learned from an Enviroscape demonstration how each area of their community can affect water sources and how to have good practices to keep the water and community clean; a composting lesson with activity was also presented to the students.  The “Kentucky Farms Feed Me” lesson reiterated how food grows and where it comes from locally; agents discussed the different growing seasons and how farmers utilize greenhouses. The last lesson was Edible Soil, teaching the students about the composition of the soil and the importance of each layer. Students filled their cups one layer at a time beginning with parent material (candy coated chocolate), then subsoil(whipped topping), organisms (sprinkles), topsoil (crushed chocolate cookies),and topped with residue (coconut flakes) and an earthworm (gummy worm). 

 By the end of the school year, the third grade students could identify the things plants need to grow (sunlight, nutrients, soil, and water), they could state different ways to keep their communities clean and reduce pollution, and they could identify three of the things that make up soil(residue, top-soil, and subsoil). The students were also introduced to and tried a new food, Mexican Corn Salsa, allowing them to experience a different way to prepare a vegetable. The agents will be returning to Wilkey to the next school years third graders and hope to expand the agriculture lessons into other elementary third grades in the county.