Why is ag research important?

Ever wonder what exactly the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center is? Or why agricultural research is important? Well, here's the scoop:

Earliest year on record for Secrest Crabapples

It's that time of year! Well, actually, it's early for that time of year. But the warm weather we've been experiencing in Ohio this spring is pushing the beautiful crabapple trees of Secrest Arboretum into an early bloom this year. Here's what OARDC's Secrest Arboretum curator Ken Cochran has to say:

Don't let the bed bugs bite!

The thought might send a shiver down your spine, but bed bugs are real—and a real problem. OARDC us a leader in bed bug research. Here's the scoop:




Want to find out more about bugs? Be on the look out! Soon we will be opening registration for our 10TH ANNUAL A BUG'S WORLD program. This is a fun, fabulous and free educational program that will take place April 11-12 this spring. Stay tuned!

AgBCs: Q is for Quack

Quack, quack! There are lots of cool resources available for learning about ducks! Now duck farming is not a HUGE business here in Ohio, but it IS in our neighboring state of Indiana. But not only do farmers raise ducks on farms, here at OARDC we do a lot of research about natural resources and the environment, and ducks are a key component of our natural environment—especially wetlands!

This photo of Brian Blight Canvasbacks is from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Did you know wetlands rank with tropical rain forests in the diversity and productivity of plants and animals that they support? Or that they are found in every part of the world except Antarctica? Mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish and invertebrates all use wetlands for food, water, breeding and nesting grounds, resting areas and shelters.

This photo of ducks in a wetland habitat is from the US Fish & Wildlife Service

Wetlands are the water filters of nature. Many wetland plants and animals remove harmful impurities from our water and keep it naturally clean. Some communities and businesses even use managed wetlands to purify their wastewater. And when spring runoff and heavy rains create too much water for the land to absorb, wetlands can sore that excess water and slow its flow, reducing both the risk and severity of flooding.

But despite all of these benefits (and many, many more), wetlands are also one of the world's most vulnerable and threatened ecosystems. Here at Ohio State University, we're even doing research on the differences and similarities between man-made and naturally occurring wetlands.

This photo of wood ducks in a wetland habitat is from the
US EPA & US Fish & Wildlife Service photographer Tim McCade

Considering how important wetlands are to not only animals like ducks but to our ecosystem as a whole, this may be a great area for you and the young people in your life to get involved in by participating in an action-based learning experience! These types of experience can be custom tailored and developed to your group's interests and age level:

• Younger students may enjoy writing a poem, story or play about animals in their wetland homes, creating a poster or storybook about the wildlife who rely on wetlands or even building a diorama of a local wetland.
• Middle elementary students can construct nest boxes, conduct a wetland cleanup, grow & plant native trees and shrubs stream side, write letters regarding a local wetland issue or share their wetland knowledge through science projects and displays.
• Older students can build wetland trails and boardwalks, work with others to restore a wetland, research and plan ways to address a local environmental concern, or even contribute to research through bird banding.

The possibilities are limitless! There's no need to rack your brain to come up with a new and novel idea—there are many great ideas already out there. Ducks Unlimited Canada has some great ideas plus FREE educational resources and lesson plans! Local conservation groups are another great source for information on local issues and ideas.

Kids of all age will love learning about an important issue like this while "getting their hands dirty" in the process—especially when they feel like they've made a difference in the real world!

By the way, did you know May is American Wetland month? Go celebrate!

Take a hike!

Summer is a great time to get out and about and enjoy nature with children...they see so many wonders we as adults often miss! So cast your cares to the wind and make time to enjoy the outdoors...and while you're at it, make it a fun time to learn, too!

Scavenger hunts outdoors are great fun. Plus, they enhance kids' abilities to correctly use and identify directional words like near, far, above, below, left, right, etc., as they participate in the excitement of the hunt. So not only will kids have fun hunting for nature objects (enhancing their knowledge of the natural world and developing science skills), but they also practice determining an object's location (spatial awareness and location are good math skills).

The following activity was adapted from Embark on a Math and Science Hunt. They have tons of cool year-round science ideas for each grade there, plus they have a neat 2010 Summer Activity Challenge where you can keep track of all the cool learning activities you do this summer.

First, determine your destination. Haven't been hiking in a while? No worries. Both national and state forest services have tons of resources online for both beginning and advanced hikers. Or, call your local parks and recreation department for suggestions. In fact, here's a list of suggestions for Ohio hiking destinations.

If you are in our neck of the woods (literally) in northeast Ohio, we invite you to come visit Secrest Arboretum. Our 90-acre research arboretum is home to numerous varieties and cultivars of trees and plants and has plenty of walking trails to keep you busy. We are open to the public free of charge seven days a week during daylight hours.

Once you've selected a destination, gather your supplies:

• Several pieces of card stock (8.5 x 11" is a good size)
• Pictures of flowers, lichen, trees, insects, flowers, etc. that are to be found on the hike. Printing off pictures from the internet is great. The possibilities are endless.
• Crayons
• Adventure pack
• Small plastic storage bags

Once your supplies are together, create your Adventure Pack. Do a little online research to learn about the flora and fauna in and around your destination. Find pictures of some fun and unusual things, like flowers with funny names (how about "sticky monkey flower"?) or unusual items like cool fungus or colorful bark.

Print the pictures, cut them out, and attach them to the card stock. Then label them along with the name, description and any unusual facts. You can even make these into clue cards if you want, putting the picture and name on one side of the card and the description and location clues on the reverse side.

If you have the chance, it's always a good idea to take your cards out for a kid-free test drive (granted, this may not work for you if you're going somewhere farther from home...but it's a good idea none the less). Look for each of the items you've identified and write down location clues to help the kids locate them.

Another strategy that would work well if you are able to take a prep hike without the kids is to take along a camera to photograph cool finds. You can write down location clues and look up cool facts about what you found once you return home. 

Finally, sell the adventure to your kids and take off on an exciting hunt! A story is only as good as the teller. Set the stage by putting all the clues together into a fun Adventure Pack, adding some storage bags to collect cool rock and stick samples along with a crayon and paper in case they want to draw pictures of any cool finds. Be sure to hype the hike as a science adventure trying to track down all the clues in the Adventure Pack.

Have a great adventure!

June is Dairy month! Let's make some butter!

Nothing makes a summer day better than a big old ice cream cone! So this summer, our hats are off to those fabulous dairy farmers who make it possible to enjoy all those yummy treats like ice cream,  yogurt, butter, pudding, cottage cheese...this list goes on! In honor of Dairy Month, all month long we're going to be posting about cool dairy learning and activities...except for the last week of the month. That week we'll be posting about turkeys, because my good friend Katie over at On the Banks of Squaw Creek reminded me that June is turkey month, too!

Our first kid-friendly, dairy learning opportunity of the month is butterific! No really...it's making butter! The idea for this activity came from one of our super bloggy friends (who also happens to be a former employee here at OARDC) the Farmgirl over at Farmgirl Follies. She's a super-mom, blogging rockstar, so be sure to check her out!

The supply list is simple: 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and a food processor. You'll also need a cheesecloth, bowl and sieve (or you can make do with a colander, coffee filter and bowl.) Optional are honey and cinnamon.  Just add the cream to your food processor and turn it on.

First, the cream will start to thicken:

Then, after about 5-6 minutes, chunks of creamy butter will appear. The liquid whey will remain at the bottom of the food processor. You'll hear a distinctly different sound from your food processor when this happens.

Now for the fun part: The Farmgirl is an super-duper, always prepared crafty domestic goddess of an over-achiever. I'm not. She used a cheesecloth and sieve to separate the butter and whey. For instructions and pictures on that, check out her super-fab blog. I made do with a colander and coffee filter to separate the butter from the whey.

Now your butter is done. Easy peasy, right? But this  is where the Farmgirl shows her genius: with optional ingredients of honey (about a tablespoon)...

And some cinnamon...

The end result? Super yum!

Now your kids will have had a good time, you have somethign fab for supper, and the kids know a little bit more about where their food comes from1

Just one last thing: to continue the dairy month celebration, we're going to be sharing one other cool dairy site a week that you should check out. This week, we suggest Two Maids a Milking.  These dairy girls will delight your taste buds with great recipes and let you know all about daily life on a working dairy farm. Enjoy!

Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: The Quills of Prickly Porky

This is the first of many (we hope!) monthly guest blogs from Twig Walkingstick. When not on vacation, Twig lives in and around the Wooster campus of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. His alter ego is Kurt Knebusch, one of our super-talented writers and editors on campus. Each month, look for Twig to answer a reader questions and some additional interesting facts below. After Twig's post, we will be providing some ideas and suggestions on how to incorporate the info in Twig's column into fun science learning for your students and children.

Q. Dear Twig: Why don’t porcupines stick to things? All those pointy quills and all ...
 
A. First, the quills (“kwills”) on a porcupine mostly point backward. So when a porcupine climbs up a tree, for example, its quills don’t aim forward and poke into things by mistake. Like branches, tree trunks or the back ends of bears.

Second, besides pointing backward, the quills also usually lie flat, near the body. This cuts down on the chance of accidents too. The quills do stick up when a porky feels threatened. Maybe a wolf or a dog tries to bother it. The stuck-up, stuck-out quills serve as protection. Special muscles around each quill pull tight and make the quill stand up.

Third, if the stuck-up, stuck-out quills do get stuck into something, like the nose of a dog or the snout of a wolf, they dislodge — come loose — from the porky very easily. This lets the porcupine get away — not stay stuck — while the predator deals with a snootful of quills.

Prickly,
Twig

P.S. Porcupines can’t throw their quills. Nor shoot them. And the quills aren’t poisonous.
--

Notes from Twig: 

• The quills of the North American porcupine are barbed, hollow, modified hairs. A porcupine has about 30,000 of them.
• Scientists call the muscles that make quills stand up “piloerectors,” while a special quill-holding skin part called the “spool” lets stuck-up, poked-into-something quills pull loose much more easily than relaxed ones do.
• Sources included “A Facilitated Release Mechanism for Quills of the North American Porcupine” by Uldis Roze, Queens College, New York, in Journal of Mammalogy, 2002; and “Smart Weapons” by Roze in Natural History, 2006.
• Twig has been vacationing in a place where porcupines live but hasn’t, unfortunately, run into any.

Using this information for education:
Right about now, families across the country are planning their summer vacations or are looking forward the vacations they already have planned. Students may not be in school during the summer, but that doesn't mean they should pass up the opportunity to make learning fun....like on their vacation!

If you're planning a trip this summer, whether across the country, camping, to the beach, or even to your local zoo, take the time to learn about the animals and wildlife that are native to the area you'll be visiting. Almost every species has fun facts about its members that will amaze and astound your friends and family.

Learning more about the animal sciences can lead to lots of great educational discussions about habitat, animal adaptations, food chains and more.  So go on and have fun on your vacation this summer, but take the time to teach and learn a little, too!