Harlan, Iowa, – July 13th, 2020 – County fairs will be doing things a little differently this year, and agriculture education is adapting as well. Carnival rides, games, and food stands will be postponed and in person activities will need to be limited, but fun and learning with Loess Hills Agriculture in the Classroom (LHAITC) can continue.

County 4-H members are still being allowed to show their static and livestock exhibits, but the fairgrounds are being limited to exhibitors and their families. In order to extend Agriculture in the Classroom efforts into the summer, Melanie Bruck, of LHATIC and her team came up with a plan. This summer, the entire community will be included, even beyond the fairgrounds.

Agriculture trivia stations will be set up in all five counties each fair week and remain in place during the week that the county fair is held. This agriculture scavenger hunt will consist of five questions that can be answered by watching a short video. The links to the recorded can be accessed via QR code at the trivia station on any smart device. Participants will visit each of the trivia stations around the town/county and look for a sign with the trivia question and QR code. Answers to the trivia questions can also be found in the My Family’s Farm book series available from the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation.

Signs, and the locations of the trivia stations, can be found at the county fair offices, at the county extension offices, at various agribusiness, or at other supporting businesses of LHATIC. The displays will be easy to identify and located outside the business to ensure social distancing. Once contestants answer all five questions, they will need to email a photo of their completed questionnaire to mbruck@iowaagliteracy.org A drawing will be held for participants to win an agriculture activity bag. One bag will be given away in each county and mailed to the winner.

Participants are encouraged to take pictures of themselves completing the scavenger hunt, without revealing their answers, and use the hashtag #LoessHillsAITC on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Each photo with the hashtag will earn participants an additional entry into the prize drawing.

Questionnaires can be picked up at the Farm Bureau offices in Carroll, Crawford, Harrison, Shelby, and West Pottawattamie counties or at any of the trivia stations. Students can begin their scavenger hunts at these locations:

  • Shelby County, Sunday July 12th - 20th at 908 6th Street, Harlan, IA
  • Carroll County, Monday July 13th-18th at 829 Griffith Rd, Carroll, IA
  • Harrison County, Tuesday July 21st-25th at 115 N 3rd Ave, Logan IA
  • West Pott. County, Wednesday July 22nd-25th at 126 E Broadway, Ste.1, Council Bluffs, IA
  • Crawford County, Wednesday July 22nd-26th at 204 N 7th St, Denison, IA

You can also email your request for an activity questionnaire to mbruck@iowaagliteracy.org to receive a copy you can print at home.

Join Loess Hills Agriculture in the Classroom and scout out agriculture trivia stations in your county. Although it won’t be fair week as usual, completing the scavenger hunt can still win participants a great prize.

For more information, please visit www.IowaAgLiteracy.org.

About Loess Hills Agriculture in the Classroom

Loess Hills Agriculture in the Classroom is a regional effort of the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation (IALF) established August of 2018. It serves school districts in five counties in southwest Iowa including Carroll Co., Crawford Co., Harrison Co., Shelby Co., and West Pottawattamie Co. The IALF mission is to educate Iowans, with a focus on youth, regarding the breadth and global significance of agriculture. IALF serves as a central resource for educators and volunteers who want to teach Iowa's students about agriculture. As leading producer of agricultural products, it is important for all Iowans to understand the essential role agriculture has in their lives. The mission of Agriculture in the Classroom is to "increase agricultural literacy through PK-12 education." An agriculturally literate person is "one who understands and can communicate the source and value of agriculture as it affects quality of life." AITC programs seek to improve student achievement by applying authentic, agricultural-based content as the context to teach core curriculum concepts in science, social studies, language arts and nutrition. By embedding agriculture into curriculum, AITC cultivates an understanding and appreciation of the food and fiber system that we rely on every day. AITC is unique within the agricultural education community as the lead organization to serve the full spectrum of PK-12 formal education.  For more information visit IALF online at www.IowaAgLiteracy.org, on Facebook, and Twitter.