IWA students enjoy a day on the farm

Incarnate Word Academy Elementary Level-Montessori students participated in a Mini Agriculture Day on Sept. 1.

The classes traveled to Tanya & Darrell Lawhon Farms in Bishop, Texas to learn about agriculture, beef cattle, dairy cows, good and bad bugs, and how to grow a salad in a pot.

“Students were very excited about the trip,” IWA Teacher Yvette Rangel said.

At the farm, a presentation was given about how much of the Earth is farmed and which crops are grown in Texas. Students learned that corn, wheat, sorghum, sunflower, sesame, and cotton are grown in the Lone Star State.

“The highlight of our trip was when our students were able to go out into the cotton fields and actually handpick cotton,” Rangel said.

The group was taught about the equipment that is used today to pick, strip, and gin cotton. They saw a picker plow through the field to pick the cotton, bale the cotton, and drop it onto the field. They also saw a mobile cotton gin separate the seeds from the cotton.

Students also saw a dairy cow exhibit and learned where milk comes from. They were taught about feeding, milking, cooling, and pasteurization.

“We learned that it takes a lot of people, who do different jobs, to get the food we eat and the clothes we wear from the farm to the table,” Rangel said.