March, 2011
- March 1 is Pancake Day
- March 2 is Dr. Seuss' Birthday and Read Across America Day
- Spring is Just Around the Corner
- Vernal Equinox
- In Like a Lion; Out Like a Lamb
- Clover Activities
- Red Dirt Groundbreaker: Bermuda John Fields
- Weights and Measures Week
- March 14 is Pi Day
- National Peanut Month
- National Noodle Month
- National Nutrition Month
- Women's History Month
- Red Dirt Groundbreaker: Lucille Mulhall
- Oklahoma Fruit of the Month: Grapes
- Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month: Greens
- March 22 is World Water Day
- Outdoor Classrooms
- Ag in Poetry: Fueled
- Ag in Art: Sower With the Setting Sun, Vincent Van Gogh
March 1 is Pancake Day
The small town of Olney, England has been holding a Pancake Race every year since 1445. The tradition began when a housewife was cooking the family's traditional Shrove Tuesday pancakes as the church bell summoning the townspeople to the shroving service began to ring. Read more, with lessons and activities...
March is National Peanut Month
The Five Civilized Tribes brought peanuts to the Indian Territory, planting them in small gardens. After the general settlement of Oklahoma Territory, residents also planted parcels of the nuts, often selling or trading them to neighbors. More about peanuts, with lessons and activities
March is National Nutrition Month
Green is good for you! Have a green lunch for St. Patrick's Day -
green grapes
spinach salad
split pea soup
green-colored milk
saltine crackers painted with green food coloring
Nutritious Recipes for the Classroom
Oklahoma Fruit of the Month: Grapes
People have been eating grapes since prehistoric times. Raisins were probably first produced deliberately in Asia Minor by the process of burying fresh grapes in the hot desert sand. Read more, with activities...
Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month: Gather the Greens
Greens are the first vegetables to come up in the springtime. If well-protected, some will stay alive through the winter and begin growing once the days start to warm. Spinach is probably the best known of the greens, but there are many others, including young dandelion greens! Read more, with activities...
Spring is just around the corner!
The daffodils are poking through in my back yard, and today I saw my first crocuses! Seems like they always show up just when you need them most.
This is a great time of year to take your students for a walk and observe the signs that tell us spring is on the way. Read more...
Vernal Equinox
March 20 is the Vernal, or Spring, Equinox, the beginning of astronomical spring. The equinoxes are the two days each year when the middle of the Sun is an equal amount of time above and below the horizon for every location on Earth. In other words the sun would be directly over the Equator. Read more, with activities...
In Clover
Shamrock is the English form of the Irish word seamrog which, literally translated, means "little clover." Clover is one of the major crops grown in Oklahoma as hay. It is extremely delicious and fattening to cattle. This fact is where we get the idiomatic phrase "in clover," meaning a carefree life of ease, comfort, or prosperity. Read more, with lessons and activities...
Now is the time to start seedlings indoors to transplant into your outdoor classroom later in the spring. More about outdoor classrooms, with lessons and other resources...
March is Women's History Month
When federal funding was appropriated in 1914 for Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University), President Henry G. Bennett organized the college's program to train women home demonstration agents. After their training they traveled by train, horse and buggy or automobile to rural Oklahoma to promote home economy. They informed women on gardening practices, poultry raising, preserving meats, fruits and vegetables, preparing nutritious meals, sewing clothing and household sanitation...
Look for OAITC at these events during March:
5 - Oklahoma Reading Association Conference, Clarion Meridian Conference Center
5 - Northeastern Oklahoma Math and Science Conference, NSU Tahlequah
9-10 - Kids Kows & More, Tulsa Fairgrounds.
March comes in like A lion and goes out like a lamb
This phrase has its origins with the constellations Leo, the Lion, and Aries, the ram or lamb. It has to do with the relative positions of these constellations in the sky at the beginning and end of the month. For those of us who live through Oklahoma's volatile spring weather, it is an apt description of this month. Read more, with lessons and other resources...
March 2 is the birthday of Dr. Seuss and Read Across America Day
See our list of Ag-Related Books for Children and Young Adults
March 14 is Pi Day
The Greek letter pi, is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi = 3.1415926535... Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. Read more, with lessons and other resources...
National Weights and Measures Week
National Weights and Measures Week commemorates the anniversary of the date when President John Adams signed the first weights and measures law in the US on March 2, 1799. This week was set aside to make the public aware of this important service. Read more, with lessons and activities...
March 22 is World Water Day
AITC Online Lessons for World Water Day
Additional Resources for World Water Day
March 30 is the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh. Happy Birthday, Vincent!
Sower With the Setting Sun, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888
The image of a farmer with the arm extended and throwing seeds on the furrows of the field was one of Van Gogh's favorite representations of farmers. In 1888, while the artist was staying at Arles, he painted various scenes of the Sower, most of them inspired by Jean-Francois Millet, who years earlier painted many scenes of farmers and sowers. But soon Van Gogh would show a personal interpretation of these traditional scenes, introducing the impressionist style to the countryside, with short strokes and the application of vibrant colors. In the painting above, the sower is the main object in the painting. The big, dark tree located next to the sower divides the painting diagonally. In the back a big round sun finishes the trilogy of big figures.
Create a Van Gogh Vase (from education.com)
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.