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Achieving Friends of Holly Hill Farm's mission to make the educational resources of Holly Hill Farm available to the community comes in many forms. Our first priority is to provide Hands-On programs designed primarily for school teachers and their classes. This format which includes a pre-farm visit planning session with teachers by Friends' staff and encouraging post-farm activity to be supplemented by classroom lessons designed by the teacher aimed at school learning goals, has a significant educational potential. Towards this end all Hands-On programs have been designed with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in mind. The Friends advises participating teachers to include a minimum of two trips to the farm in their curriculum design. Consultations with schools and teachers are built into the fee structure. Schools are invited to bring snacks and/or picnic lunches.
Attendance Limits: Maximum 50 students per day.
Teaching Units: No more than 10-12 students per trained Friends of Holly Hill Farm staff member.
Time: 2 hours at the farm for younger groups and 3 hours for older groups.
Programs are available for students ages pre-K through high school:
Who Lives on the Farm takes students students in grades K-3 to a number of learning stations, including the Education Garden and the farm's greenhouses, growing fields, barnyard with its historic buildings, compost area and surrounding woods. Students are introduced to the living community of plants, animals and people on an organic farm. Themes may include one or more of the following based on expressed needs of the group leader in advance of the field trip: Holly Hill Farm as a window to New England farming history; keys to organic farming with an emphasis on the roles of soil and compost; organic techniques used to control weeds and pests and bring fertility to the soil; and vegetable and flower identification. By the end of the morning students will have a good idea where food comes from, be exposed several basic principles of science and nature and be introduced to key elements and themes involved in the organic growing process.
From Plant to Meal (grades 4 - 6): By seed sowing, compost pile building, transplanting, soil analyzing, weeding and harvesting, as the season allows, From Plant to Meal participants learn about plants, how they are structured, how each part enables the plants to get its basic needs, what those basic needs are, and what practices the organic farmer uses to make sure his plants grow into healthy specimens ready for the table.
From Seed to Salad (Grades 4 - 6): Contents of From Seed to Salad are similar to those found in From Plant to Meal except in this program there is a greater emphasis on understanding health and safety issues. Here students will learn the dangers involved to the environment and to personal health when farmers and gardeners rely on pesticides and herbicides to support the growth of plants. At the various stations students will learn of the various strategies that enable the organic farmer to avoid using those toxic materials.
Life on an Organic Farm (Grades 7+): Themes and content are similar to those employed in the Farm Explorers program, described above, except they are adjusted to the appropriate age and grade level.
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