Education News — Fall 2025
Celebrating summer & looking ahead to a new school year!
Welcome to our first Education News Update—your seasonal look at what’s new and next at Food + Farm Exploration Center. From summer camps and library programs to classroom visits, field trips, and new downloadable lesson plans, our team has been busy creating hands-on learning opportunities that connect students to agriculture. In this update, you’ll find highlights from recent programs plus a sneak peek at upcoming events, resources, and ways to bring Food + Farm into your classroom. Read on for fresh ideas, free tools, and inspiration you can use right away with your students.
At Food + Farm Exploration Center
Summer Camps
Food + Farm Exploration Center (F+FEC) hosted four new camps in 2025! Campers explored a variety of themes like the impact of weather on agriculture, cultural cooking, and the science of plants, soil and sunlight. Learning was a blend of science, technology, engineering and math in conjunction with real-world applications. Summer camps are an exciting part of our mission to inspire and educate current and future generations about agriculture innovation and sustainability. They will be a big part of our summer sessions moving forward!
From our Outreach Team
Library Program
F+FEC partnered with local libraries to host agricultural-themed activity stations for youth in June, July, and August. From Nekoosa to Rosholt, we hosted over 200 parents and children! Look for us next summer at your local library.
Summer School
Our summer school F+FEC outreach programs were a great hit this year. We visited over 25 classrooms and led activities where students learned about the science of bubbles, polymer science, making bouncy balls, and commodities in Wisconsin through the Ag Commodities Breakout Box.
Sign up for a field trip today!
This summer we welcomed a large number of summer school classes and childcare centers through our field trip program. Students were able to take part in field tours, hunt for insects while learning about their role in agriculture, explore solar energy and even sample fresh produce grown in our demonstration fields! Sign up for your fall school field trip to experience what we’re growing this season.
New Materials
At Food + Farm Exploration Center
Just because summer is past doesn’t mean the fun stops! We’ve worked hard over the past few months to refresh and create new offerings.
Adult Experiences
Fall Continuing Education Culinary Classes with MSTC
Family and Youth Offerings
Family Culinary Classes
Field Tours (seasonal)
NEW Greenhouse Tours (Open to the public October 3rd)
Special drop-in activities each month (included with admission)
Tot Time: Classes for ages 3-5 (September-November)
Special Events—Save these Dates!
10/27: Mini Monsters Mash (Members Only)
12/2: Food + Farm Exploration Center 2nd Anniversary
12/13: Breakfast with Santa (Members Only)
12/31: Noon Years Bash
From our Outreach Team
For the 2025-2026 school year we have some exciting new downloadable lesson plans and kits available for use, along with opportunities find us in the community.
Food Products and Processing (Grades: 6-12)
Nutrition of Processed Foods (Grades: 6-12)
Forces in Motion: Paper Rockets (Grades: 6-12)
Insect Lifecycles (Grades: 3-6)
Plants We Eat (Grades: 2-4)
Mr. Crumb’s Potato Predicament (Grades: 1-3)
Forces in Motion: Paper Rockets (Grades: 6-12)
Paper rockets can be a fun way to demonstrate Newton’s laws of motion. This kit includes all the equipment and supplies needed for students to build and modify paper rockets to complete six investigations that highlight the application of Newton’s Laws of Motion.
Community Outreach
10/18: Science by the River - Visit our booth at this Wisconsin Rapids community event from 10am-1pm!
Sign Up for an Outreach Visit to your Classroom
Bring agriculture into your classroom with our outreach program! We’ll visit your class before or after a field trip—or any day of the year—and is free for schools within 45 miles of Plover. We offer hands-on activities for students in grades 4K–12, providing a fun and engaging way to explore agriculture without having to leave your school! Reach out to set a date for fun, engaging lessons led by our team.
Resources for Teachers
We have STEM kits, breakout boxes, and literacy kits all free of charge for you to use in the classroom and can be checked out for two-week increments. If you’re looking for something specific and don’t see it, contact us and we can work together to create something new! Reach out to us via email at education@fftf.us or by calling 715-303-3276.
Ag Quarterly
We’re excited to announce a new resource, our Ag Quarterly! Each edition spotlights a different agricultural theme with quick facts, vocabulary, and activities you can do at home or in the classroom to explore the crops, science, and stories behind the food we eat
This issue is all about one of Wisconsin’s most famous crops: potatoes—and how they become one of America’s favorite snacks, the potato chip! Inside you’ll find surprising facts, new STEM vocabulary, simple science experiments, and compost challenges, plus journal prompts, book recommendations, a recipe to try, and a look at careers connected to potato production and processing.
Dive in and start exploring—the activities and ideas in this month’s edition that are designed to spark curiosity and connect learning to real-world agriculture.
STEM Kits
Insects (Grades; K-2)
Cranberries (Grades: K-2, 3-5 & available Nov-Jan)
Cooking with Sunshine (Grades: 3-5)
Light Waves (Grades: 4-5)
Water and Irrigation (Grades: 4-5)
NEW Forces in Motion (Grades: 6-12)
Strawberry DNA Extraction (Grades: 6-12)
Colorful Chemistry (Grades: 8-12)
The Plant Game (Grades: 9-12)
Breakout Boxes
Agricultural Commodities (Grades: 2-5)
Soils (Grades: 2-5)
Water and Agriculture (Grades: 3-5)
Soil Science (Grades: 7-12)
Literacy Kits
Jump Into Science: Dirt! (Grades: 1-4)
No Small Potatoes (Grades: 2-5)
Lesson Plans
We offer more than 25 K–12 lesson plans online, all aligned to state standards. These lessons help reinforce core subjects while exploring the fascinating world of agriculture. Take a look, find what works for your needs, and download your lesson plans today!
Classroom Visits from our outreach team
Teachers can choose from the following lessons to be taught in their classrooms and we’ll come to you free of charge within 45 miles of Plover!
4K Topics: Corn, Cranberries, Green Beans, Potatoes, Fruits and Vegetables, and Insects
Insects are Everywhere (Grades: K-5)
How Am I Connected to Agriculture? (Grades: K-12)
A Wisconsin Picnic (Grades: K-12)
Agricultural Commodities Breakout Box (Grades: 2-5)
Crayon Rock Cycle (Grades: 4-8)
Strawberry DNA Extraction (Grades: 6-12)
Colorful Chemistry (Grades: 8-12)
How Sweet Is It? (Grades: 8-12)