Golden apple snail control enters the classroom: Students at Meinong Fu'an Elementary School grow their own nutritious lunches

The golden apple snail, which gives farmers endless headaches, cannot escape the palms of these children! Fu'an Elementary School in Meinong, Kaohsiung, has integrated agriculture into all of its courses. In math class, students calculate yield changes under different crops, areas and field designs. In science class, besides working in the fields, they learn how to make golden apple snail traps. The results have been excellent: not only did the children's own field yield increase by 5%, but they also won second place in the Kaohsiung City science competition, earning strong recognition.

Chuang Tsung-lin, principal of Meinong Fu'an Elementary School, said that in the future they plan to take children through post-harvest and processing experiments for agricultural products, such as ripening fruits and vegetables and testing processing under different variables, so that agriculture can become the best field for children's learning.

Golden apple snail-catching experts start young! Every class at Meinong Fu'an Elementary School has an agricultural element, and they grow their own nutritious lunches

Meinong Fu'an Elementary School spent 13 years building an agriculture-themed curriculum

In recent years, food and agriculture education has swept through elementary and middle schools across Taiwan, China. Fu'an Elementary School in Meinong, Kaohsiung, began integrating agriculture into all its courses 13 years ago. "We are a rural school, and our goal is to create the usability of knowledge," said Chuang Tsung-lin, principal of Meinong Fu'an Elementary School. This year is his fifth year serving at Fu'an Elementary School.

"We are closely tied to agriculture, so we chose to develop an agriculture-themed curriculum," Chuang Tsung-lin said. Meinong is a rural township, and as a rural school, Fu'an Elementary School has no walls. It has its own fields nearby and abundant water sources close by, and most students come from families involved in farming or agricultural extension, so they are all quite supportive of agricultural courses.

Regarding the origin and inspiration of the agricultural curriculum lesson plans, Chuang Tsung-lin said that 13 years ago, the elementary school teachers at the time had already begun gradually linking agriculture-related activities to different course themes. What started as scattered activities developed into today's mature lesson plans through rolling improvements and collaborative lesson preparation by teachers.

"With agricultural courses or activities, the biggest fear is that they are just a one-off fireworks display," Chuang Tsung-lin explained. Taking rice as an example, transplanting seedlings is the most common farming activity, but the goal must be to develop lesson plans that "any teacher can easily pick up," so that all agriculture-themed courses can be sustained.

Agriculture integrated into Chinese, English, math, science and social studies: the whole school goes into the fields following the solar terms

The core of Fu'an Elementary School's agriculture-themed curriculum is "cultivating farming," with "cultivating" chosen rather than "eating," because all courses and activities are designed and held in accordance with the seasons, the 24 solar terms and the timing of each crop. All courses incorporate agricultural elements, including language arts, math, science, social studies, arts and humanities, physical education and health.

Chuang Tsung-lin gave examples: in language arts class, teachers have children recite agriculture-themed poetry and literature, or have students write essays on agricultural topics; in math class, children try to calculate yields under different crops, different areas and field designs; in science class, children learn about organic farming, pests and diseases, and fertilization.

The entire elementary school, including the kindergarten, has about 80 students. Chuang Tsung-lin said that every Thursday morning self-study time is when the whole school goes into the fields together, and different age groups have different course goals and course designs. "What the whole school participates in is rice transplanting. For kindergarten children, the farming course only goes as far as transplanting. For lower-grade children, the course goal is to get close to the land. The more difficult tasks of fertilizing and catching snails are only for middle and upper grades."

"All courses still have a certain amount of schedule pressure, so courses cannot be 100% agriculture," Chuang Tsung-lin said. The school-wide field time is Thursday morning self-study, which strictly speaking is not long, but all teachers try their best to integrate agriculture into course activities, for example adding the making of golden apple snail traps to nature and environment courses, with teachers taking students into the fields to do experiments.

Teachers and students experiment together, making golden apple snail traps; school field yield increases by 5%

Adding experimental elements to nature and environment courses was a new attempt Chuang Tsung-lin made after arriving at the school. "Originally all nature and environment courses just talked about organic farming. Next, we need to constantly stimulate students to come up with ideas." He said that because no pesticides or herbicides are used, children are taught to flood the rice paddies in the early stages of rice cultivation to reduce the probability of weed seeds germinating.

As for dealing with the troublesome golden apple snails in the rice paddies, last year school teacher Kuo Hsin-po took children in class and used five-liter plastic buckets, off-grade agricultural products such as tomatoes and cabbage, and rice bran to make simple golden apple snail traps. The children then placed them in the rice paddies to observe the trapping situation and its effect on yield.

How did the experiment turn out? Chuang Tsung-lin said that Fu'an Elementary School's rice paddy is nearly four fen of land, with an annual yield of about 4,000 Taiwan jin. Last year's experiment found that the annual yield increased by 5%, and the golden apple snails caught could later be given to parents who raise ducks and geese as feed, making the ducks and geese healthier and stronger, letting children see that all elements of farmland can be recycled.

Grow your own nutritious lunches: making Hakka ban tiao, pickled vegetables, and pickled mustard greens to add to meals

Fu'an Elementary School has nearly four fen of rice paddy and one fen of vegetable fields. Where do all the harvested crops go? "They all go into the teachers' and children's stomachs," Chuang Tsung-lin said with a smile. Fu'an Elementary School's nutritious lunch costs are lower than other elementary schools because part of the lunch ingredients are what the children have grown, and the rest is purchased from certified organic farmer parents.

"We don't have many people, so one rice crop is enough for us to eat for a year," Chuang Tsung-lin said. For the school's rice, cabbage and corn, the whole school participates in the harvest. For example, corn is about to be harvested in April, and these harvests are all used in nutritious lunches, which saves a lot on ingredient costs, and some ingredients are also processed.

"Part of the rice is made into souvenirs for campus visitors, but it is only given as gifts, not sold," Chuang Tsung-lin said. For example, besides being cooked and eaten, the rice is also given as gifts, and a large portion is made into Hakka ban tiao in cooperation with nearby local shops; the harvested mustard greens are used to teach children how to make Hakka pickled vegetables or pickled mustard greens, and these processed results are all added to nutritious lunches.

There are even concerts in the fields; urban children want to transfer in; hand-harvesting rice and climbing a mountain are required to graduate

Chuang Tsung-lin, who has a background as a math teacher, used to live in the city. He said that urban children and rural children have very different attitudes toward the land. For example, some urban children think mud is dirty and dare not transplant rice, but rural children love going into the fields and playing in the mud, "because this is part of rural life."

Chuang Tsung-lin said that in the past, urban elementary school students came to Fu'an Elementary School for exchanges. At first they were unfamiliar with rice transplanting, but when they left they had fallen in love with the land. "These children said Fu'an Elementary School is very fun, and they also said they really wanted to transfer here." And there is more to do in the fields than just transplant rice. Fu'an Elementary School has even held concerts in the fields.

"The golden waves of rice before harvest are a beautiful sight only found in the countryside," Chuang Tsung-lin explained. In the past, parent-child rice transplanting activities were held. Last year, a rice paddy concert was held for the first time, inviting a cellist to perform amid the waves of rice. Nearly 300 people participated in the concert, and this year there are plans to have children perform in the fields.

For such an agriculture-rich elementary school, the graduation ceremony is also quite special. "In January, the whole school, teachers, students and parents transplant rice together. In May, graduation season, graduating students must harvest rice by hand." Chuang Tsung-lin said that sixth-grade children personally cut rice and thresh it, experiencing the traditional way of harvesting rice, and on the day of the graduation ceremony, children climb the mountain behind the school. After reaching the summit, they receive their graduation certificates and share their reflections on six years of learning.

In the future, continuing experiments with children, giving children learning they can take home and use

What new courses will the school develop in the future? Chuang Tsung-lin said that the golden apple snail trap won second place in last year's Kaohsiung City science competition, which was a great affirmation for the children. Next, they will continue planning to take children through all kinds of agricultural product experiments, such as ripening fruits and vegetables and testing processing under different variables.

Chuang Tsung-lin explained that crops are not just about production; subsequent transportation and processing are also very important. Next, they will take children to learn about the preservation needed during transportation after harvesting fruits and vegetables, as well as subsequent ripening experiments. "Let children try experiments with apples, different temperatures, etc., and record the texture and taste of crops under different ripening conditions."

Chuang Tsung-lin said that processed agricultural products of local Hakka people are a major feature, and regular courses also teach children to make processed products. They are planning follow-up experiments for children to use the same ingredients at different temperatures, salt levels or seasons to make processed products, and record the processing results, so children can learn basic processing principles.

"Our teaching goal is to create the usability of knowledge," Chuang Tsung-lin said. For children, all courses at the school that incorporate agricultural elements make learning more motivating and enjoyable, because all the knowledge and content learned can be taken home and used immediately. "Courses and learning are life, and life is also learning."