Bayer Crop Science ‘Grow and Learn’ program sparks interest in agriculture
Bayer Crop Science Puerto Rico’s “Grow and Learn” program, launched last year, has met its goal of sparking an interest in agriculture and research in children and youths, company officials said.
Implemented last semester at the Manuel Fernández Juncos Public School in Juana Díaz, the pilot program impacted 23 elementary school students and their parents by sponsoring agriculture and sustainability activities in which students could participate as part of their educational curriculum.
The program also sought to introduce self-management and sustainability concepts within the family nucleus and create a permanent collaboration with schools in the communities close to the company.
Bayer started the program last semester with a module titled “Composting at home,” which Kindergarten students how to generate compost at home as a sustainable alternative for environment conservation, reducing the amount of waste generated in the households, which ends up in landfills.
Students could also learn about the organisms that are part of the compost ecosystem and help accelerate the process.
In addition to the “Compost at Home” module, Bayer has three additional educational modules for the “Grow and Learn” program — two for elementary school students and one for middle school students.
The program at the Manuel Fernández Juncos Public School continues this semester with a course titled “Agriculture at Home,” which will teach students how to create a home vegetable garden, do research and gather information on the process. It also includes a box with all the necessary materials to complete the project.
The last module for elementary students, “Butterfly Life Cycle,” is about the developmental cycle of butterflies and how to create pollinator habitats. For middle school students, Bayer has the “Sustainability Contest,” which is a competition where students will learn about the basic principles of sustainability and conservation.
As part of the course, the students must create a project following the sustainability and conservation concepts learned. Bayer will award the top three contestants.
