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Beautiful Bovine
Students in Mrs. Calzavara's first grade class at Eastland Elementary in Lanark learned about both dairy and beef cattle through an Ag in the Classroom program. During the first part of the presentation students discovered the difference between beef and dairy cattle. Then the class discussed what all cattle had in common and how they are different from a human. This was done through a demonstration. Drew Burkholder (photo) was the volunteer that was "dressed" as a cow while his classmates came up with features Drew needed to be more cow-like. Added features included: hooves, large ears, a flyswatter tail, an udder, four stomach parts, and a long sandpaper tongue. After the demonstration students played Beefo Bingo to teach them about beef by-products. Almost the entire beef animal can be used to benefit man in some way. From a typical 1000 pound steer, 400 pounds is used for beef that we eat and the remaining 600 pounds are used as by-products. The cattle hides are used for leather items such as furniture, automobiles, volleyballs, basketballs, and baseball gloves. Beef by-products are also found in paint, plastics, lubricants, cosmetics, plastics, and rubber. This process was described well by Tom Eickman in the Rockford Register Star. "Once we (the processing plant) have taken what we can, a rendering company picks up the remainder. It will take what is left and cook it to separate off tallow and grease. The items that do no cook off will become pet food material. Out of the tallow, the rendering company isolates different acids." These acids are used to make the previously mentioned items. Agriculture in the Classroom is a program to help students gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture in the economy and society. Students learn that thousands of farm products are in the world around themon their plate, in the clothes they wear, in the medicine that makes them well, and in earth-friendly fuels and plastics. Ag in the Classroom is offered through the University of Illinois Extension-Ogle County in partnership with Carroll County Farm Bureau, Ogle County Farm Bureau, Carroll County Soil & Water, and Ogle County Soil & Water. For more information about the program, call the Ogle County Extension Office at (815) 732-2191.
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