Precollege Teachers Exposed to Precision Agriculture
The NSF-funded Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag) Engineering Research Center (ERC), headquartered at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), recruited four local K12 teachers from socioeconomically diverse schools in the Philadelphia area as participants in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program.
The RET participants developed four lessons plans covering topics like robotics and sensors that will be implemented into classrooms. Each RET participant conducted cutting-edge research with a faculty member at Penn.
One of the goals of the EWD pillar is to partner with K12 educators to expose students to STEM, including precision agriculture. The RET program served as a mechanism to train local teachers on topics related to precision agriculture and to give them opportunities to create curricula that will be implemented into their classrooms. As a result, students’ interest, enthusiasm, and awareness are enhanced, which will increase the likelihood of more students pursuing career paths in STEM.
