Schools Continued from Page 1
tors saidthey’re trying to front-loadlessons that couldbeaccomplishedremotelynow, in thehope that they’ll return to live teach- ing later intheschool year to tackle lessons requiring face-to-face instruction. In a floral-design class she teaches, Rosemary Cummings of Nipomo High School in San Luis Obispo County, which started its new school year last week, said sheandother agriculture teachers aredis- tributing lesson kits, supplies and other materials to enhance online teaching and to allow students towork on smaller proj- ects at home. Because he can’t send tools or equip- ment home with students—and can’t require them to buy any—Mike Albiani, who teaches agricultural woodshop at Elk Grove High School in Sacramento County, said his home kits include ma- terials for projects such as birdhouses andwind chimes that students can com- pletewith glue. He said he’s focusing first on lessons about woodworking safety, measurement, accuracy, reading plans and following directions, adding that he hopes students can return to school the second half of the year andmove tomore hands-on, technical work. Improvements in technology—andstu- dentandteacherproficiency init—haveal- lowed formore interactive virtual instruc- tion, Daley said. Cummings said teachers have been “in the trenches learning new technologies to helpmake the classroom as engaging as possible.” AtCal PolySanLuisObispo,whichstarts
its fall term Sept. 14, Haley Marconett with the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences said faculty “worked diligently” through spring and summer tomodify courses “toensure stu- dents continued to experience the hands- on learning Cal Poly is known for.” She noted how one professor livestreamed a lecture from a strawberry field. Another shipped fruit, pectin and pH strips to stu- dents’ homes so they couldmake jam. Albiani said he and another teacher plan to raise chicks for a feed trial and livestream it so students can watch the birds grow, collect data, make graphs and learn other skills integral to agricultural science research. “In the end,” Reedley College instruc- tor Woodard said, “I think we will learn a lot about efficiency of delivering infor- mation in ways that we never thought possible before.” Educators agreed access to technolo- gy and high-speed internet has proved chal lenging for some students and teachers, particularly those living in re- mote rural areas (see Comment, Page 2). Cummings said the Lucia Mar Unified School District that includes Nipomo High School is one district “working hard” to supply all students with devices and free internet service, and has imple- mented independent study for students who cannot get internet. Waite described where she lives as “a cellular dead zone,” adding many of her students experience the same problem.
Last spring, she resorted to making hard copies of lessons and mailing them to some students. For families with more than one child in school, data costs and theneed to share computers present additional burdens, Daley said. “Oneofmybiggest fears is that this edu- cational gap is going towidenbetween the haves and thehave-nots,”Cummings said. The fate of junior livestock projects that havebeenakeycomponent of highschool FFA programs remains in limbo, Albiani said. Fair cancellations have left many students with nowhere to show their an- imals and seeking alternative marketing avenues. Somemaynotwant the financial riskof takingon livestockprojects thisyear, he added. Trying toassess student learning inavir- tual format has also provedmore difficult, Cummings said. Shenotedshewasexcited to learn about classroom-management software that could help teachers better connect with students andmonitor them as theyworkonline, thoughshenotedsuch tools have their limits. Determining student proficiency in tasks such as laying pipe, welding some- thing together so that it holds or admin- istering shots to an animal has been par- ticularly challenging online, Waite said, adding “we don’t want to have students graduating that just don’t have the skill.” (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.)
coronavirus conditions in their coun- ties, andmost have implemented an on- line format. At the college level, some schools allow a hybrid experience with selected in-person instruction. Courseswithphysical labsessionsmust modify shop spaces or operate on a rotat- ing schedule, so fewer people occupy the same space at the same time, said Kevin Woodard, agriculture business and ed- ucation instructor at Reedley College in Fresno County. Waite said physical-dis- tancing requirementshavemeant splitting her students into more classes, and said working out such logistics and other de- tails has been “hugely time-consuming.” For California State University, Chico, which starts its 2020-21 fall semester next week, traditional lectures will all be virtu- al, but most agricultural labs will be done at the university farm, including activities related to livestock, field work and irriga- tion, saidDaveDaley, the farmadministra- tor. Barns and other facilities with tables, chairs and portable media will provide an outdoor-but-covered experience with enough space for distancing, he added. “It won’t be the same,” Daley said. “I don’twant topretend that I likewhatwe’re doing, but I think it’s the best we can do without completely eliminating that per- sonal touch, whichwe think is really criti- cal in this field.” Whether they teach basic agricultural science ormore intensive courses, educa-
CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM CIMIS REPORT | www.cimis.water.ca.gov
For the week August 7 - August 13, 2020 ETO (INCHES/WEEK)
YEAR
3.0
THIS YEAR
2.5
LAST YEAR AVERAGE YEAR
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MACDOEL II (236)
BIGGS (244)
DAVIS (06)
MANTECA (7O)
FIREBAUGH (7)
SALINAS-SOUTH (214)
FIVE POINTS (2)
SHAFTER (5)
TEMECULA (62)
IMPERIAL (87)
THIS YEAR LAST YEAR AVG. YEAR % FROM AVG.
1.66 1.37 1.54 7
1.64 1.48 1.54 4
1.71 2.00 1.90 -11
1.95 1.92 1.73 13
1.74 1.76 1.65 5
1.78 1.69 1.72 3
1.67 1.73 1.70 -2
1.35 1.40 1.26 7
1.34 1.43 1.50 -11
1.96 2.11 1.96 0
W eekly reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is the rate of water use (evapotranspiration—the sum of soil evaporation and crop transpiration) for healthy pasture grass. Multiplying ETo by the appropriate “crop coefficient” gives estimates of the ET for other crops. For example, assume ETo on June 15 is 0.267 inches and the crop coefficient for corn on that day is 1.1. Multiplying ETo by the coefficient (0.26 inches x 1.1) results in a corn ET of 0.29 inches. This
information is useful in determining the amount and timing of irriga- tion water. Contact Richard Snyder, UC Davis, for information on coefficients, 530-752-4628. The 10 graphs provide weekly ETo rates for selected areas for average year, last year and this year. The ETo information is provided by the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) of the California Department of Water Resources.
For information contact the DWR district office or DWR state headquarters:
SACRAMENTO HEADQUARTERS: 916-651-9679 • 916-651-7218
NORTHERN REGION: Red Bluff 530-529-7301
NORTH CENTRAL REGION: West Sacramento 916-376-9630
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION:
SOUTHERN REGION:
Fresno 559-230-3334
Glendale 818-500-1645 x247 or x243
August 19, 2020 Ag Alert 15
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