September, 2012
Our nation's first fairs were all about agriculture. They were organized to introduce farmers to new animal breeds and other agricultural innovations. Read more about the history of fairs...
September 11 is Protect Your Groundwater Day
95 percent of all available freshwater comes from aquifers underground. More about groundwater, with activities and resources...
September 13 is the birthday of children's author and illustrator Robert McCloskey.
One day McCloskey noticed some ducks crossing the road and holding up traffic. He decided they would be a good subject for a picture book. He wanted to observe them more closely in order to draw them, so he picked up four ducks and took them home to his studio apartment in Boston. He said, "The ducks had plenty to say—especially in the morning. I spent the next weeks on my hands and knees, armed with a box of Keenex and a sketchbook, following the ducks around the studio and observing them in the bathtub." All that observation and drawing became Make Way for Ducklings (1941), which won a Caldecott. (from Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac," September 15, 2009)
Plant some Fall Vegetables
Consider planting some fall vegetables your students may never have tried. If you have an outdoor classroom, or just a little space outdoors, you can still plant. Read more, with activities and resources...
Shine on, Harvest Moon
Throughout the year the Moon rises, on average, about 50 minutes later each day. But near the autumnal equinox, the day-to-day difference in the local time of moonrise is only 30 minutes. Read more, with activity...
September is National Chicken Month
In 2010, poultry and eggs were the second most valuable agricultural commodity in our state. Read more, with activities and resources...
Labor Day is September 3
Labor Day is a celebration of the American worker and the contribution workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country. The holiday was first proposed as a day to celebrate trade and labor organizations. Learn more about farm labor and the Farmer's Union movement in Oklahoma...
September is Whole Grains Month and Time to plant winter wheat
Wheat, by Thomas Hart Benton (1967)
Whole grain wheat grown in our state can be found in whoel wheat bread. Oklahoma farmers start planting winter wheat this month. Read more, with activities and resources...
September is All-American Breakfast Month
Many traditional breakfast foods are grown right here in Oklahoma—wheat and corn for cereal, milk from dairy cows, peaches, strawberies or melon to top it off, eggs from Oklahoma's poultry industry and pork or beef sausage on the side. Read more, with activities and other resources...
September is National Honey Month
Honey is delicious, but did you know honeybees are more valuable for the job they do pollinating crops than they are for their honey? Read more, with resources...
September is National Mushroom Month
Picture a mature tomato plant, buried so that not a single leaf appears above ground. Overnight a rain falls, and in the morning the soil begins to crack. Suddenly tiny tomatoes pop through. If you watch closely, you can just about see them expand. Within a few days, they're round, ripe and ready for picking. If you can imagine that, then you've got an idea of how mushrooms grow. Read more, with activities and resources...
Look for OAITC at these events during September:
8 - SeptemberFest, Governor's Mansion
14-15 - Chisholm Trail History Celebration, Duncan
17 - State Fair Academy
18 - State Fair Academy
18 - Outdoor Days, Black Kettle Grassland, Cheyenne
20 - State Fair Academy
21 - State Fair Academy
24 - Osage County Interlocal Cooperative (OCIC) Professional Development Workshop, Bartlesville
26 - Northwest Oklahoma Women in Ag conference and meeting
Autumn begins September 22.
A busy month in Oklahoma fields: Wheat and oat planting begins.
Sorghum, soybeans and peanut harvest begins.
Corn and alfalfa hay harvest continues.
September is Food Safety Education Month
Online AITC Food Safety Lessons
September is Organic Harvest Month
Between 2002 and 2007 the number of organic farms in Oklahoma grew from six to 131.
Explore the different meanings of the word "organic" in this lesson.
Examine the differences between organic and conventionally-produced foods and learn to identify fact, opinion and various propoganda techniques with this lesson: Organic or Conventional?
Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month: Tomatoes
