(Updated April 13, 2020)
March 19, 2020

CAST’s mission focuses on providing balanced, credible science-based information about food and agriculture. With the current COVID-19 situation, we will use this space to provide regular updates on news, announcements, and pertinent educational resource material related to agriculture, science, our members, and CAST activities.

Note: See the previous CAST blog post from March 17 for other links and information related to COVID-19 and CAST.

Online Resources

Online resources are key to a solid distance learning program, and CAST will provide suggested links from varied sources as well as the organization’s own publications and videos in an effort to help with effective science/ag communication. Online information is plentiful, but it can be challenging to find sites that are credible, safe, and useful. We suggest that you watch for updates, consider sources, and beware of online malware and scams.

In today’s blog post, we will list resources for K-12, universities, and general interest—plus links to the free material available from CAST.

Ag Specific

• Penn State is providing free online courses on numerous topics through its extension services. The deadline to sign up is April 30.
  Classroom-ready lessons for agriculture instruction from agnet.com
• The Illinois Agriculture Association is providing free online lessons daily (Monday – Friday) on their blog.
• Kevin Folta (BCCA 2016 winner) has been hosting Facebook Live field trips with short lessons targeted at elementary-aged students. Catch one during the weekdays around 11 a.m. EST or previous recordings.
• The Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation provides virtual learning experiences in the form of live videos, self-guided learning prompts, and more.
• The University of Florida’s Ag Education and Communication Department created an online learning resources page that ag teachers can take advantage of.
• National Agriculture in the Classroom adapted their Journey 2050 curriculum for virtual learning. (Follow this link for more content from NAITC.)
• Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom also provides engaging adapted classroom lessons.
• The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service is offering free 15- to 20-minute horticulture webinars each Wednesday starting April 1.
• The American Farm Bureau Association supplies agricultural at-home activities for families to try.

General and K-12

• Teaching Resources for Students and Teachers from PBS
• Resources for Online Learning During School Closures from the National Education Association
• 42 Free Online Resources for Schools
• Virtual experiences from the Smithsonian
• The Iowa Department of Education has a list of Iowa-based resources to support learning outside the classroom.

General and Universities

Most universities are creating information useful for their communities—for example, Nebraska, North Carolina A&T, University of Florida, and Cornell. We have provided a few extra useful resources below:

• Recommendations for students in remote working environments
• Getting a world-class education on the Internet (university links, Khan Academy, etc.)
• 15 Online Resources for College Students
• Professors grapple with how to teach their courses online
• Need to use Zoom for meetings? Someone created a free guide.
• Mental health is a major component of ensuring one’s well-being during a crisis, and Sunshine Behavioral Health provides useful information and resources to do just that.
• Recovery and healing for substance abuse and mental health needs.

Free CAST Material

CAST is investigating ways to provide study guides for the publications it will release during the next months. View our first study guide and other free CAST resources below:

• Food Animal Veterinarian Study Guide
• Videos on YouTube from graduate students and previous paper talks that cover a variety of plant, animal, and food topics
• Full publications and summaries that are free to access and download

Check our blog for regular updates and a list of resources (from CAST and its members) regarding education in this time of online connections. CAST also is communicating through its social media outlets and its regular Friday Notes newsletter.

The first paper looks at the challenges of attracting and retaining veterinarians for rural areas. On April 7 at 12 p.m., CAST will host a webinar highlighting our new paper, Impact of Recruitment and Retention of Food Animal Veterinarians on the U.S. Food Supply. The webinar is open and free to anyone who would like to join.

You can also stay updated on CAST events by joining our mailing list.