Students in the ISU College of Agriculture helped teach fifth graders from Sioux City where their chicken nuggets come from and why pigs have curly tails Wednesday through the Ag for Kids program. About 1,100 inner-city kids participated in seven workshops at the Woodbury County Fairgrounds in Moville. Ag for Kids coordinators asked the 25 ISU students to help from Tuesday until today. The classes rotated between stations every 15 minutes to learn about cows, pigs, sheep, horses, poultry, rabbits, grains and farm machinery. While at the stations, children interacted with the animals and were encouraged to find the answers to two scavenger hunt questions. Ag for Kids is a new program designed to make children more aware of agriculture and the benefits it brings to the students. Deb Jensen, Ag for Kids coordinator said a teacher asked a 4-H member once if a pig was a sheep. “If we missed that generation, we don’t want to miss this one,” she said. “We want to have kids be more aware of agriculture.” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge said she sees this program as a step in the right direction since fewer children are interacting on farms. “Fewer and fewer families live on farms and really are only one or two generations removed from the farm,” she said. “I hope this kind of program will fill the void and link them back to their heritage.” Judge spoke to the participants Tuesday and stressed the importance of knowing where this generation stands in agriculture. “Agriculture is the cornerstone of Iowa,” she said. “This is a place of agriculture and a style I’m proud of. We want to instill that pride in the children of this state.” ISU students said they had an enjoyable time working with the children and hearing their responses to the various animals. Scott Cronbaugh, junior in agricultural engineering, led the farm machinery station. He said one child became interested in the machinery when he found out it had hydraulics. “His eyes lit up and he said, `Sweet ride,'” Cronbaugh said. Tara Abel, junior in agricultural education, made visual aids to help demonstrate at the pig station. “I made posters with an outline of the pig with all the meat parts. It explained where the ham and other meats come from in relation to the pig itself,” she said. Paula Teig, undergraduate recruitment coordinator in Agriculture Student Services, said she saw the program as a great way for students to build their resumes. She said it’s also a great publicity tool for the ISU College of Agriculture. “We hope that kids will remember Iowa State and the College of Agriculture,” she said. “We hope that they’ll remember us when they start making their four-year plans in eighth grade.” Ramon Kuntz, senior in agricultural studies, said the event was a great experience for him. “You definitely have to learn how to answer on your feet,” he said. “It helped me to apply what I learned in the classroom to someone else.”