The ISU Agronomy Graduate Student Club combined education and entertainment when it hosted a hands-on exhibit titled “Seeds to Supper,” in which club members taught children how seeds grow.

About 30 children and their parents attended “Seeds,” which was held at the Children’s Museum in North Grand Mall Saturday.

Adam Davis, club secretary-treasurer, said members believe it’s important for kids to understand where food really comes from. Club members exhibited many uses for seeds during the event.

A pasta machine that demonstrates ways to use grain was a hit with the children. Misty Pritchard of Huxley watched her 2-year-old daughter, Shelby, roll the pasta through the machine.

“I would never have thought to make pasta. The kids love it,” Pritchard said.

Michael Sundberg, 9, of Ames learned how to clean seeds. He shook them in a perforated pan to get out chaff and dirt.

“Chaff isn’t edible, and it doesn’t taste good,” Sundberg said.

Club Vice President John Guretzky displayed a variety of edible plant parts during the presentation. Some examples were the cabbage leaf, the carrot root and the kiwi, in which seeds are eaten along with the fruit.

Some non-food uses for grains were also presented to the children. One example was an adhesive derived from soybeans that is used to fuse layers of plywood together. Davis, graduate student in agronomy, said it is safer than chemical adhesives because it doesn’t give off toxic fumes when the plywood is cut with a saw.

“We are trying to find uses for Iowa crops other than typical uses, to add value to the commodities,” he said.

Club member Matt Harbur demonstrated the Ground Water Flow Model, a creation of Iowa State’s Soil and Water Conservation Club. Harbur, graduate student in agronomy, used the model to show how pollutants such as gasoline and farm chemicals move through layers of sand and clay to work their way into streams and wells.

Ben Wiedenhoeft and his father Glenn watched the ground-water demonstration.

“I learned that pollution is bad,” said Wiedenhoeft, a fourth-grader at Ames Christian Elementary School, 919 30th Street.

Jianrong Dong, graduate student in engineering mechanics, brought his 2-year-old son Richard to the presentation. “I am strongly in favor of this kind of event in Ames,” Dong said. “I would like to see more educational events.”

The club members plan to take their exhibit to the Roosevelt Elementary School, 921 Ninth Street, at 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday.