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Area fourth graders got their hands on some pieces of technology on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at the Legacy of the Plains Museum.

The students weren’t given a tablet or smartphone, though. Instead, they got hands-on lessons and demonstrations on farm technology from the early 1900s to modern day.

There were different stations setup around the Legacy of the Plains campus. Some of the lessons were on shelling corn for livestock feed, using pulleys to lift heavy weights, the evolution of planting and harvesting potatoes and setting irrigation tubes.

Tyler Walter, a fourth grader at Community Christian School, turns the crank on a corn sheller during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

Mitchell Elementary teacher Taylor Briggs’ fourth grade class was one of the schools that participated in Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday.

“It is engaging and it helps them remember the concepts that they’re learning,” Briggs said. “It connects a lot more to our curriculum when we’re talking about things like force in motion and energy. The simple machines are more concrete to learn about.”

Lincoln Elementary fourth grader Jackson Freeling pulls on a rope to lift a weight using pulleys during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

The station that may have gotten the most reaction from the students was the irrigation demonstration. One student who lives on a farm easily coaxed water from the irrigation tube, eliciting awe from his classmates. The rest of the students weren’t quite as skilled having a hard time drawing water from the tubes.

Lincoln Elementary teacher Tracy Steele said hands-on learning helps reinforce the lessons.

“Anytime, we can be out doing hands-on activities, it just brings the level of understanding for the kids better. They can read about it in a book, but if they can experience it with a hands-on activity, it just sinks in a lot more,” Steele said. “I think they just love being outside doing something rather than reading about it, and they like being hands-on. The pedal tractor is always a fun one, but any, any of the activities that they can actually be interactive with are the ones that they like the most.’

Lincoln Elementary fourth-graders (from left) Aria Guerrero, Aedan Ashing and jason Fritzler Jr. pedal a tractor during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

Legacy of the Plains director Dave Wolf said Tools and Technology Through Time is important to help connect the students with the area’s agricultural past and present and also teach them something in the process.

“It really exposes them to what it was like,” he said. “A lot of people have this sense of farming whether it was like back when they used horses, or modern day. It really just shows that evolution and that agriculture is very much science-based, and it’s very much engineering-based.

“There’s some very good skills for them to come out and learn. (The focus of Tools and Technology Through Time) is really to learn more about the history of their area. Obviously, agriculture is super important. But they’re also learning, cultural aspects of hard work and, really, what it took for people to be out here and build what we have so far.”

Noah Hawley, a Mitchell Elementary fourth-grader, coaxes some water out of an irrigation tube during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

Wolf said the day-long program is important for the students.

“The kids get their hands dirty. It’s putting physical things in their hands. I think, no matter what people say about kids and technology, with their phones and tablets, they’re still very much hands-on people. So, we provide a little bit that and I think that’s why we were successful.”

Wolf said the program also really shows how much technology has advanced agriculture.

North Platte NRD water resources technician Ethan Woehrle gives Mitchell Elementary student Agustin Carle tips on using an irrigation tube during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

“It was a lot more labor intensive. It’s easier now. You have GPS on your tractors now. Now there’s air conditioning. There’s still a lot of tractors (from the past in use), like the 1940s Farmall that we’re using. There’s still ‘50s and ‘60s tractors out there being used, but we just kind of have this vision because we see the brand new combines out there, and they’re great. They’re the reasons why we can we can feed all the people that we do, but I think there’s a little more appreciation for past generations (after students go through all of the day’s activities).”

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Police around the country are using a powerful but relatively inexpensive cellphone tracking tool to solve crimes. And in some cases, they hav…

Tyler Walter, a fourth grader at Community Christian School, turns the crank on a corn sheller during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

Lincoln Elementary fourth grader Jackson Freeling pulls on a rope to lift a weight using pulleys during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

Lincoln Elementary fourth-graders (from left) Aria Guerrero, Aedan Ashing and jason Fritzler Jr. pedal a tractor during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

Noah Hawley, a Mitchell Elementary fourth-grader, coaxes some water out of an irrigation tube during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

North Platte NRD water resources technician Ethan Woehrle gives Mitchell Elementary student Agustin Carle tips on using an irrigation tube during Tools and Technology Through Time on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Legacy of the Plains Museum.

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