Children learn about food and farming at annual AgriBee

UC Cooperative Extension nutrition advisors in Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Tehama and Yuba/Sutter counties teamed up with local farm bureau offices to present the 6th annual AgriBee, a spelling bee for third- and fourth-graders with words limited to agricultural terms.

The children are required to spell and define the words, said an article about the competition in the Chico Enterprise-Record.

Here are some examples from the word list that I thought might stump an 8- or 9-year-old:

Abomasum - the fourth or true stomach of a ruminant

Catkin - a dense spike of small, petalless flowers

Roughage - feeds that are made of grass, hay or silage

Vegetate - grow or sprout like a plant

Wether - a castrated male sheep

Each student competed in a school-wide competition to earn a place in the regional AgriBee. The winner was Kirsten-Grace Baker of the Children's Community Charter School in Paradise. She won a laptop computer by correctly spelling and defining "pullet," a chicken that has never laid an egg.

The AgriBee was designed to boost students' understanding and knowledge of food and agriculture.

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