Conservation Stations

By Taylor on July 25, 2013 in Blog

Photo courtesy of Iowa learning Farms

Iowa Learning Farms has taken conservation education on the road!

With three mobile Conservation Stations, Iowa Learning Farms staff educates individuals of all ages on a variety of conservation efforts.

Iowa Learning Farms hopes to “educate as many people as possible about the importance of conserving water and preserving our land,” said Iowa Learning Farms, Carol Brown.

The first and largest Conservation Station was launched in May of 2010, and they have been in high demand ever since.

The mobile conservation education units are very popular around Earth Day and at county fairs during the summer. The Iowa Learning Farms team travels statewide with the stations to field days, county fairs, farmers markets and outdoor classrooms.

Each of the Conservation Stations houses a rainfall simulator, which allows the Iowa Learning Farms team to demonstrate the effect of rainfall on undisturbed soil with a variety of soil covers and impervious and porous surfaces, according to the Iowa Learning Farms website.

One of the Conservation Stations is more geared toward educating younger generations and another focuses on an adult audience.

In addition to providing a visual representations, the Conservation Stations allow Iowa Learning Farms staff to teach people about the relationship among land management practices, surface runoff, subsurface drainage, and sediment/nutrient transport.

To see the Conservation Stations for yourself, look on the Conservation Station schedule to find a date when they will be near you!