Practical Ag Ed

Livestock shows don’t stop for weather — but sometimes we do.

After enough North Texas winters, here’s what I’ve learned about deciding when to hook up and go and when to stay home with students and livestock:

• Safety comes first — always
• If you’re questioning it, pause
• Be proactive and communicate early
• Make sure you and your admin are on the same page before the trailer is hooked up
• Consistency builds trust with kids and parents

Students remember how you handled the decision — not just whether you went.

There’s no ribbon worth risking safety.

Save this for the next weather call ❄️

Capillary action at work 🧪🌈
Simple setup, surprising results.

Follow Practical Ag Ed for practical ag & CTE lab ideas you can actually use.

🌈 Capillary Action Lab — real results, not just theory

Pro tip: use cups of food coloring inside a floral bucket
✔ Keeps colors separated
✔ Prevents stained vases
✔ No cups getting knocked over

These soaked overnight and let me tell you — the results were interesting

🔵 Blue & yellow → OUTSTANDING
🟣 Violet → more like a light blue
🌸 Pink → did basically nothing
🟢 Green & black → surprisingly cool results

10/10 — I do recommend this capillary action lab 👍

Next up ➡️ using these dyed flowers to create a three-bloom vase with:
-Robellini palm
-Dyed carnations
-Baby’s breath

Stay tuned to see how it all comes together 👀

🎨 You don’t have to use flowers to teach color theory.

There are so many ways to make this lab meaningful and beautiful for students — even without fresh floral product 🌈

Color theory shows up everywhere 👇
✏️ design
📊 marketing
🖼️ art
🍭 cooking
🌳 landscaping

There are a lot of ways students can show their understanding of color relationships, balance, and intentional design ✨

If you teach ag, floral, or CTE — save this for later 💾

🐣 Hatch day didn’t go as planned.

🔌 We lost power on the incubator the day chicks were due to hatch—so we had to think fast.

Front seat.
Seat warmer.
And a whole lot of hoping.

Sometimes labs don’t go according to plan.

You pivot, problem-solve, and make it work.

Honestly? That’s one of the most valuable lessons students learn.