Milking it for all its worth

Andrew Edwards

One by one, kindergartners at Lake View Elementary School knelt down

to take a hands-on approach to milking a cow. In Alisa Lembke’s

class, children took turns “milking” Annabelle -- the latest in cow

substitution technology. Built by student-teacher Jennifer Houghland,

Annabelle is a wood and cardboard mock-up painted to look like an

actual Holstein. A few bits of straw stuck out of her pink sponge

mouth and for udders, Annabelle sported a latex glove filled with

water.

“We wanted to give them a real experience, as real as possible,”

Houghland said.

As part of their lesson the students donned farmer hats and tied

bandannas around their necks when they took turns milking Annabelle

after Houghland instructed the class on the proper technique.

“You have to kind of pull on it, you have to pull and squeeze,”

she said.

When 6-year-old Danielle Fandrich gave one of the udders a

squeeze, a stream of water missed the pan below Annabelle and landed

right on Danielle.

“I was milking a cow and it sprayed on me,” she said.

Annabelle is just one part of several lessons Lembke and Houghland

are teaching about farm animals. The children are learning not only

about the animals themselves, but teachers are also incorporating

barnyard critters into other subjects.

“We’re working on math, science and writing and reading,” Lembke

said.

As children waited to milk Annabelle, they took part in other

activities spread around the classroom. In one of the projects,

students tasted a variety of dairy foods. After picking their

favorites, colored a picture of their favorite food and posted it on

a graph showing the children’s choices.

For 6-year-old Kaitlyn Cherry, the best item on the menu was milk.

“I’m going to drink a lot of milk,” she said. “It will make me

strong.”

From a sampling of milk, cheese, sour cream, yogurt and cottage

cheese, the cheddar emerged as the class’s favorite dairy product.

“I know cheese are really yellow. I love yellow cheese,”

5-year-old Anthony Moore-Davis said while coloring a picture of

cheese yellow.

When the class finishes learning about animals, their farm lessons

will continue as they begin to explore the world of plants and

agriculture, Lembke said. Already, the students are growing radishes

that will be a part of future lessons.