The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) has announced a new educational outreach program, developed to teach third through fifth grade students the science behind their own yards.  The science-based program includes worksheets for science experiments on photosynthesis and seed starting, games, bookmarks and a poster contest to spur ideas and creativity on how kids and their families can create and save greenspaces in their community. The program also features a web site and blog by the program’s “spokesperson,” TurfMutt. TurfMutt’s real name is Lucky, a once-homeless canine who is “Out to Save the Planet – One Yard at a Time.”

Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, Calif. area schools will be the first to receive an array of educational materials from Weekly Reader, a publishing company that produces resources to support the development of vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing skills, and fluency. To see examples of the educational campaign, visit www.TurfMutt.com.

Accompanying the educational outreach program, TurfMutt will make school and educational event appearances at the National Association of Agricultural Educators’ (NAAE) annual meeting this November in Nashville and the National FAA Foundation annual convention this October in Indianapolis to spread the word about the value of yards and green spaces.