DATE: Friday, October 24, 1997              TAG: 9710240776

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PLYMOUTH                          LENGTH:   76 lines

WINNING ESSAYISTS TAKE SPECIAL TRIP ALBEMARLE STUDENTS GET ``HOW COME'' ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS.

What happens to a wetland when developers fell trees to build buildings?

Why do farmers cut off piglets' curly tails?

How many T-shirts can be made from a bail of cotton?

Those are just some of the questions 300 students found answers to Thursday as they immersed themselves in agricultural activities at the Vernon James Center in northeastern North Carolina.

``Shana, you become the soil and move to the side. Kenya, you get cleared out because you're a tree and a builder just cut you down. Now go ahead, nutrients. Try to run through the Neuse River. See how much easier it is when the dirt and trees have been cleared?'' Sue Lintelman asked a group of 7 to 9 year olds.

The students from C.S. Brown elementary in Winton were enacting a scenario designed to show them how clearing wetlands affects the flow of nutrients along a nearby river. Running inside a wide rectangle of orange plastic tape, between signs labeled ``Albemarle Sound'' and ``Pamlico Sound,'' the children cavorted in a Red Rover-type game. But they all seemed to understand the seriousness of preserving their environment.

``What did the trees and plants help do for the sound?'' asked Lintelman, who works for the nonprofit environmental group Partnership for the Sounds. About 20 tiny hands shot up. ``Stopped the nutrients from washing away,'' one child offered. ``Helped the water,'' another chimed in. ``Kept bad stuff from spreading,'' someone else said.

About 30 third- and fourth-graders from 10 Albemarle area counties were selected for the daylong field trip after writing essays on the environment. Instructors from agricultural extension offices, 4-H programs and television station WITN manned 10 booths at the center. Activities included counting the rings on tree stumps to see how old they were, making ice cream in a plastic bag, finding fossils in a small mountain of soil, carrying ``Sweetarts'' up the stem of a construction paper plant spread out on the floor to show how sugars feed fruits, and measuring air temperatures from the back of a remote weather van.

``We learned what plants need to live and grow - and how you can tell how old trees are,'' said Chris Loreto, an 8-year-old from O.A. Peay elementary in Hyde County.

``They just love this. And they're getting so much out of it,'' Brown Elementary teacher Monique Miller said.

``This is a national tour paid for by Scholastic's Magic School Bus - and we feel so fortunate it's come to our area.''

Run by North Carolina State University and the state Department of Agriculture, the Vernon James Center includes 1,500 acres of farmland, research laboratories and offices between Plymouth and Roper.

Scientists raise and study swine, cattle, cotton, corn, soybeans - even flounder and striped bass in indoor aquaculture tanks. Thursday they brought some of their crops - and two pigs - close to the offices for children to touch.

``That poor pig doesn't have a tail. What happened to it?'' one concerned girl asked, petting a pint-sized porker.

``Did the farmer cut it off because it was too curly?''

Extension service agent Jeff Copeland suppressed a smile. ``Well, that's part of it,'' he agreed. ``Pigs fight each other and try to bite each others' tails off. Farmers trim the tails so the pigs won't bleed to death.''

Many of the children had never seen cotton - except in clothes. So they were surprised to see the fuzzy balls atop olive leaves with seeds strewn throughout. An agricultural extension official showed them how farmers grow, harvest and process the soft fiber.

``One bale of cotton weighs 500 pounds,'' Bertie County Extension Director William Griffin said. ``That makes 300 pairs of blue jeans and about 1,200 T-shirts. We couldn't even count how many Q-tips you could get.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Albemarle students from C.S. Brown elementary in Winton act the role

of soil, trees and nutrients in learning how clearing wetlands

affects a river's flow. About 300 third- and fourth-grade children

were chosen to participate in a special day at Vernon James Center

at Plymouth on Thursday.

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