LASALLE (AP) — There's a rush of excitement among Trinity Catholic Academy's fourth-graders when Ron Burdon enters their classroom.

Burdon, the La Salle County Farm Bureau Foundation Agriculture in the Classroom coordinator, begins assigning students tasks needed to complete that week's agriculture science project.

One student runs to collect water. Another begins pouring cornstarch into sealable plastic bags. Combine those ingredients with a drop of oil and some food coloring, microwave for a minute and, if you're lucky, there will be corn-based plastic in the bag once it has cooled and dried.