Full of zest, a group of sixth and seventh grade students from the Bronx, N.Y., took charge of Katama Farm early this week in the Farm Institute’s first-ever residential program.

Fifty-one Bronx Academy of Letters students arrived on the farm Monday for a three-day introduction to farming, gardening, cooking and livestock management.

The farm immersion program was added to the Farm Institute’s education series to introduce concepts in food cultivation, land preservation and agricultural history to adolescents who might never otherwise set foot on a farm. “We wanted to get the kids on the farm here for longer periods of time so their experience is deeper,” says Farm Institute director of education Sidney Morris.

On Tuesday afternoon, the farm is abuzz with youngsters tackling tasks like gardening and hayloft cleaning. Some are spinning or felting wool in the barn. A venturesome group of students braves the whipping wind and rain in bright yellow slickers and ponchos for a beach walk — and, for some, swim. Wet and chilled — but not dispirited — by the rain, seawater and gusting air, the youngsters march, leap and dance back to the farm to rinse their feet and change into fresh clothes. Some students have already soaked or dirtied their spare clothing and slip into pajamas.

“Wash my feet? I wanna wash my whole body!” shouts a petite girl treading calf-high in a black wash bucket.

Twelve-year-old Stephanie Llamas peels off her soggy, sand-filled socks and sneakers and slops one foot after another into another pail of warm water. Wearing blue braces and a wild, waist-long ponytail, Ms. Llamas says that she came to the Farm Institute because she had never been on a farm before — “only the Bronx Zoo.”

“You’ll hear them ask questions like ‘Where are the zebras?’ because, to them, a farm is a zoo,” explains Jannine Minort, chaperone and Bronx Letters seventh grade math teacher.

“When we [left the urban landscape of New York], they were like ‘Where are we going? How far away are we? Am I gonna die?’” she says, adding that, “[A farm is] just completely out of their realm of understanding ... Some of the kids have never left the city.”

While learning to feed and care for livestock like Ms. Piggy, a pregnant pig, and Pearl, a snow-colored Saanen goat, the students discover the important roles the animals hold on and beyond the farmland. They learn that the animals contribute to land fertilization and milk, egg and wool production, which distinguishes farm goats from goats in petting zoos.

“I [came here because I] wanted to experience how to take care of animals,” Ms. Llamas says, before pointing to a pair of barn swallows darting in and out of a stable. Learning to feed and care for the “so cute” and “fluffy” chickens has been Ms. Llamas’ favorite Farm Institute experience.

“They seem incredibly energized by having the chance to spend time on a farm. It’s a whole new world to them,” Mr. Morris says.

Residential programs that introduce children to the inner workings of farming are few in New England, he says, but they are in high demand by youngsters who might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn in a hands-on manner about the origin of the foods they eat. The Farm Institute has many fund-raisers, including the elegant Meals in the Meadow dinner under the stars returning July 18, to support experience for kids from the Island and the beyond who come to the teaching farm.

The wind and rain prevents the farm hands-in-training from sleeping outside in tents and shingling a barn wall, but not from boisterously taking charge of the fields and gardens. Their labor on the farm aids the production of vegetables, beef, pork, lamb, chicken and eggs.

Part of farm work, the students learn, is herding sheep. “Hurt the sheep?” a boy exclaims in disbelief. The youngsters’ stint on the farm is also a three-day lesson in farm terminology.

The students traverse through wet, knee-high grass to learn what sheep herding is all about. It’s a tactic for moving and then confining a flock of sheep in a pen, farmhand Julie Olson explains. Sheep, being sheepish, are afraid of people, she says. Ms. Olson instructs the students to surround the flock in a “V” formation. When the group, arms outstretched, walks forward, they push the frightened sheep past the “V” opening and into a square pen. After multiple attempts, the fledgling farmers successfully herd the flock.

“I think they were introduced to some concepts that they hadn’t thought of before,” Mr. Morris says.