UNIT
1: LESSON 4
LISTEN
TO A-MAIZING STORIES
SUBJECT: Social
Studies
OBJECTIVE: Students
will gain insights about corn, and about the people who raise it.
EVAULATION:
Students appreciate this amazing plant even more, because they have
seen or heard some first-hand stories.
BACKGROUND FOR
TEACHERS:
No two corn farmers
are alike. The way they raise corn depends on their location in the
country. That location affects the average temperature and precipitation.
It affects the soil type, as well the insect and disease pressures.
It affects the uses and profitability of corn.
Within a region,
philosophies and management styles also differ greatly. But all farmers
have a solid appreciation for what an "a-maizing" plant corn is, and
they ALL have stories to tell about it!
STUDENT ACTIVITIES:
1. Ask students
to read the story Claire Plays Basketball,
then invite one or more corn farmers to visit your class. Ask them to
bring some corn plants or kernels, and to tell stories that can "a-maize
the students. If they're unable to visit the classroom, maybe they will
write some memories in a letter:
- Stories of
storms, insects, or other stresses on corn plants and how the plants
survived, or didn't.
- Stories about
the size and quick growth of corn plants, or about high and low yields.
- Stories about
how corn plants have changed since they first started farming.
- Stories of
what jobs they need to do when corn is at certain sizes, and how they
know what to do.
2. Or read about
several farm families on the Internet, and discuss what they might tell
you if they were in your classroom. On the Maple Lawn Farms site, students
can see an unusual Field of corn. It's planted in a maze (a-maizing!).
