table of contents booklets/ho… · 4 vocabulary acre - a unit of land measurement equal to 43,560...

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Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................2

How Wheat Works .....................................................................................................................3

Vocabulary List ..........................................................................................................................4

Wheat Milling .............................................................................................................................5

William Wheathead ....................................................................................................................6

Pasta Crafts ...............................................................................................................................7

Tortilla in a Bag ..........................................................................................................................8

Little Red Hen Sequencing ........................................................................................................9

Bread Puzzle & Number Matching ............................................................................................10

Music & Rhythm ........................................................................................................................14

All lessons were adapted from the Agri-Learning Kits which are available through your county coordinator. The

curriculum is multidisciplinary, all-inclusive, and designed to bring agriculture to life in your classroom. To see these

lessons and others, check out agintheclassroom.org to see which kits are available and how to contact your

coordinator.

Table of Contents

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How Wheat Works What is Wheat?

Wheat is a grain (a plant that produces a dry edible seed called a kernel) used mostly for human consumption. There are two major types of wheat planted in the United States. They are winter wheat and spring wheat. Winter wheat is planted in September and harvested the following sum-mer. Spring wheat is planted in April or May and is harvested in August or September. Wheat starts as a seed and begins to grow when there is enough moisture in the soil. The first signs of growth are tiny root hairs that stretch down into the soil while a small shoot pushes upward through the soil. Tissue within the wheat seed provides the plant with its first nourishment. As the plant grows, it uses the sun to make food in its leaves. The roots get food from the soil. Winter wheat grows 4-8 inches tall. Spring wheat grows many leaves and sends up 3-12 stems called tillers. A group of flowers called a spike develop at the top of each tiller and mature into the wheat head. Kernels within the head grow and turn golden brown before harvest.

Did you know?

Wheat is grown in nearly every state. Because it is such a versatile crop, it is being harvested somewhere in the world every month of the year.

A bushel of wheat weighs about 60 pounds and yields about 42 pounds of white flour or 60 pounds of whole wheat flour.

Bread, pasta, cereal, pretzels and licorice are all foods made with wheat. Cosmetics, pet foods, paper, soap and trash bags also contain wheat.

A kernel is a wheat seed. There are about 50 kernels in a head of wheat and 15,000 to 17,000 kernels in a pound.

The average price received by U.S. farmers in 2011 was $5.70 per bushel.

Wheat Use in the United States

One bushel of wheat:

—Makes 90 one-pound loaves of whole-wheat bread.

—Fills 53 boxes of cereal.

—Makes 72 pounds of flour tortillas.

—Bakes into 800 sponge cakes.

—Rolls into 420 three-ounce cinnamon buns.

—Makes 5,000 four-inch cookies.

* Depends on the class of wheat

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Vocabulary

Acre - a unit of land measurement equal to 43,560 square feet (about the size of a football field).

Beard - the bristle-like parts of the wheat plant that cover and protect the kernels.

Bushel - a way to measure a crop. One bushel of wheat weighs 60 pounds and contains about 1 million kernels.

Combine - a machine that harvests crops by cutting the plants and taking out the seeds

while driving through a field.

Farmer - a person whose job is to care for plants and animals and to produce food for

people.

Flour - the white dust-like substance that comes from grinding wheat kernels. Humans

use it to make bread, pasta, and many other food products.

Harvest - to pick or gather crops.

Head - the part of the wheat plant that contains the kernels.

Kernel - 1. the seed from the wheat plant; 2. the seed used to grow a wheat plant;

3. the seed harvested from the wheat plant to grind into flour.

Leaves - the part of the wheat plant that uses sunlight to make food through a process

called photosynthesis.

Mill - the place where wheat kernels are ground into flour.

Roots - the part of the wheat plant that holds the plant in the soil and carries nutrients

and water from the soil to the plant.

Stalk - the entire wheat plant.

Stem - the part of the wheat plant that supports the head and is known as straw after

harvest.

Wheat - a type of grass that only lives for one year and produces seeds from which

people can grind into flour.

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Little Red Hen Sequencing

Common Core: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.1; RL.K.2; RL.K.3; RL.K.7; RL.K.0; RL.K.10

Suggested Reading Materials:

The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza Retold by Philemon Sturges ISBN: 0142301892

What You Will Need:

Other versions of The Little Red Hen

Activity Instructions:

1. Read any version you would like of the story The Little Red Hen.

2. Discuss the events in the story with the students.

3. Use the cut outs below to have the student’s sequence the story of the Little Red Hen.

4. Cut out each image, put the steps in order and glue them to a separate piece of paper.

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William Wheathead

Common Core: Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10; RI.1.4; RI.1.6

Next Generation Science Standards:

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Animals, Plants, and Their Environment- K-LS1-1


Wheat Terra Nova

Food from Farmers BREAD! Life on a Wheat Farm by Ruth Owen ISBN: 9781615335329

Grains by Jill Kalz ISBN: 1583403019

What You Will Need:

• Potting Soil • Glue • Water • Jiggle Eyes

• Wheat Seeds • Baby Food Jars • Knee High Stockings

• Permanent Marker or Fabric


1. Using knee-high stockings, place some wheat seeds in the toe where you want the wheat to grow. The toe of the stockings is the top of the head for William Wheathead. The wheat will look like hair when it grows.

2. Pack a handful of soil (roughly 1-1.5 cups) in the end of the stockings on top of the wheat seeds. Make sure that the ball of soil is slightly larger than the baby food jar or the water bottle.

3. Tie a knot in the stockings under the ball of soil.

4. Completely wet the head of William Wheathead. Place the top of the stockings (the bottom of William) in the jar filled with water, making sure the head is above the mouth of the jar. The end of the stockings will absorb the water to feed the wheat seeds, which will germinate through the stockings. (You may have to poke a few small holes in the top of William Wheathead to help the wheat get through.)

5. Now decorate! Suggestions are a round piece of fabric to fit over the mouth of the jar for a shirt. You can add buttons to the shirt and jiggle eyes on the face and cut out felt for a mouth. Water as needed and be sure to cut the wheat (hair) and style as desired.

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Wheat Milling Common Core: Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10; RI.1.4; RI.1.6

CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.1


Wheat Terra Nova

Bread Comes to Life by George Levenson ISBN: 1582461147

Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas & Layne Johnson ISBN: 1620910292

The Hungry Farmer by Michelle Wagner Nechaev ISBN: 157471340X

The Little Red Hen and the Ear of Wheat by Mary Finch ISBN: 1902283341

Activity Instructions: • Wheat Stalks • Salt or Pepper Grinder Directions: 1. Show students wheat stalks. 2. Go over the parts of the wheat stalk with the students to familiarize them with the parts so they

can understand the directions for dissection. Stalk—the entire plant. Head—the part of the wheat plant that contains the kernels. Beard—the bristle-like parts of the wheat plant that cover and protect the kernels. Kernel—the seed from which the wheat plant is grown or that people harvest from the wheat

plant to grind into flour. Stem/Straw—the part of the wheat plant that supports the head and is known as straw after har-

vest. 3. Dissect the wheat using the following steps: Hand out stalks of wheat to the students. Break the head off the stem. Make a straw out of the stem by breaking it to avoid the nodes. Lay the wheat head flat on a hard surface and pat with your hand to shake out the kernels. Have the students count their kernels. 4. Put the kernels of wheat into a salt or pepper grinder and have the students mill their wheat into

flour. What simple machines are being used? 5. Talk about different ways to grind wheat. The Native Americans did it using rocks, etc. Have

students design their own method of grinding wheat and then test their machines. 6. Talk about the uses of wheat flour to make pastas, breads, desserts, etc. Lesson Extender: 1. Have students count the kernels and find the gluten in wheat by chewing the kernels.

Before there was chewing gum in the store, farmers made their own with grains of wheat! This and other activities can be found in the back of the book Bread Comes to Life.

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Pasta Crafts



Wheat Terra Nova

Food PASTA by Louise Spilsbury ISBN: 158810148-7

From Farm to You: Pasta and Noodles by Carol Jones ISBN: 0791070042

Pasta Necklace

What You Will Need:

• Pasta • Food Coloring • Rubbing Alcohol • Yarn • Bowls

• Spoons • Paper Towels


1. Before class, mix rubbing alcohol and food coloring together in separate bowls. To dye the rigatoni pasta different colors place some pasta in each mixture. Use a spoon to retrieve the pasta from the bowls and lay the pasta on the paper towels to dry.

2. Tape one side of a piece of yarn to the table and let your children thread the pasta through it. Once they are finished, help them tie a knot to finish the necklace.

Pasta Snowflake

What You Will Need:

Pasta

Food Coloring

Rubbing Alcohol

Yarn


1. Put the (uncooked) spaghetti in a baggie with white paint and shake it.

2. Take the spaghetti out of the bag and let it dry overnight.

3. Give each of your children a black piece of paper and pre-drawn circle on it.

4. Let your children create a unique snowflake on the paper, using the circle as a guide.

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Tortilla in a Bag



Wheat Terra Nova

Pizza Party by Grace Maccarone ISBN: 0590475630

What You Will Need:

1 quart storage bag

3 tablespoons of shortening

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup hot tap water

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt


1. Place flour, salt, and baking powder in the bag. Close and shake just a few shakes to mix.

2. Add shortening and reclose the bag. Work the bag with your hands until the mixture looks crumbly and there are no large pieces of shortening visible.

3. Open the bag and add the hot tap water. Knead in the bag until the dough is one large piece and the sides of the bag come clean.

4. Take the dough out of the bag and divide it into four pieces. Put the pieces of dough on the table and lay the bag on top of them. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

5. After resting, roll or pat the dough into eight-ten inch circles. Place the circles on a griddle or frying pan heated to medium or medium-high heat. Cook until dark brown spots appear. Turn and cook on the other side until brown.

6. Fill tortillas with ground beef, beans, salsa, cheese, and lettuce to make burritos.

7. Like pizza? Spread pizza sauce and toppings on the tortilla and cook to make your own individual pizza.

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Common Core: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10

CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4


Food: BREAD by Louise Spilsbury ISBN: 1588101436

What You Will Need:

Bread Slice Templates (Page 11-13)


1. Print out a set of the bread slices from the template on the next pages and make a set of puzzles like the example below.

2. Have students color each slice of bread.

3. Cut out the templates and cut each one in half with a jagged edge for students to put together like puzzle pieces when they match the numerical numbers to the number of dots.

4. Laminate templates to make them last longer.

Adapted from the Wheat Agri-Learning Kit

Bread Puzzle & Number Matching

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Common Core: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.2a

The Little Red Hen’s Song (tune: This is the Way)

This is the way I plant the seed,

Plant the seed,

Plant the seed,

This is the way I plant the seed, early in the morning.

Repeat using the following verses:

…water the wheat

…cut the wheat

…go to the mill

…make the dough

…bake the bread (cake, pizza, etc.)

…eat the bread (cake, pizza, etc.)

Pizza Song (tune: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Pizza, Pizza, it’s a treat.

Pizza, Pizza, is fun to eat!

Ooey- gooey, cheese so yummy.

Crunchy crust goes in my tummy.

Pizza, Pizza, it’s a treat.

Pizza, Pizza, is fun to eat!

Music & Rhythm

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Tune: Mulberry Bush

Once there was a little red hen,

Little red hen, little red hen,

Once there was a little red hen,

Who found a grain of wheat.

Who will help me plant this wheat,

Plant this wheat, plant this wheat,

Who will help me plant this wheat,

Asked the little red hen.

We can’t help you plant the wheat,

Plant the wheat, plant the wheat,

We can’t help you plant the wheat,

Said the little hen’s friends.

Who will help me cut the wheat,

Cut the wheat, cut the wheat,

Who will help me cut the wheat,


We can’t help you cut the wheat,

Cut the wheat, cut the wheat,

We can’t help you cut the wheat,


Who will help me thrash the wheat,

Thrash the wheat, thrash the wheat,

Who will help me thrash the wheat,


We can’t help you thrash the wheat,

Thrash the wheat, thrash the wheat,

We can’t help you thrash the wheat,


Who will help me grind the wheat,

Grind the wheat, grind the wheat,

Who will help me grind the wheat,


We can’t help you grind the wheat,

Grind the wheat, grind the wheat,

We can’t help you grind the wheat,


Who will help me make the bread,

Make the bread, make the bread,

Who will help me make the bread,


We can’t help you make the bread,

Make the bread, make the bread,

We can’t help you make the bread,


Who will help me eat the bread,

Eat the bread, eat the bread,

Who will help me eat the bread,


We will help you eat the bread,

Eat the bread, eat the bread,

We will help you eat the bread,


Sorry, but it’s just for me,

Just for me and my family.

Sorry, but it’s just for me,

Said the little red hen.

Once There Was A Little Red Hen

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Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom

1701 Towanda Ave.

Bloomington, IL 61701

Phone: 309-557-3334

Fax: 309-557-2098

www.agintheclassroom.org

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table of contents booklets/ho… · 4 vocabulary acre - a unit of land measurement equal to 43,560...

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