Types of Corn Activity

Materials Needed: Paper and Markers

99% of the corn grown in Kansas and the U.S. is  dent corn (field corn). Many people think sweet corn is the main type of corn. After this activity, children will learn there are many types of corn, and they will specifically be able to name the differences  between dent corn and sweet corn.

Activity

• Read page 16 aloud and have students look at the picture of the sweet corn  and dent corn.
• Watch Farmer Bill’s “Types of Corn” video.
• As a group, create a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two types of corn. (what it looks like, what it is used for, when it is harvested) In small groups or individually, have children create their own Venn Diagram OR draw a picture of the two different types of corn.

Out the Door
On the way out the door, have children tell you one thing about either dent or sweet corn.

Space It Out Activity

Materials Needed

• Scotch/Painters tape or sidewalk chalk
• 6-inch marker options: Rulers or (6) 1-inch squares or (6) linking cubes or six-inch strips of paper

Overview
Do farmers plant their seeds by hand like we do in our garden? After this activity, children will be able to tell how far apart corn kernels are planted in the field and how farmers use equipment to plant thousands of seeds in a short amount of time.

Activity

• Read pages 6-7 aloud.
• Watch the video link provided on page 7.
• Each child will need tape (if inside) or sidewalk chalk and a 6-inch marker. Show the diagram on page 7.  Show how farmers, using planters, plant their corn kernels six inches apart.
• Set boundaries for the children so they know where to “plant” their kernels. Children will draw corn kernels with chalk using their 6-inch marker.
• Discussion: How many kernels did you plant?  How do you think farmers feel about having a machine to help them plant?  What if they had to plant all those kernels by hand?

Out the Door
On the way out the door, ask children how many kernels they were able to plant and if they had to plant 10,000 seeds would they want to do this by hand or with a planter?

Farm to Plate

Materials Needed

• Food packages from today’s lunch
• Grocery store ads
• Paper, scissors, markers, glue

Overview
What role does corn play in our food? It is important for children to know where their food comes from. After completing this activity, children will be able to identify food that was made with corn.

Activity

• Read pages 16-19 aloud.
• Watch Farmer Bill’s “Farm to Plate” video.
• Talk about today’s lunch. What items in your lunch contained corn?  How do you know?
• Encourage children to read the back of the packages.
• Review pages 18-19 to learn how dent corn is used to feed our livestock. Was anything in today’s lunch fed corn?
• Using grocery store ads, have students cut out items that contain corn. Glue to paper and present to others.

Out the Door
On the way out the door, have children tell you one thing they know is made of corn.  Also encourage them to find items at home that contain corn.  ­­­

Parts of a Corn Plant

Materials Needed

Materials to make the plant such a yarn, tissue paper, construction paper, etc. Paper and pencil or crayons.

Overview
How many of the children have seen a corn plant? Help them identify and learn about each part of the plant and its function.

Activity

• Before you watch the video ask questions like: Has anyone seen a corn field? What does a corn plant look like? Can you name the parts of the plant?
• Watch the video: “Parts of the Corn Plant”
• Ask: What words do you remember from the video? What parts of the plant did you already know about? Does this corn plant have any of the same parts as other plants?
• Have children draw their own corn plant or break into groups to create a 3D corn plant model. Examples in the online guide.
• Review parts of the plant one at a time to help them label their plant.

Take the Quiz
Watch the “Quiz on Corn Plant Parts” video. Pause it throughout so children can answer.

Out the Door
On the way out the door, children will need to tell you one part of the corn plant, using the correct terms discussed today.

Can You Define the Word?

Materials Needed
Notecards with one glossary word on each.

Overview
Let’s challenge the children and see what they have learned about corn by using the glossary. After this activity, the children will know where a glossary is located in a book, the order the words go in, why a glossary is helpful and be able to define the key words found in the book.

Activity

• Determine Prior Knowledge: Raise your hand if you have ever heard of a glossary?  Do you know where it is located in a book?  Do all books have a glossary?
• Turn to page 24.  What do you notice about this page?  Why are some words in bold and others are not?  Do you notice an order the words are in?
• A glossary is found at the back of the book.  While we read through the pages some of the words we read were in bold.  Those are vocabulary words or words we may not understand.  A glossary will have the vocabulary words or unknown words in alphabetical order and will provide a definition.  Not all books have a glossary, just non-fiction books or books that talk about real things or give facts. The words are in alphabetical order, so they can be easier to find.
• Put children into small groups.  Children will work as a team to quickly point to the vocabulary word that is shouted out by the instructor. Example: Feedlot–Children will work together to find the word.  Then call on someone to read the definition.

Extended Activities
Using the notecards that you made prior, hand one notecard out to each child.  Challenge them to put their vocabulary words into alphabetical order.  Other ideas: Have races to see how quickly they can get cards into alphabetical order. Have races to see which group can find the vocabulary word in the book. Have children draw pictures of certain vocabulary words.

What is a Bushel?

Materials Needed

Scale

Overview

It’s difficult to comprehend how much grain is produced in a field or how farmers measure their grain. In this activity, children will visualize what a bushel is, the history of a bushel and follow a bushel of corn on the farm.

Activity

• Determine prior knowledge:
  • How many different units of measurement can you name?  Example: gallon, inches, second, etc.
  • Can name some tools used for measurement? Example: measuring cup, ruler, etc. Write these responses on a board if possible.
  • Think about a farmer who produces a lot of corn.  Do you know what unit of measurement is used for corn?
• Watch “What is a Bushel” video by Farmer Bill.
• Discuss what was learned from watching the video. See if more units of measurement can be can added to the list that was created earlier.
• Ask: Did anyone catch how much a bushel of corn weighs? Refer to the fun fact on page 12 that says, “We measure our corn by bushels.  A bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds and can fill a laundry basket.”
• Brainstorm: What things weigh about 56 pounds?  Example: a first or second grader, a large bag of dog food, or a mattress you sleep on (twin).
• If you have a scale have the children put items on the scale that they think weighs 56 pounds.
• Brainstorm: Corn kernels are very small, how many do you think are in a bushel?
  • There are 90,000 kernels of corn in one bushel.  That is a lot of corn kernels!
• Read page 12-13: On these pages children will learn what happens during harvest.  Read the text and focus on page 13, the steps of cutting corn.
• Watch the video provided on page 13 watch corn harvest.
• Ask: What did you learn from watching the video?  Did you see all of the corn that was being harvested and how it kept being moved from one piece of equipment to another?
• Watch “Follow a Bushel of Corn” video by Farmer Bill.
• Discussion: Take a little time to discuss what was learned from the video.  Ask students to do some math by asking: If the grain bin holds 90,000 bushels of corn and a grain truck holds 1,000 bushels of corn, how many truck loads would it take to fill the grain bin?
• Extra: You can have the children take a piece of paper and pencil and draw pictures of the different equipment and arrows indicating how the corn moved from the corn field to the grain bin.  Replay the video as needed.

Out The Door

On the way out the door, children will need to tell you one thing they learned about a bushel.  Or they can tell you one thing they learned about harvest.